Top Row (l. to r.):  Tommy Dutton (Rocky Point), Jakob Restrepo (Sachem East), David Hamil (Deer Park), Christian Araneo (Ward Melville)

Bottom Row (l. to r.): Adam Busiello (Eastport South Manor), Jacori Teemer (Long Beach), Jonathan Gomez (Locust Valley), John Arceri (Huntington), Nick Piccinnini (Ward Melville), Vito Arujau (Syosset), Nick Casella (Locust Valley).

Rocky Point's Tommy Dutton hangs on to Minisink Valley's Mike Raccioppi. Dutton won the 152 pound NYS crown with a 10-2 decision.

Vito Arujau of Syosset controls Jesse Dellavecchia of East Islip en route to an 11-6 victory in the 132 pound final. It was the sophomore Arujau's second NYS title.

David Hamil of Deer Park takes Jake Ashcraft of Burnt Hills to the mat to secure a 9-4 decision in the 182 pound NYS final.

 Christian Araneo of Ward Melville tries to turn Nick McShea of Monroe-Woodbury in the 195 pound NYS final. Araneo won 13-4 as the Patriots finished third in the team standings.

Ward Melville's Nick Piccinnini claimed his fourth New York State Title.

SUFFOLK WINS

NEW YORK STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS

LONG ISLAND CROWNS ELEVEN 

NEW YORK STATE CHAMPIONS FROM LONG ISLAND

     Defending sectional team champion Section Eleven (Suffolk County) won the 53rd NYSPHSAA Wrestling Championships before 5,638 fans at the Times Union Center in Albany. The navy blue-clad contingent won their seventh consecutive team title and tallied 312.5 points to finish ahead of Section Eight (Nassau County) who had 178. The Suffolk squad crowned seven champions amongst their twelve finalists and had 28 wrestlers earn All-State honors.

     Suffolk was paced by five-time state placer and four-time champion Nick Piccininni (3-1-1-1-1) of Ward Melville and three-time state medalist Tommy Dutton (4-5-1) of Rocky Point. The Oklahoma State-bound Piccininni (43-2, 226-5 career) made a first period double leg lift takedown stand up for a tight 3-1 victory over rival Ben Lamantia (45-2) of St. Anthony's at 126. Dutton (48-0, 261-28) posted four solid wins en route to the coveted state title in the 145-pound class. Returning finalists Adam Busiello (44-1), an eighth-grader from ESM rolled to the 99-pound crown and Sachem East's Jakob Restrepo (51-0, 171-11) won the 152-pound bracket. Other Suffolk winners included a pair of juniors, John Arceri (42-1) of Huntington at 113 and Christian Araneo (43-1) of WM at 195, along with David Hamil (46-1,146-20) of Deer Park at 182. Arceri won an exciting overtime match with an escape, and both Hamil and Araneo dominated their weight classes.

     Nassau was led by the tandem of two-time winners, freshman Jacori Teemer (43-2) of Long Beach who eked out an overtime win at 106 and earned his 100th career victory, along with unbeaten sophomore Vito Arujau (46-0) of Syosset. Three-time placer Arujau (2-1-1) recorded two pins, a tech fall and defeated previously unbeaten and returning state finalist Jesse Dellavecchia (44-1,186-28) of EI, with a hard-fought 11-6 decision and upped his career record to an impressive 136-1 mark.

     Also earning state crowns were three-time champion sophomore and OSW winner Yianni Diakomihalis (49-0, 178-3) who cruised to the 120 pound title. Diakomihalis' smooth-as-silk style of wrestling has been perfect at the state meet and registered a third period fall over two-time finalist Peter Pappas (Plainview), his teammate Louie DePrez (47-3) won the loaded 160-pound class. Other state champions were freshman Frankie Gissendanner (45-0) of Penfield who scored with a scramble takedown to nip three-time state placer Mike D'Angelo (48-2, 199 wins) of Commack, 3-1, at 138, Shendendehowa junior Kevin Parker (47-4) at 170, Youssif Hemida  (31-0) of Mamaroneck at 220, along with Massen'a Nolan Terrance (38-1) who rode out John Glenn's Edwin Rubio (42-2), for a 2-1 OT win at 285 pounds.

     In the Division Two Tournament, Section Three (Syracuse area) outpointed Section Four (Binghamton), 278 to 213. The gold-clad group claimed five titles; team champion Mexico had two winners, Theo Powers (49-3) who stunned returning champion Dane Heberlein with a third period pin at 113 and Jacob Woolson (182). Holland Patent also had two titlists; Hunter Richard (47-2) who scored with a late reversal to edge LV's Sam Ward, 8-7, at 138 and Alex Herringshaw at 160. Team runners-up Locust Valley garnered two champions, Jonathan Gomez (20-1) and Nick Casella (44-2, 180-28). Gomez rallied with a late tilt and won with a scramble takedown in overtime to win at 106 and Casella won a close 2-1 match at 132. In the loaded 120-pound bracket Jimmy Overhiser (45-1) of Lansing handed Adirondack's Derek Spann (58-1) his lone loss on the season with a solid 6-2 verdict in the finals and earned his 200th career victory. Also lodged in that bracket were reigning state kings Matteo DeVincenzo (Port Jeff) and LV's Hunter Dusold, both finished with All-State honors.

     Norwich teammates Tristan Rifanburg (46-1) at 145 and Frank Garcia (46-1) at 152, earned their second titles, as did Kellen Devlin (45-2) of Amherst at 126, along with unbeaten Nathanael Rose (34-0, 135-23) of Eagle Academy who overpowered four opponents en route to the 195-pound title. The OSW winner was Peru's Jordan Bushey (42-1,150 career wins) who upended defending champion Trevor Allard, 12-4, at 170 pounds.

MAT NOTES:

     Long Island had a record breaking 50 state place-winners and emerged with two Division II champions for the second consecutive year, as LV crowned two champions, the aforementioned Gomez and Casella, amongst their five state medalists. The state leader in sectional team titles is Section Eleven with 23. They now have 171 NYS champions followed by Section Four with 155 and Section Eight has 120 individual winners. LI showed their dominance at the 2015 state meet and garnered 11 state titles amongst their 18 finalists. Huntington now has 27 state champions and John Arceri joins his father in the winner circle, as his dad, John, won the 138-pound state title for Ward Melville in 1981. Tommy Dutton finished his stellar high school career with a state gold medal and is Long island's winningest wrestler with 261 wins, he will take his mat skills to Harvard next season. The Empire State's wins leader is six-time state placer Quinton Murphy of Holley with 302 victories.

     Congratulations to legendary LI coaches Guy Leggio (EI) and Leo Palacio (LB). Both received National Wrestling Coaches Awards; Leggio was the NY State Coach-of-the-Year and Palacio was NY Assistant Coach of-the-Year. Hilton HS won the Div. I individual team title with 71 points and had three All-State wrestlers. Diakomihalis finished third in Section Five as a 7th-grader and is unbeaten in state competition, he is currently ranked third in the nation at 120 pounds. The combined record of the 15 Division I champions was an unbelievable 663 victories and 16 losses. The attendance for the two day event was a record 12,981 spectators.