East Beats West in Wrestling League Opener

It may have been the opener of the League III wrestling schedule, but for many in the Smithtown West High School gym Wednesday night's showdown between Smithtown East and West was quite possibly the biggest meet of the season, one that could well determine who ends up with the league title.

The two clubs didn't disappoint. West won six of the first 10 bouts to build a nine-point lead, but East stormed back in the middleweights, winning the final five bouts in a row to defeat West, 39-26.

"A lot of things went our way," said East coach Dave Cummings. "We won some of the close matches and those big matches at the end."

"That's the best part of our lineup, those middleweights up to 160," said East's Casey O'Malley, who secured the win for East in the second-to-last bout of the evening, winning a 5-3 decision over Joseph Hunsucker at 152 pounds. "That's where we knew we needed to pull out the big wins."

"It was a great match," said West coach Ken Leverich. "It comes down to pins in matches like this. You get pinned in areas where you thought you were going to win, that's a nine-point swing."

West jumped out to a quick lead when Joe Nappi pinned Nick Oliveri in the opening bout at 171, but East took the next two bouts with a decision by Tim Kopiske over Vittorio Caputo and then a huge pin by Nick Galante against Orrie Wolfer at 215.

"Every guy who goes out on the mat has a job to do," Cummings said. "Some guys to keep the match close, other guys maybe to win, other guys maybe to pin."

West won the next 11 points with a pin by Michael Hughes against Jordan Alperin at 285 and then a 17-0 major decision by Nicholas Hoffmann over Jack Truncale at 96. West maintained its lead through the next five bouts, but then East turned the meet around.

Luke Outcault won a 16-6 decision over Richard O'Leary at 135, and then Eric Binder pinned Kyle Gruder in 53 seconds at 140 to give East a one-point lead, 27-26. That was followed by another big pin, this one by Scott Price over Marco Mosleh in 1:33 at 145 pounds.

Then O'Malley defeated Hunsucker, who beat O'Malley twice last season. "I've lost to him twice in the past, so it was big," O'Malley said. "At this point I know his style and what I'm up against, I just wrestled my match."

"We plan on seeing those guys wrestle a lot this year," Leverich said. "It's hard to keep beating the same kid over and over, and it's going to keep happening with these two. They're going to meet at least two more times this year."

For O'Malley, the win over West launched East in the right direction.

"A league title is definitely the goal, and hopefully we'll be one of the best teams in the county. That's what we're striving for," he said.

West came into the meet on a high, going 7-2 at the Uniondale Duals over the holiday break, one year after going winless at the same event. Leverich said Wednesday's loss was disappointing, but the effort was solid.

"It's not about what happens, it's how you react to what happens," he said. "We wanted to win this one tonight. We felt that this could be — and it's a long league season in front us —  for a league championship tonight. And we're still going to fight for that league championship. Try to learn from our mistakes and come back strong."

West visits Centereach on Friday and will be one of several teams at Saturday's Smithtown East Tournament.

East 39, West 26

96 – Nicholas Hoffmann (W) def. Jack Truncale, 17-0

103 – Steven Bair (E) def. Chris Ardizzone, 7-2

112 – Joseph Giamis (W) def. Justin Burns, 3-1

119 – Branson Berger (E) def. James Punzone, 9-1

125 – Patric Dudek (W) def. Tyler Vigliarolo, 8-1

130 – Victor Iacono (W) def. Evan Greenberg, 6-4

135 – Luke Outcault (E) def. Richard O'Leary, 16-6

140 – Eric Binder (E) pins Kyle Gruder, :53

145 – Scott Price (E) pins Marco Mosleh, 1:33

152 – Casey O'Malley (E) def. Joseph Hunsucker, 5-3

160 – Anthony Forca (E) def. Justin Pardo, 4-3

171 – Joseph Nappi (W) pins Nick Oliveri, 1:32

189 – Tim Kopiske (E) def. Vittorio Caputo, 12-4

215 – Nick Galante (E) pins Orrie Wolfer, 1:17

285 – Michael Hughes (W) pins Jordan Alperin, 4:24