LIVE: State Finals

215 pounds
ERNEST JAMES (LW) vs. STEVEN BUTLER (PORT JERVIS)



1st Period
Scoreless period
2nd Period: James gets two on back points.
3rd Period: James gets a reversal for a 4-0 lead and he hangs on to win it.
James wins his first state title. James was in control throughout the match and Butler never got a good shot in. A great way for James to end his high school career, bringing back a state title to a school that was won a ton over the years.


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160 Pounds
T.J. NEIDHART (SWR) vs. JAMES BRUNDAGE (OSSINING)



1st Period:
Neidhart falls behind 6-1. He got taken down plus two back points. Then a reversal at the end.
2nd Period:
Neidhart falls behind 13-3 and is in serious trouble. He needs a dramatic turnaround in the final period.
3rd Period:
Neidhart rallies late but it's not enough. He falls 17-10 to place second, his best finish in his career.

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135 Pounds
STEPHEN DUTTON vs. ANDREW LENZI

1st period:
Dutton jumps out to a 7-1 lead.
2nd Period:
He maintains the 7-1 lead going into the third.
3rd Period:
Delayed because of some blood on the mat. But Dutton is in full control of the action. He'll star the third on bottom.
Dutton pulls it out with no problem, 10-1, for his first state championship. He caps off his season with an undefeated record and beats the defending state champion in the finals. After after disappointing state tournament last year, Dutton makes no mistakes this year. He is the 2008-09 135-pound State Champion.


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119 Pounds
STEVEN KEITH (SWR) vs. JUSTIS FLAMIO (MAHOPAC)



1st period:
Keith gets a takedown for a 2-0 lead.
2nd Period:
Not good for Keith. He gets reversed and it's 2-2.
3rd period:
Keith goes ahead late 4-2 but gets reversed with :07 to go forcing overtime.
OT:
Keith gets the two with :31 left in OT for the State title. Wow. A very, very close match and Keith pulled it off to become a two-time state champion.

Keith finishes off the year undefeated and avenged his loss last year in the state semifinals. While Keith and Flamio don't see each other that often, the stakes are always extremely high when they do and it leads to some dramatic moments. Two years ago it was Keith. Last year it was Flamio. And now in the rubber match it was Keith.



..........................


At 103 Huntington's Damon McQueen lost a wild match, 9-8, for his first loss of the season. He fell against Brian Realbuto of Somers (Section I). That's McQueen's first loss of the year.

...........................


OK, we're ready for action.

96 POUNDS
COREY RASHEED (LONGWOOD) vs. MIKE SORIA (KINGS PARK)



1st period.
Rasheed falls behind 2-0.

2nd Period.
It's a 5-0 deficit for Rasheed who hasn't gotten anything going.

3rd Period.
Soria hangs on and wins it 7-0 for the state title. Rasheed settles for second. The only two losses for Rasheed this year go to Soria. Rasheed never could any offense going once Soria took the lead in the first period. He was on bottom most of the time. The first period started with a lot of dancing, but about midway through Soria took a good shot and got a takedown. From there it was all Soria.

Still, a tremendous season for Rasheed. No doubt he'll be back here again.

............................


We're still waiting for the festivities to finish before we get to wrestling.


The Parade of Champions is underway!


I'll be shooting video as well of the five local matches and I'll have them up in their entirety sometime tomorrow. So if you're not here, or you want to see it again, log back in sometime tomorrow.


I'm going to do this blog of the finals a little different, so the most recent info is at the top of the post. I think it'll make it a little easier to follow along.


..........................


OK, looks like we're up and running again.

We're minutes away from Parade of Champions and the beginning of the 2009 State Championship. This promises to be a good show, especially from our local wrestlers. Of the five local wrestlers competing, all have a good chance to win. Corey Rasheed at 96 will look to avenge his only loss of the season against Mike Soria of Kings Park. Soria is a junior while Rasheed is just a seventh-grader. Rasheed did put up a good fight against Soria in the county finals and it's not unreasonable to think he can win in the finals. Either way, a fantastic performance by Rasheed as a seventh-grader to place this high in the state tournament.


At 119 Steven Keith is the favorite to win against Justis Flamio. I'd be very surprised if Keith were to go down. He's been so strong and consistent this year, you have to like his chances to close it out with an undefeated season.

At 135 Stephen Dutton has already beaten Andrew Lenzi this year and I like his chances to do so again. Like Keith, Dutton is undefeated this season. He's looking for his first state title. He's only lost three matches in the last three years.

At 160 T.J. Neidhart should have a tough match ahead of him. Neidhart hasn't dominated his matches, but has done enough to win. And that's ultimately all that matters. But I'd expect another very tight, low-scoring match in the finals against James Brundage.

At 215 Ernest James has already beaten the top seed and defending state champion. In the semifinals he had the very rare win that didn't come via pin. It should be an equally close match in the finals when he faces Steven Butler, who survived a 4-2 overtime decision against Zeal McGrew, the one wrestler to beat James this year. James is a senior, so this is it.

VIDEO: Semifinal Highlights

Here are clips of Steven Keith, Stephen Dutton and Ernest James from the semifinals. All advanced to the finals along with Corey Rasheed and T.J. Neidhart. I missed Rasheed's match, so no video of that. And Neidhart wrestled at the same time as James, so you might notice him wrestling in the background.

Day II Pictures

A few pictures from the early session of Day 2 of the State Championship in Albany.

Photos by Grant Parpan

Updated Team Standings

Scores are kept by section and individual school.

The sections are as follows:

1. Section XI, 219.5
2. Section I, 178.5
3. Section II, 177
4. Section VIII, 148
5. Section IX, 146.5

The team standings:

1. Wantagh, VIII, 74
2. Port Jervis, IX, 64
3. Fox Lane, I, 63
4. Shenendehowa, II, 54
5. Longwood, XI, 53
6. St. Anthony's, C, 51.5
7. Rocky Point, XI, 46.5
8. Shoreham-Wading River, XI, 44
8. Wayne, V, 44
8. LaSalle, II, 44
49. Miller Place, 11

Consolation Finals

At 103 Malik Rasheed will wrestle for fifth place. He takes on Tim Schaefer. Just like the first match in the quartefinals, Rasheed pulls out a 3-2 win to take fifth in the state. Not a bad finish for the freshman. Schaefer gave up an escape in the third for a neutral start which was the difference in the match. The coaches for Lancaster were not too pleased with that decision to give up a point. Especially afterward when it costs him the match.

So Malik is done for the day and the season. As the wild card, he takes fifth place, his best finish in his short career.


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At 145 Anthony Volpe will face Ryan Tompkins for third/fourth. Tompkins lost in the semifinals to Brian Herold of Macarthur. Tompkins is from Beacon (Section I).

He wins an 8-3 decision to take third place.


...........................

At 160 Billy Coggins will face John Paris of Amsterdam, the same wrestler he lost to in the quarterfinals. They're scoreless after a one-minute first period. Coggins gets two with 1:00 left in the second to take a 2-1 lead which he holds onto going into the third period. Coggins gets another points to make it 3-1. He gets two more to go ahead 5-1. He wins it 5-3.


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In the final consolation at 189 Zach Buonaiuto is taking on Marvin Titus-Casseus, the same wrestler he beat in the county final. Buonaiuto takes a 4-3 lead in the second period. He falls behind 6-4 after two. He wins it 10-6 to take fifth.

Buonaiuto was pretty emotional after the match as he hugged it out with coach Dom LoRe. A long career, the best in Miller Place history, had reached its end.

That wraps up the consolation finals. A few more matches are finishing up right now in the heavyweights and then the arena will be cleared and set up for the finals. The arena opens back up at 5 p.m. and around 5:45 will have the parade of champions with wrestling at 6.

More Wrestleback Matches

Longwood freshman Malik Rasheed is facing Brandon Ling in the consolations for the right to wrestle for third/fourth. After the second period he holds a 2-1 lead. They had a restart with :03 left in the second and Ling got the escape point to close the gap.
Rasheed got in trouble at the start of the third and fell behind 3-2 after a takedown with just over 1:20 to go. Ling is riding on top and Rasheed is unable to get anything going as the clock ticks away. With :18 left they restart with Rasheed on bottom. He needs an escape to tie it. He can't get it and Ling hangs on to win it 3-2. Rasheed falls to the fifth/sixth place consolation final. He'll face the loser of Jimmy Morris vs. Tim Schaefer.


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An update on team standings:
Section XI is cleaning up. You'll remember the semfinals last year was a disaster for Section XI as wrestler after wrestler fell to the wrestlebacks. It's been a different story this year and Section XI could very well end up with 5-6 state champs. Section XI is guaranteed two with a pair of Suffolk wrestlers facing each other in the finals. At this points I would say anything less than five Suffolk state champs would be a disappointment.


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They just announced the team points and Section XI has 200 1/2 for first place. Section I with 158 1/2 is in second place. The last time Section XI had the most points was 2005, which was also in Albany. Section XI had 255 1/2 points that year.


Our next wrestleback should be Anthony Volpe vs. Paul Morabito of Spencerport. Volpe takes a 5-0 first-period lead against Morabito. He closes within four at 5-1 in the second. Volpe hangs on 6-2 for the victory and will wrestle for third/fourth in a little over an hour or so.


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Next up is Billy Coggins vs. John Velieri, the same wrestler Neidhart beat in the semi's. They're tied after one period. Coggins starts the second on top. Coggins gives up an escape early on to fall behind 1-0. Just like when Neidhart faced him, it's another low-scoring match with neither wrestler able to get many shots in. Coggins closed in on a shot in the final seconds of the second but ran out of time before he could convert any points. In the third period he starts on bottom. An escape can tie it. After seven seconds they start again with Coggins on bottom. Coggins gets lifted with about 1:35 left and gets put on his back. Velieri gets the pin with :56 left. Coggins goes down by fall in the third period and will have to wrestle for fifth/sixth.

Velieri pins in 5:04.


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Next up is Zach Buonaiuto vs. Christian Boley of Brockport, a matchup we thought to see in the semifinals. This will be a good test to see which wrestler can bounce back from disappointing losses against the same wrestler. After one period they're scoreless. Buonaiuto starts the second on top. Buonaiuto goes to work in the second period, picking Boley up off the ground. But it doesn't lead to any points yet with 1:22 left. Boley starts down with :50 left in the second. Buonaiuto falls behind 2-0 after two and needs to rally in the third.

Buonaiuto quickly gets one back to make it 2-1 with 1:52 left. With :40 left Buonaiuto stops for an injury timeout. It's something with his left leg. Trainers are rubbing his left ankle. Buonaiuto gets taking down at the end and falls 4-1. The best he can do now is take fifth, which he did last year. Not the finish Buonaiuto had hoped for.

Local Final Matchups

The finals are scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. (at least I think, the semifinals started about 20 minutes earlier than scheduled).

Here are the matchups for our local wrestlers:

96 Pounds
Corey Rasheed - Longwood
vs.
Mike Soria - Kings Park

119 Pounds
Steven Keith - SWR
vs.
Justis Flamio - Mahopac

135 Pounds
Stephen Dutton - RP
vs.
Andrew Lenzi - Fordham Prep

160 Pounds
T.J. Neidhart - SWR
vs.
James Brundage - Ossining

215 Pounds
Ernest James - Longwood
vs.
Steven Butler - Port Jervis

LIVE: State Semifinals

A crazy morning so far here in Albany. I won't get into all the specifics, but an early start to the tournament this morning has me playing catchup. All the media seats are taken as well, so I'm forced to stand as I type. Ahhh!

Anyway, the good news is Corey Rasheed won by fall in :54 in his semifinal match against Joe Barbato of Wantagh.

His brother, however, just lost at 103 to Damon McQueen of Huntington, 6-3.

Next up at 119, Steven Keith recorded a first period pin of John Belanger of Shenendehowa. He'll move on the finals for the first time since his sophomore year. While he was upset in the semifinals last year, he didn't allow that to happen this year. That gives us two local wrestlers in the finals thus far. Two more than last year.


In the finals Corey Rasheed will face Mike Soria of Kings Park in a rematch of the county final. So Suffolk County is guaranteed of at least one state champion. Rasheed lost to Soria in the county final and it was his only loss of the year. What a story it would be if he could avenge his one loss as a seventh-grader to win a state championship.


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Next up is Stephen Dutton vs. Jimmy Kloc of Iroquois.

Dutton dominated the match against Kloc jumping out to a 5-0 first-period lead. He nearly got the pin at the end of one but had to settle for three back points. He went ahead 10-0 in the third period before having to pause with a under a minute to go so he could .... wait for it .... throw up in a garbage can. He then proceeded to finish the match off with a 12-0 win to advance to the finals for the first time since his freshman year.


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Next up is Anthony Volpe vs. Zach Clemente, who is the top seed at 145.
Clemente comes into the semifinals off a 2:28 pin of Clint Schaefer of Lancaster in the quarters.

Volpe fell behind 2-0 after a quick takedown by Clemente. In the third he fell behind 7-2, his only points coming on escapes. There was an injury delay when Volpe was shaken up midway through the third. On the restart Clemente let him up for the escape to make it 7-3. He then went on the attack and got a takedown for the 9-3 lead. Clemente showed why he's the top seed with a solid all-around effort. Volpe never got his offense going and Clemente hung on for the 9-4 victory.

So that leaves us with still three wrestlers in the finals.
Malik Rasheed, Billy Coggins and Anthony Volpe are all still alive for the chance to take third.


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Dutton will take on defending state champion Andrew Lenzi in the finals. Dutton defeated Lenzi in the finals at Eastern States this year and did so fairly handily. That was the matchup everyone expected in the finals a year ago and now we have it this year.

Keith is facing familiar rival Justis Flamio, who he beat at Eastern States this year in the finals. Keith lost to Flamio in the semifinals at states last year and beat him in the state tournament two years ago.


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Next up is T.J. Neidhart vs. John Velieri at 160. Velieri is the No. 2 seed and comes off a 2-1 double overtime win against Clayton Reeb of Cheektowaga.

As the semifinals are going on, wrestlebacks are underway on two mats. So Coggins is on deck where he'll face Chris Marvin of Wayne. This is a critical match because a win guarantees his spot as an All-State wrestler. At this point it's win or go home. Marvin was pinned in the quarterfinals in 5:55 by James Brundage. Coggins won his first wrestleback last night against Kevin Matyas, 6-1.

Coggins and Marvin are scoreless after one period. Coggins starts on top for the second period. They remain scoreless as they fall out of bounds with 1:00 left in the second. A great move by Coggins on a restart to get Marvin on his back where he gets three points for a near fall. He takes the 3-0 lead into the third period. Coggins starts on bottom for the third period. With 1:08 to go Coggins will start on bottom after going out of bounds. Coggins came real close to getting a pin but Marvin was able to wiggle his way free. Coggins still gets points and takes an 8-0 lead with :42 to go.

Coggins hangs on for the 10-0 major decision to make himself an All-State wrestler. Now the question is where he places, anywhere from third to sixth.


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The one mat got way ahead of the other, so Ernest James faced Paul Glover before Neidhart's match. Neidhart started wrestling on the opposite mat while James was going. James pulled out the huge win against the defending state champion, 5-2. He scored 2 in the second on a takedown but was immediately reversed for the tie. At the start of the third Glover gave up one to allow for a neutral start. James hung on to the 3-2 lead until scoring two more to secure it with :19 left. So that gives us four local wrestlers in the finals.

Meanwhile, Neidhart took a 1-0 lead on Velieri who came back to tie it in the third. Neidhart was riding on top in the third but couldn't get any points. So the match heads to overtime. With :22 left they'll have a neutral start. Neidhart gets his two on a takedown with :03 left as Shoreham coach Joe Condon leaps in the air in celebration. Neidhart is headed to the finals and has surpassed his placing of last year. We now have FIVE local wrestlers in the finals. Neidhart wins that 3-1.


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Next up is Zach Buonaiuto at 189 vs. Matt Loew of Wantagh.

Buonaiuto fell behind 2-0 before getting an escape in the third to make it 2-1. But then Loew got him on his back and secured the pin to end Buonaiuto's bid for a state title. It's only the second loss of the season for Buonaiuto, who had hoped for another shot at Austin Meys, who handed him his only previous loss. So now Buonaiuto must settle for trying to place third. It's been quite the tournament for Loew who upset No. 2 Christian Boley in the first round, which we thought would be an advantage for Buonaiuto. Boley placed third in the state last year. But Loew had put together an incredible tournament run so far with wins against the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds. Next up he'll face the No. 1 seed in Meys.

So that ends the semifinals here in Albany for our local wrestlers.

We end up with five in the finals: Corey Rasheed (96), Steven Keith (119), Stephen Dutton (135), T.J. Neidhart (160) and Ernest James (215).


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As much as Buonaiuto hoped to get another shot at Meys, I don't know if he could have pulled it off. Meys has been by far the most dominant wrestler in this tournament. In three matches thus far he hasn't even wrestled the equivalent of one period. He has pins of :25, :20 and :52 for a grand total 1:37.



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In the other 215 semifinal, Zeal McGrew of Burnt Hills went to overtime against Steven Butler, the No. 2 seed. They were tied at two after three. Butler got the takedown to win the match 4-2. So James will face Butler in the finals. The only wrestler to beat James this year is McGrew. So a chance for redemption for James won't happen. But I think he's OK with that.

Day I Pictures

A few pictures from Day 1 of the State Championship in Albany.

Photos by Grant Parpan

Semifinal Matchups

96 Pounds

Mike Soria (Kings Park)

vs.

Sam Speno (Fox Lane)

Joe Barbato (Wantagh)

vs.

Corey Rasheed (Longwood)

103

Jimmy Morris (St. Anthony's)

vs.

Brian Realbuto (Somers)

Malik Rasheed (Longwood)

vs.

Damon McQueen (Huntington)

112

Grant Greene (St. Anthony's)

vs.

Bob Dierna (Wayne)

Steven Rodrigues (Fox Lane)

vs.

Ken Collado (Hauppauge)

119

Steven Keith (SWR)

vs.

John Beianger (Shenedehowa)

Taylor Laraia (Newburgh)

vs.

Justis Flamio (Mahopac)

125

Jamie Franco (Monroe Woodbury)

vs.

Dan Riggi (Scotia/Glemville)

Casey Lanave (Chenango Forks)

vs.

Nick Arujau (Syosset)

130

Cody Ruggirello (Valley Central)

vs.

Joey Grippi (Fox Lane)

Vinnie Digravio (Wayne)

vs.

Jared Messina (Cheektowaga)

135

Stephen Dutton (Rocky Point)

vs.

Jimmy Kloc (Iroquois)

Udit Thakur (Nyack)

vs.

Andrew Lenzi (Fordham Prep)

140

Andy Rodriguez (Central Islip)

vs.

Mike Santalla (Warwick Valley)

Nick Terdick (John Glenn)

vs.

Matt Eberlein (Island Trees)

145

Zach Clemente (LaSalle)

vs.

Anthony Volpe (Rocky Point)

Ryan Tompkins (Beacon)

vs.

Brian Herold (Macarthur)

152

Josh Veltre (Greece Olympia)

vs.

Steven Ramos (Clarkstown North)

Zach Mccormick (Johnson City)

vs.

John Greshiemer (Wantagh)

160

John Paris (Amsterdam)

vs.

James Brundage (Ossining)

TJ Neidhart (SWR)

vs.

John Velieri (Hilton)

171

Matt Parlier (Port Jervis)

vs.

Clayton Neivert (Ossining)

Angelo Malvestuto (Niagara Wheatfield)

vs.

Jesse Villelaa (Chenango Forks)

189

Austin Meys (Shenendehowa)

vs.

James Brain (Minisink Valley)

Zach Buonaiuto (Miller Place)

vs.

Matt Loew (Wantagh)

215

Paul Glover (Spencerport)

vs.

Ernest James (Longwood)

Zeal Mcgrew (Burnt Hills)

vs.

Steven Butler (Port Jervis)

285

JD Zitone (Port Jervis)

vs.

Brendan Byrne (Minisink Valley)

Elijah Graham (Corcoran)

vs.

Ken Altarac (LaSalle)

VIDEO: Day 1 in Albany

Here are a few video highlights of Day 1 of the state wrestling championship:

LIVE: Wrestling Quarterfinals

We're set for the quarterfinals here in Albany and to start off is Corey Rasheed vs. Will Montgomery of Seaford at 96 pounds. Montgomery won a 1-0 decision to reach the quarters.

Here we go: Good match early on as both wrestlers fight for position. Rasheed gets the early two with about a minute left in the first. He's riding on top and maintains a 2-0 lead after one. An injury timeout delays the start of the second. Corey had some issue with his right hand, but it's quickly resolved. Rasheed starts the second period on bottom. Rasheed is having problems getting off bottom. He's slowly working his way toward the edge of the circle and gets out of bounds with :56 left in the second. He'll start on bottom again. A real rough period for Rasheed but he manages to gain a point. A late escape gives him a 3-0 advantage going into the second and he'll start on top for the third. Rasheed really survived a tough stretch.
A reversal makes it 3-2 with 1:13 left. We get a whistle and an injury timeout for Montgomery.

Rasheed gets another point to go ahead 4-2 but Montgomery ties it with under a minute to go. Rasheed quickly reverses to go ahead 6-4. An escape by Montgomery makes it 6-5 with :38 to go. This is quite the match. They'll have a neutral start with :38 after blood on the mat is cleaned.

They go out of bounds with :23 left and will start neutral. Rasheed is hit with a stall warning. The match is delayed again with blood on Montgomery. It was a good thing because he nearly had a takedown on Rasheed.

There's 14 seconds left. Rasheed hangs on and gets a takedown for the 8-5 win. A very impressive victory for the seventh-grader over a junior.

Meanwhile, Malik Rasheed was wrestling at the same time and pulled out a 3-2 win over Tim Schaefer, the No. 3 seed from Lancaster.

C. RASHEED, 8-5, OVER ERIC MONTGOMERY


M. RASHEED, 3-2, OVER TIM SCHAEFER


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At 119 pounds Steven Keith won a 12-3 major decision against Brentwood's Alex Gomez in a rematch of the county final. My original post on his match didn't save when I tried to publish, so I have to do this again...

KEITH, 12-3, OVER ALEX GOMEZ


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Next up is Stephen Dutton vs. Josh Halladay at 135

Before that happens, another big development to note: The No. 2 seed at 189, Christian Boley of Brockport lost in the first round. Boley placed third in the state last year at 189 and was upset by Matt Loew of Wantagh. This clears the path for Buonaiuto to reach the finals against Austin Meys, who is the top seed. Buonaiuto will face CJ Floor of Port Jervis in the quarterfinals first. If he wins, he'll get the winner of Loew vs. Ken Hamilton of Niagara Falls. A big break for Buonaiuto, we'll see if he can capitalize.

Now we're set for Dutton.

Dutton gets the quick 2-0 lead and takes control of the match. Dutton is so fast on the mat it's hard for wrestlers to react to his moves. Add in his strength and it's easy to see why he's undefeated this year and has only lost three matches since entering high school. The first period ends with Dutton ahead 2-0. It's not often he leads a match only 2-0 after one period. But this is the state tournament and nothing is easy. Dutton starts the second on bottom.

Now he goes to work in the second and grabs a 5-0 lead. He's riding on top. He's working to flip Halladay on his back but they reach a stalemate with :35 left in the second period. Dutton maintains that lead going into the third period.

In the third period Halladay gets a point after Dutton is hit for a stall, which the Rocky Point coaches don't understand. It makes it 5-1 with a minute remaining. Now it's Halladay who's warned for a stall, but no point. Dutton gets in an awkward position and gives up another point on a stall. He hangs on for the 5-2 decision.

It's been awhile since Dutton had a match that close. He was never really challenged in the county tournament.

STEPHEN DUTTON, 5-2, OVER JOSH HALLADAY


That now makes our local wrestlers 13-for-13 today.


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Next up, 145
Anthony Volpe vs. Luke Speno (Fox Lane)

Speno won a 17-1 tech fall in the first round against Tony Carlo of Monsignor Farrell. He is the four seed while Volpe is the five. Speno comes in with a 36-1 record. This could be the end of our perfect streak today.

Update on the semifinal matchups tomorrow: Malik Rasheed will face the wrestler he lost against in the county final, Huntington's Damon McQueen. Rasheed struggled against McQueen and will have a hard time beating him here. His brother Corey will take on Joe Barbato of Wantagh who is also a wild card. He fell as the No. 11 seed and he beat the No. 3 Alec Dierna in the quarterfinals. Steven Keith will face John Belanger of Shenedehowa. He is the No. 4 seed.

Now we're set for Volpe vs. Speno

Volpe takes a 2-0 lead early in the first and comes real close to getting a pin. He gets three back points to storm ahead 5-0. Volpe came out this period ready to wrestle. Wow. He jumps ahead 8-0 and is dominating the action. An electric first period closes with Volpe ahead 8-0. I'm sure that has to be one of the better periods he's had this season.
Volpe got two more in the second period and he's closing in on a tech fall with a 10-0 lead. The action is stopped, though, and the score is now 10-2. Not sure where those two came from for Speno. Volpe gets an escape to go ahead 11-2. Now he's just got stay smart and close it out.

At the end of the second, Volpe leads 11-2. Now it's 12-2. Speno earned a takedown with about :33 left in the third to close it to 12-4. Volpe started to relax a bit in the final period with the big lead.

The final score is 13-5 and Volpe is definitely excited as he flexes his arms to his fans in the crowd. He's on to the semifinals after a very impressive quarterfinal win.

VOLPE, 13-5, OVER SPENO

So now we're 14-for-14 with five matches remaining in the quarterfinals.

.........................


Next up we'll have two matches at the same time at 160 with Coggins and Neidhart.

Coggins is set to face John Paris of Amsterdam who comes in off a pin against Nick Matthews of Kingston.

Neither wrestler can take control in the first period. Coggins goes on his stomatch with about :10 left in the first and stays there to ride out the period. They're notted at zero going into the second where Coggins will start on bottom. He gets the escape for the 1-0 lead. He takes the 1-0 lead into the third period where Paris starts on bottom. He gets the escape to tie it at 1. A takedown with 1:20 left gives Paris the 3-1 lead. He closes to 3-2 with just over a minute left. A takedown makes it 5-2 and Coggins is in trouble. He starts on bottom with :42 left. Coggins goes down 6-4 for the first local wrestler's loss of the day.

PARIS, 6-4, OVER COGGINS

Neidhart is underway in his match vs. Pat Brady of Carthage. He gets a late takedown for a 2-0 lead in the first. Neidhart gets the pin in the second period to advance to the finals.

NEIDHART, PIN, OVER BRADY


.......................


So it looks like we won't have 9 state champions.... Coggins goes down 6-4 and now Neidhart, who lost to him in the county finals, has a chance to earn the higher placing. Of course, if Neidhart loses in the semis, the two could very well face again. Coggins will have a busy schedule now to fight for third. He'll wrestle again tonight and will need four more wins to claim third. He needs to win at least his next two matches for a chance to place.



Buonaiuto is taking on the sixth seed CJ Floor of Port Jervis. Buonaiuto takes a quick 2-0 lead and then gives up and escape. He goes ahead 4-1 and as usual is riding on top. He gives up another escape, though, and he seems confident in his ability to get points. Buonaiuto gets in trouble and loses back points. It’s 6-6 after one. He nearly got pinned.
Buoanituo recovers to dominate the second and get the pin with :43 left.

BUONAIUTO, PIN 3:17, OVER FLOOR


James also got a pin, so quick that I didn’t even see it happen. YIKES! Next thing I know coach Mike Picozzi is sitting next to me. I’m here looking for James and it’s already over.

JAMES, PIN, OVER SHERIDAN


.......................


That wraps up the quarterfinals for us. An awesome day of wrestling for local wrestlers as they combine to go 17-of-18. The only loss coming for Coggins, who was the top seed at 160. He'll try to bounce back for third place.

The semifinals begin at 10 a.m. Saturday.

LIVE: State Wrestling Championship

******KEEP REFRESHING*******


Just arrived at the Times-Union Center where wrestling has been underway for about an hour and a half. So far four local wrestlers have competed and all have won.

The results are as follows:

96 pounds: Cory Rasheed (Longwood) pinned Derrick Gray of Indian River in :36.

103 pounds: Malik Rasheed (Longwood) won a 10-5 decision against Zack Hammell.

119 pounds: Steven Keith (SWR) pinned Jim Widger of St. Francis in 1:15.

135 pounds: Stephen Dutton (RP) won a technical fall against Brian Latham.

The quarterfinal matchups are as follows:
C. Rasheed vs. Will Montgomery (Seaford)

M. Rasheed vs. Tim Schaefer (Lancaster)

Keith vs. Alex Gomez (Brentwood)

Dutton vs. Josh Halladay (Johnson City)
................


I just got to see my first match and Anthony Volpe against Mike Perry of Massena. Volpe jumped out to a fast 6-2 start and was in control throughout the match. Volpe didn't score in the second period, but was never in trouble. He got into a slightly awkward spot early in the third when Perry got ahold of his left leg. But he quickly recovered and got a reversal to go ahead 8-2. Volpe needed an injury timeout midway through the third. It looked like something with his left leg. But he appeared OK and finished off the match. Volpe gave up an escape with :42 left and then Perry got it to 8-4. Then he got a takedown with about :10 left, but couldn't add anything else with Volpe on his stomach.

Final Score: VOLPE 8 - PERRY 6


.................


Interesting note at the 135 bracket. Dutton was originally listed as the second seed in the bracket, but he's at the top spot now that the bracket is posted. A great quarterfinal matchup is Paul Liguori of Wantagh against Andrew Lenzi of Fordham Prep. Them facing each other in the quarterfinals seems a bit early. Lenzi won a state title last year and was the wrestler everyone expected Dutton to face before he was upset in the first round. Dutton beat both wrestlers this year and Liguori was probably the closest match of the year. He beat Lenzi at the Eastern States and didn't have too much trouble. An undefeated regular season really pays off when he gets that high seed and avoids having to beat both Liguori and Lenzi. And when he does face one of them, it'll be in the finals.


....................


160 Pounds: Coggins vs. Rob Grabher (North Shore)

Coggins gets a takedown with :46 left in the first period to go ahead 2-0. A late escape point for Grabher makes it 2-1 after one period. Coggins gets an escape early in the second to go back ahead by two, 3-1. He then reverses Grabher for a 5-1 lead with under a minute left in the second. He takes a 5-1 lead into the third period. An escape point gives Coggins a 6-1 lead. A takedown puts Coggins ahead 8-1 and he's in full control. Interesting note, Grabher was ranked fourth in Nassau at 152 in the rankings of Feb. 3. A nice job by him to get to the state tournament by winning the Nassau title.
Coggins held on 8-1 to make our local wrestlers 6-for-6 so far in the first round.

COGGINS 8 - GRABHER 1

....................

160: T.J. Neidhart vs. Darin Wignall (Depost/Hancock)

A scoreless first period, not many shots by either wrestler. Neidhart starts the second period on bottom and earns the escape point for a 1-0 lead. Neidhart goes ahead 3-0 with about 1:15 left in the second. Neidhart gets two more just before the second period ends for a 5-0 lead. A neutral start to the third period and Neidhart is being patient. He makes his move after about 20 seconds and gets another takedown for a 7-0 lead. Neidhart closes it out 9-0. And local wrestlers are 7-for-7.

NEIDHART 9 - WIGNALL 0

........................

Zach Buonaiuto vs. Josue Cardenas (Portchester)

Buonaiuto fell behind early 2-0 before taking a 4-2 lead into the third period. It was a slow start for Buonaiuto but he turned it on in the third period and won it 9-2. Video to follow.

BUONAIUTO 9 - CARDENAS 2

.......................

Ernest James vs. Patrice Castor (East Ramapo)

James takes a 2-0 first-period lead. In the second James takes a shot at Castor's right leg and earns the takedown. An injury time-out forces a delay with seven seconds left in the second period. Not sure what's wrong. Actually, it looks like a problem with Castor's head gear. He's got a crazy mask on that looks like some kind of hockey goalie helmet. You can't see any of his face. Wild stuff. The period resumes and James closes it out with the 4-0 lead. James starts down for the third period. James goes ahead 6-0. James rides on top the final period and twists Castor on his back to get the pin with 12 seconds left. James in jeopardy of the rare non-pin win. He's only had a couple of those this year. But he pulls it out in 5:48.

JAMES PIN OVER CASTOR, 5:48

Next stop: Albany

Wrestling fans should expect a great showing from Section XI and specifically local wrestlers from the north shore, at this year's state championship, which begins Friday at the Times-Union Center in Albany.

As noted in Friday's North Shore Sun, I'll be up in Albany blogging live during the two days. So to keep track of wrestlers from Longwood, Rocky Point, Shoreham and Miller Place, this is the place.

I'll be leaving early Friday morning, so I'll probably miss the early part of the first round. I'm hoping traffic won't be too bad...

The schedule is as follows:

FRIDAY
10 a.m.: Parade of Champions/National Anthem
10:30 - 2:30 p.m.: Preliminaries
2:30-4:30 p.m.: Quarterfinals
4:30-6:30 p.m.: Wrestlebacks
6:30-8:30 p.m.: Wrestlebacks

SATURDAY
9:30 a.m.: National Anthem/Special Awards
10 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.: Semifinals & Wrestlebacks
12:30 - 2 p.m.: Wrestlebacks/Consolation Semifinals
2-3:30 p.m.: Consolation Finals
6 p.m.: Finals

If you log on before I get settled in at the Times-Union Center, check here for the early results:
http://www.nysphsaawrestling.com/results.html

Once again, the local wrestlers competing are as follows:
96 - Cory Rasheed, Longwood
103 - Malik Rasheed, Longwood
119 - Steven Keith, SWR
135 - Stephen Dutton, Rocky Point
145 - Anthony Volpe, Rocky Point
160 - Billy Coggins, Rocky Point
160 - T.J. Neidhart, SWR
189 - Zach Buonaiuto, Miller Place
215 - Ernest James, Longwood

VIDEO: Longwood boys hoops vs. Pat-Med

Highlights from the Lions' win against the Raiders Tuesday in overtime, 61-59. Marcus Hunter and Kyle Weeks combined for the game-winning play when Hunter stole the inbound pass with 10 seconds left in a tied game and poked the ball ahead to Weeks for an uncontested layup.

Andrews wins 2-mile at Armory

Shoreham-Wading River senior Bobby Andrews won the 2-mile race today at the Eastern States at the Armory. Andrews ran 9 minutes, 21.34 seconds to easily win the race by more than 12 seconds. Tyler Udland of Millburn was second in 9:33.44.

Andrews will next compete at the state meet March 7. After the state qualifier he said he looked forward to getting another race in between the qualifier and state meet. There is a break of over three weeks in between the qualifier and state meet.

Andrews qualifier in both the 3,200 and 1,600 for the state meet, but may elect to just run one race.

Neidhart, Rasheed earn wild cards

UPDATE 2/25/09: Malik Rasheed of Longwood is now slated to compete at 103 after a wrestler dropped out, Longwood coach Mike Picozzi confirmed. Picozzi did not know which wrestler dropped out, but the Lions will now send three wrestlers to the state meet. Malik joins his brother Corey and 215-pounder Ernest James. Malik was originally listed as an alternate for the wild card berth.

Shoreham-Wading River senior T.J. Neidhart earned a second consecutive at-large bid to the state wrestling tournament. After placing second at 160 he'll get a chance to contend for a state title. He placed third in the state last year at 145.

Another local wrestler who will be headed to the state meet is Longwood seventh-grader Corey Rasheed, who lost his first match of the season in the 96-pound county finals. The experience of a state tournament at such a young age should go a long way in his development. His brother Malik, a freshman, is an alternate at 103. Malik also placed second in the county tournament. Twelve wrestlers in total from Suffolk County earned at-large bids and two were listed as alternates. This is the third year of the at-large bids.

That brings the total number of local wrestlers guaranteed to be competing this weekend up to 8:

96-Corey Rasheed

119-Steven Keith

135-Stephen Dutton

145-Anthony Volpe

160-Billy Coggins

160-T.J. Neidhart

189-Zach Buonaiuto

215-Ernest James

The wild card entrants from Section XI were as follows:

96-Corey Rasheed

96-Max Soria

112-Peter DeTore

119-Alex Gomez

125-Tyler Sinisgalli

125-Adam Troy

130-Kyle Wade

140-Nick Terdick

152-Chris Carlucci

160-TJ Neidhart

189-Marvin Titus-Casseus

215-Eric Wooley

Keith's rival struggles in sectional

Shoreham-Wading River senior Steven Keith may very well have to face Justis Flamio again in the state tournament. Flamio beat Keith in the state semifinals last year to end his bid for a second straight state title. Here's a look at how Flamio fared in his section final courtesy of LoHud.com:

• The closest match was Justis Flamio’s surprising struggle with Henry Stauber. Stauber took Flamio, a state finalist, to sudden-victory OT. It was a place Flamio (left) had never been before. In fact he’d never been past the first overtime period, and it showed. When given a choice of top or bottom in double-OT he picked top, mistakenly thinking an old set of rules applied that would have given him bottom in the next period. Instead he got top twice. Remember that all you need is an escape to win in overtime. But the gaffe didn’t kill him and he held Stauber down to win in the last session.Winning by a hair didn’t hurt his confidence. We were talking about his state nemesis Steven Keith of Shoreham-Wading River. He knocked Keith out in last year’s state semis, just as Keith did to him the year before. I asked him if he expected to meet Keith again.
• “I expect to meet him in the state final,” Flamio said.
  

To read the entire post, click here.

Lions-Raiders Preview

The Longwood basketball team takes on Patchogue-Medford Tuesday in the Class AA quarterfinals for a chance to advance to the semifinals against the winner of Lindenhurst/Bay Shore. The Lions have beaten the Raiders twice this season, but both games have been close. The Raiders feature a dynamic scorer in Marcus Stroman, who can take over a game with his shooting ability. He can score from anywhere on the court. Expect the Lions to mix up their looks at him defensively with Tajric Boggs and Kyle Weeks getting the early assignment. As with any good scorer, you want to force him to take tough, contested shots. If he gets easy looks early in the game, that could allow him to get hot, at which point it doesn't matter if his shots are contested.

Jordan Jackson scored 20 points in the Raiders' playoff opener so the Lions will have to keep an eye on him as well. They'll also need to get a body on the 6-8 center, Nick Sergio. He doesn't have great range, but if he's left open down low he'll control the boards and get second chance opportunities. The Lions will rely on Jimmy Knudsen and Marcus Hunter to grab the boards.

The Raiders were competitive in all six games against their top League I rivals this year but went only 1-5 in those games. Their one win came at Lindenhurst Jan. 16, 71-68. Sergio had 20 points in that win. The Lions can't let that happen Tuesday. Stroman will get his points, but they can't allow the other guys to put up a big number as well. In their five losses they lost by an average of 5.6 points.

History has been on the Lions' side as of late in the rivalry. In the last three years they've won five out of six games.

Jan. 24, '09: Longwood 68, Pat-Med 62

Dec. 16, '08: Longwood 69, Pat-Med 65

Jan. 29, '08: Pat-Med 73, Longwood 66

Jan. 5, '08: Longwood 69, Pat-Med 65

Feb. 12, '07: Longwood 73, Pat-Med 54

Jan. 19, '07: Longwood 58, Pat-Med 58

Moschetti accepts boys soccer job

At the Shoreham-Wading River girls basketball game today I ran into coach Andrew Moschetti, who confirmed he accepted the job as the boys soccer head coach. A replacement is still being sought for the girls team.

Moschetti replaces Louis Manoussos, who was unceremoniously let go during the season last year. Baseball coach Sal Mignano filled in as the interim coach and led the team into the postseason.

Moschetti guided the girls team to the postseason in each of his three seasons at the helm. In his first year the team reached the county finals before losing to top-seeded Islip. The Wildcats won two league titles under Moschetti and this year finished just shy of Harborfields before losing in the playoffs to John Glenn.

Moschetti expressed interest in the boys job several years back under former athletic director Jim Cranmer, but did not get the job. Before Manoussos the team was coached by Matt Foster. Both coaches did not leave on good terms, although Foster was not fired. Moschetti expects to be around much longer than the two previous coaches.

Although his job as the girls coach didn't allow him many opportunities to watch the boys team, Moschetti expects to have a decent nucleus returning. He said he'll coach the summer team to give himself a chance to get acclimated to the players.

County Finals Video

Here are videos of just about the complete matches of Steve Dutton and Billy Coggins vs. TJ Neidhart.

Quarterfinals Matchups Are Set

Top-seeded Longwood hung on against Sachem North Tuesday night. Click here for a full recap.

So the quarterfinals set for next Tuesday are as follows:

1. Longwood

vs.

9. Patchogue-Medford

4. Lindenhurst

vs.

5. Bay Shore

3. Bellport

vs. 

6. North Babylon

7. Walt Whitman

vs.

15. Deer Park

Obviously the big surprise is No. 15 Deer Park upsetting No. 2 Brentwood. The Indians fell in double overtime, 84-81, for the quick exit. It's not terribly surprising when you consider the skill of Josh Malone, who poured in 29 points for Deer Park in the win. I saw him this year light up Riverhead and he can really score. J.J. Moore added 28 for Brentwood, but it wasn't enough. Brentwood returns most of its team around Moore so the Indians will be back next year.

Last year in AA the higher seed won every game throughout the bracket. Not so this year. I don't really consider No. 9 Pat-Med winning as an upset, though. The Raiders are a legit team, their record was just hurt by playing in League I. Should be a good one next week at Longwood.

VIDEO: Wrestling County Championship

Here's a highlight package of all the local wrestlers in the county finals from Saturday. Six locals won titles with Steven Keith, Stephen Dutton, Anthony Volpe, Billy Coggins, Zach Buonaiuto and Ernest James.

Be sure to pick up Friday's paper

Friday's edition of the North Shore Sun will have extended coverage of this weekend's wrestling tournament, with stories on all the county champs from our coverage area. Also, a video package will be up on this site, as well as the Sun's homepage by Monday night or Tuesday. I still have to edit the video. So check back for that as well.

A few quick thoughts on the tournament:

• There really weren't many surprises. Going back to early December, of the 15 wrestlers ranked No. 1 in the county, 10 of them went on to win the county title Saturday. The only winners who weren't ranked No. 1 two months ago were Mike Soria (96), Nick Meinsen (125), Dan O'Malley (130), Ryan Rheaume (152) and Billy Coggins (160). Meinsen and Coggins were ranked second.
  

• Everyone seemed to enjoy Hofstra in terms of the actual facility. Space was very good (better than Stony Brook) and the seating brought fans right on top of the action. The seats looked pretty comfortable as well. It was interesting to watch the Hofstra staff transform the arena from its original six-mat format to a two-mat format for the finals. The staff worked very diligently to get everything in order, which included dissembling the stage for the main table, opening up all the closed seats, rearranging the mats and setting up the tables for press row. At that time the TV crew came in and starting running wires everywhere to get their setup in order. I sat back, watched and ate some pizza. 
  

• Next year could be problematic for a sight to host the tournament. Stony Brook won't be available yet next year as the construction remains on hold due to a lack of financing. But I've heard next year all the county tournament's are supposed to be the same weekend. And Nassau wants to use Hofstra. If that's so, where does that leave Suffolk?
  

• From what I could tell nearly all the wrestlers and coaches stayed in hotels nearby the arena rather than driving all the way home. Seemed to make sense, especially for schools like Mattituck, where it's more than a 2-hour drive to Hofstra. 
  

• I was a little disappointed with the attendance for the finals. It was a good crowd, but by no means close to a sellout in the 5,000-seat arena. As Hofstra staff was setting up the arena, I heard a man whom I presume to be the guy in charge of the operation, say a sellout was expected. I didn't think that was going to happen, especially considering the farther drive. But still, I thought the top sections of the arena would fill out a little more.
  

• I don't know if I agree with Ken Collado as the MOW. I know he's the only returning state champ, so that gives him a little extra cred, but I don't think he had the most dominant run through the tournament. The 112 class is a very tough weight, no doubt, but Collado didn't even record a pin or tech fall in the tourney. In the quarterfinals he won 2-0 against Longwood's Nicky Hall, who is just an eighth-grader. When you look at a guy like Dutton from Rocky Point, he barely broke a sweat in his four wins. Is that because his weight class is that much inferior or is he just that much more talented? I would argue the latter. Even guys like Buonaiuto and James were utterly dominant with four pins each. James pinned a guy in the finals who was undefeated. And even Keith, who won the award last year, could have been considered. He gave up one give-away point the entire tournament. But, I don't get to vote for the award, so my opinion doesn't matter....
  

• It was nice to see Longwood, one of the predominant wrestling programs in the history of the tournament, crown a county champ again. James was the school's first champ since Mike Tricarico at 189 in 2006. It was also the school's best team finish since 2002 when the Lions finished second to William Floyd. Now there's a school you don't expect to win a county title these days...
  

• Rocky Point's three county champs was also a first in school history. The Eagles had crowned two in a tournament before.
  

Final Team Standings

1. John Glenn 192

2. Hauppauge 165

3. Longwood 144

4. Huntington 109

5. Rocky Point 99

6. Kings Park 87

7. SWR 73

8. West Babylon 67

9. Brentwood 66

10. Islip 63

19. Miller Place 32

21. Mount Sinai 28

So the top-10 tournament teams featured four League V teams and two apiece from Leagues I, IV and VI. Leagues II and III weren't well represented in the county tournament. The top team finish from the two leagues came from Central Islip (15th place, 44 1/2 points). Central Islip, though, finished last in the League II finals. Wrestling can be a mystifying sport...

LIVE: Wrestling County Finals

Back here live at Hofstra University where the Parade of Champions is underway for Division I and II. The fans are still filing in and sound like they're ready to make a lot of noise.

This should be one of the best county finals for our local schools in a long time. We're guaranteed at least one champion when Rocky Point's Billy Coggins faces Shoreham's T.J. Neidhart at 160.

Here are the current team standings:

10: Brentwood, 62

9: Islip, 63

8: West Babylon, 67

7: SWR, 69

6: Kings Park, 83

5: Rocky Point, 85 1/2

4: Huntington, 105

3: Longwood, 138

2: Hauppauge, 157

1: John Glenn 182

Here we go:

96 pounds

Cory Rasheed (Longwood, 35-0) vs. Mike Soria (Kings Park, 32-2)

Still scoreless midway through the first period.

2-0 Soria with the takedown. 

5-0 Rasheed is in trouble early.

5-2. Rasheed gets a reversal and is back in business.

Period 2:

5-3

5-5

6-5 Soria

Period 3:

9-5 Soria.

Rasheed goes down for his first loss of the season. Give the seventh-grade, 13-year-old credit for placing second in the county. 

MIKE SORIA, 9-5, OVER CORY RASHEED

103:

Malik Rasheed (Longwood, 39-2) vs. Damon McQueen (Huntington, 32-0)

1st Period: McQueen takes a 2-0 lead.

McQueen is in control after one period and still maintains a 2-0 lead.

2nd Period: 

McQueen now goes ahead 5-0. McQueen has been the one guy ranked ahead of Rasheed all year so it's no surprise they meet here tonight in the county finals. McQueen is two years older than Rasheed.

At the end of two, McQueen leads 5-0.

Period 3:

McQueen leads 7-0 and they had to run the injury clock for Rasheed.

DAMON MCQUENN, 7-0, OVER MALIK RASHEED

Next up for us will be 119 where Steven Keith will be the favorite against Alex Gomez.

In the meantime at 112, defending state champ Ken Collado will face Westhampton's Pete DeTore.

Before that, the awards will be handed out for the 96-pounders.

Ken Collado won another county title with a 5-3 decision against DeTore. Now it's time for Keith, who is looking for his third straight county title, the first two coming at 96 and 112.

Steven Keith (SWR, 41-0) vs. Alex Gomez (Brentwood, 36-2)

Period 1: Keith takes a 2-0 lead.

Period 2: Keith goes ahead 5-0 and is in good shape early on. Keith is riding on top and not allowing Gomez to get on the offensive. Keith maintains a 5-0 second-period lead going into the third.

An injury timeout has delayed the start of the third. Gomez was bleeding, but he's back on the mat and ready to go.

Period 3:

Just a few seconds into the match Gomez started to bleed again. So another delay.

Still a 5-0 lead as the clock stops again for an injury timeout. This is third one of the match.

Keith hangs on and wins it 5-0 for his third straight county title.

STEVEN KEITH, 5-0, OVER ALEX GOMEZ

Now it's time for the 135 match between Stephen Dutton and Sayville's Travis Pitre. Dutton has two tech falls and a pin en route to the finals. He's looking for county title No. 3. Dutton pinned Pitre in the first period in their last meeting a week ago in the League V finals.

135: Stephen Dutton (Rocky Point, 41-0) vs. Travis Pitre (Sayville, 31-4)

1st Period: No surprise, Dutton rolled out an 11-1 first period, by far the most dominating period we've seen so far in the finals.

2nd Period: Dutton wins by tech fall, 16-1, in completely dominating fashion. You just don't see tech falls that quick in a county finals. Amazing.

STEPHEN DUTTON, 16-1, OVER TRAVIS PITRE

145: Anthony Volpe (Rocky Point) vs. Joe Giaramtia (John Glenn)

1st period: Volpe takes a 2-0 lead.

2nd period: An escape points gives Volpe a 3-0 lead. He's in control of the match, but still leads just 3-0 as the second period expires.

3rd period: Volpe wins it 5-1. He gave up an early escape point in the period, but that was it.

ANTHONY VOLPE, 5-1, OVER JOE GIARAMITA

Next up is one of the more anticipated matchups of the counties. Shoreham's T.J. Neidhart vs. Rocky Point's Billy Coggins. A huge banner is hanging over the railing here at Hofstra that says "Go Neidhart" Clearly some fans here are rooting for T.J.

T.J. Neidhart (SWR) vs. Billy Coggins (RP)

1st period: Scoreless after one.

2nd period: Coggins grabs a 1-0 lead.

3rd period: Neidhart came back in the last second to force overtime after being down 3-1. Coggins take a takedown in OT for the 5-3 win.

Next up is Zach Buonaiuto vs. Marvin Titus-Casseus

1st Period: Buonaiuto rolls out to an 8-0 first period lead and is dominating the match.

2nd Period: Buonaiuto takes a 10-0 lead into the third.

3rd Period: Buonaiuto gets the pin and his second county title.

Now it's Ernest James (Longwood, ) vs. Eric Wooley (Hauppauge)

James pinned the previously unbeaten Wooley in the second period for his first county title.

So that's the end of the tournament for our local wrestlers. We finish with six county champions and three second-place finishers. A fantastic showing.

County Finals Matchups

Here are all the finals matchups:

96: Cory Rasheed (LW) vs. Mike Soria (King Park)

103: Malik Rasheed (LW) vs. Damon McQueen (Huntington)

112: Ken Collado (Hauppauge) vs. Pete DeTore (Westhampton)

119: Steven Keith (SWR) vs. Alex Gomez (Brentwood)

125: Nick Meinsen (JG) vs. Tyler Sinisgalli (JG)

130: Dan O'Malley (Sachem East) vs. Omar Santiago (Huntington)

135: Stephen Dutton (RP) vs. Travis Pitre (Sayville)

140: Nick Terdick (JG) vs. Andy Rodriguez (Central Islip)

145: Joe Giaramita (JG) vs. Anthony Volpe (RP)

152: Jon Goulding (WF) vs. Ryan Rheaume (Riverhead)

160: Billy Coggins (RP) vs. TJ Neidhart (SWR)

171: Josue Mendez (Brentwood) vs. Anthony Lupi (Huntington)

189: Zach Buonaiuto (MP) vs. Marvin Titus-Casseus (West Bab)

215: Ernest James (LW) vs. Eric Wooley (Hauppauge)

285: Cody Hinrichs (Islip) vs. Scott Munro (Hauppauge)

Live from Hofstra University!

****Keep Refreshing****

We're live here at Hofstra for the county wrestling touranment, Day 2, where the semifinals are seconds away from starting. It was a stellar day for local wrestlers as 14 advanced to the semifinals. We have locals represented in 12 of 15 weight classes. Amazing.

We're going to be starting off with the lightweights where Longwood seventh grader Cory Rasheed will face Kings Park's Max Sorih.

At 103 Longwood freshman Malik Rasheed will wrestle Westhampton's Conner Bass.

The rest of the semifinals are as follows:

119: Steven Keith vs. Casey Brice

130: Jon Hoeg vs. Dan O'Malley (Sachem East)

135: Stephen Dutton vs. Jordan Colon (West Bab)

145: Anthony Volpe vs. Jermaine Jacons (Amityville)

152: Mike Powers vs. Jon Goulding (WFloyd)

160: Billy Coggins vs. Chris Dilorio (Sachem East)

T.J. Neidhardt vs. Lou Puca (Huntington)

171: Will Parks vs. Anthony Lupi (Huntington)

189: Zach Buonaiuto vs. Jake Smith (Smithtown West)

215: Ernest James vs. Corey Schweitzer

285: Ben Lee vs. Scott Munro (Hauppauge)

96 Pounds:

Rasheed is down 3-2 after the first period.

Rasheed is still trailing 3-2 after the second period.

Tied at 3 w/1:38 left.

A Rasheed takedown gives him a 5-3 lead, but Sorih ties it a 5 with :55 left.

Rasheed gets an escape and takedown for an 8-5 lead. He'll hold on for the 8-5 win and advance to the finals. He remains undefeated this season.

CORY RASHEED, 8-5, OVER MAX SORIH.

103 pounds: 

Malik Rasheed is up 4-1 after 2 periods.

An escape point makes it 4-2 midway through the third.

Malik hangs on 4-2 and advances to the finals along with his brother.

MALIK RASHEED, 4-2, OVER CONNER BASS.

119: Steven Keith wins a 6-0 decision over Brice, giving us three locals in the finals already. Keith didn't score a ton, but was in control throughout the entire match. He was simply too strong too allow Brice to wrestle his match.

STEVEN KEITH, 6-0, OVER CASEY BRICE

Next up is Jon Hoeg at 130 against Dan O'Malley. That match will begin shortly.

130: Here we go. We're underway.

Hoeg and O'Malley are scoreless after one period.

O'Malley takes a 2-0 lead on a reversal. Hoeg ties it at 2 with :43 left in the second.

Hoeg is pinned with 1:30 left. He'll fall to the wrestlebacks and hope to take third. He may also face Kyle Wade, whom he beat in the quarterfinals, again.

DAN O'MALLEY, 3:30, OVER JON HOEG

Now we're up to 135 and Stephen Dutton. This likely won't last long.

Dutton was close to a first-period pin, but Colon did a nice job to hold him off. Still Dutton leads 7-1 after one period.

Dutton takes a 10-1 lead into the third period and is closing in on a tech fall.

Dutton wins 17-2 for the tech fall and advances to the finals.

STEPHEN DUTTON, 17-2, OVER JORDAN COLON

Dutton will face Travis Pitre of Sayville. He's already pinned him twice this year, including at the League V tournament last weekend.

Now we're up to 145 where it's Volpe against Jacobs at 145

Volpe grabs a quick 2-0 lead.

Mike Powers is wrestling at 152 at the same time as Volpe, so we're double dipping.

Powers was down 4-2 and takes a 5-4 lead.

Volpe is up 2-0 after one.

Powers is tied 5-5 after one.

Volpe nearly had a pin at the end of 2 and takes an 8-0 lead into the third.

Powers is down 9-7 going into the third.

Powers ties it a 9 with 1:40 left. But then he's reversed and goes down 11-9 with 1:15 to go. Escape makes it 11-10. Powers goes down 13-10 and falls to the wrestlebacks.

Volpe hangs on 11-2.

JON GOULDING, 13-10, OVER MIKE POWERS

ANTHONY VOLPE, 11-2, OVER JERMAINE JACOBS

We're up to 160 where Coggins and Neidhart are going on separate mats.

Coggins was down 2-1 and took a 3-2 lead going into the second period. Check that, the score has been adjusted to 4-1. An escape point makes it 4-2 late in the second. A Coggins escape makes it 5-2. Coggins makes it 7-2 and wins it 9-2.

BILLY COGGINS, 9-2, OVER CHRIS DILORIO

The one semifinal mat got ahead of the other, so Neidhart has yet to start his match at 160.

Neidhart gets an immediate takedown for a 2-0 lead. Now he goes ahead 4-1. A reversal makes it 6-1.

Will Parks is wrestling his 171 match on the next mat is currently scoreless after one period.

Neidhart hangs on 6-4 in a match that was a little closer than I'm sure he had hoped. But nevertheless, as expected, he and Coggins will face off in the finals.

TJ NEIDHART, 6-4, OVER LOUIS PUCA.

Meanwhile, Parks is still scoreless going into the third period. Now he's down 5-0 and in trouble. He goes down 7-2 and falls to the wrestlebacks.

ANTHONY LUPI, 7-2, OVER WILL PARKS

At 189 Buonaiuto is up 2-0 going into the second period. He gets the pin with 1:13 left. That's his third pin of the tournament.

ZACH BUONAIUTO, 3:47, OVER JAKE SMITH

At 215 Ernest James is looking for his third pin as he faces Schweitzer. James takes a 2-0 lead in the first period. The match has been paused twice in the first because of blood on Schweitzer. At the end of one, it's still James, 2-0. He's been riding on top, but can't flip Schweitzer over. The blood clock is running again on Schweitzer. Now they'll resume with 1:07 left in the second.

It's still 2-0 going into the third period. Schweitzer is hanging around against the top-seeded James, who dispatched his first two opponents in 2:00 flat with pins.

James takes a 3-0 lead is looking to put it away now. He gets two more to go ahead 5-0 is riding on top as time ticks away. James hangs on for the win.

ERNEST JAMES, 5-0, OVER COREY SCHWEITZER

We're down to the last semifinal match where Ben Lee will take on Hauppauge's Scott Munro. This is going to be a tough match for Lee as he faces the League V runner-up. Lee was the runner-up in League I.

Now it's time for the big boy, Ben Lee.

Lee goes down 2-0 on a takedown by Munro. Now it's 3-0.

An intriguing wrestleback is underway at 112 where Nicky Hall is facing Huntington's Nigel McNeil for a chance to wrestle for third/fourth. They're scoreless after one. Lee is down 3-0 after two.

Hall led 1-0 and is down 2-1 in the second. A blood clock has Lee's match held up.

Lee goes down 5-1 and falls to the wrestlebacks.

SCOTT MUNRO, 5-1, OVER BEN LEE

Hall falls in his wrestleback, 5-1, as well and will try to take fifth place.

We're now fully into wrestlebacks.

At 119 Brice is up 5-0 against East Islip's Nick Ventiere in the third period.

Brice wins it 5-0 and will wrestle for third/fourth.

Hoeg is in his wrestleback at 130 is tied at 2 against Hauppauge's Anthony Piscitello after one. Now it's tied at 4 going into the third.

Hoeg wins his match 6-4 and can take either third or fourth.

They just announced updated team standings:

6th: SWR, 62

5th: RP, 85 1/2

4th: Huntington, 91

3rd: Longwood, 113

2nd: Hauppauge, 133 1/2

1st: Glenn, 157

215 Wrestleback

Corey Schweitzer is about to face Joe Clemente for the right to wrestle for third/fourth.

They're scoreless after one period. Still scoreless after two.

Schweitzer takes a 2-0 lead with 1:25 to go in the third. He's riding on top and trying to close it out. It's 2-1 with :22 left. He hangs on and wins it 2-1.

Ben Lee pinned Riverhead's Vinnie Rusowski in 2:39 to advance to the third/fourth match.

CONSOLATION FINALS

Longwood's Casey Brice took third with a 9-1 major decision against Kings Park's Jeff Snair.

Longwood's Nicky Hall took fifth with an 8-2 decision against Hills East's Anthony Abidin.

In a rematch of the 130 quarterfinals, Jon Hoeg faced Islip's Kyle Wade. Hoeg won the first time, but Wade won the second battle, 4-2, to take third. Hoeg settles for fourth.

Schweitzer took third for SWR with a 6-4 win against Deer Park's Joe Bilello.

At 2:45, we're done for now until the finals start at 6 p.m. The arena is going to be cleared out now and fans will come back in at 5:30 to get ready for the Parade of Champions.

Section XI State Qualifier Video

Here's some video highlights of the boys and girls Section XI track state qualifier Feb. 10.

Some qualifiers included Ashley Clasen (SWR), Janet Mellor (MS), Janie Turek (MS), Jennifer Johnston (LW), Kayla Murphy (LW), Bobby Andrews (SWR) and Kyle Wightman (SWR).

It's official, Longwood No. 1

The Longwood boys were seeded No. 1 in the Class AA outbracket as revealed Thursday afternoon. The Lions will host Sachem North Tuesday at 6 p.m.

To view a complete bracket, log on to sectionxi.org

Longwood boys win, could earn top seed

The Longwood boys basketball team capped off a 10-2, 16-3 regular season with a win against Sachem East, 74-39, at home Wednesday night. Now it's a waiting game to see how the seeds shake out.

Longwood finished the season as co-League I champs along with Brentwood (10-2) but finished with a better overall record. The Lions also won the only common game between the two schools. Longwood beat St. John the Baptist, a team Brentwood lost to. That said, it would seem to make sense Longwood earns the higher seed over Brentwood.

The Lions could be the top seed, especially after Bay Shore in League II somehow lost to Central Islip Wednesday, 43-42, on a last-second 3-pointer. So instead of 13-1 and 17-2, Bay Shore ends 12-2 and 16-3. 

Here's my rough prediction as of Wednesday night: (I'm always curious to see how close I get to predicting these seedings...)

1. Longwood (10-2, 16-3)

vs. 

16. Connetquot (7-7, 9-11)

9. Pat-Med (7-5, 13-5)

vs.

8. Copiague (9-3, 13-6)

5. Walt Whitman (12-2, 14-5)

vs.

12. Riverhead (7-5, 12-7)

4. Bellport (12-0, 16-3)

vs.

13. Deer Park (6-6, 9-10)

3. Brentwood (10-2, 14-5)

vs.

14. Sachem North (7-7, 9-10)

11. West Islip (9-5, 10-9)

vs.

6. Lindenhurst (9-3, 15-4)

10. Hills East (9-3, 11-7)

vs.

7. North Babylon (10-2, 14-5)

15. Hills West (6-6, 7-12)

vs.

2. Bay Shore (12-2, 16-3)

Again, this is just my guess. If it turned out like this, obviously if you're Longwood you don't want to see Marcus Stroman in round 2. That's rough. But on the plus side, Brentwood and Lindenhurst would be on the opposite side of the bracket, so the Lions would only have to face one of them and that would be in the county finals. I valued North Bab as a league champ pretty low, so I don't necessarily know if that'll hold up. But I think Lindy as a third-place finisher still deserves a higher seed than just about every other team in the county. Probably even Bellport, too.

We'll find out for sure Friday morning... And then we'll break it down fo' real.