Page 16 ~ The Smithtown News ~ December 4, 2008
Sports 2008-09 Area High School Wrestling Preview

STARTING ON TOP: Hauppauge 103-pound state champion Ken Collado (center), with coaches Chris Messina (right) and Jerry Goodfellow (left) is just the tip of the iceberg of experience that the Eagles (above) return with this season.

Coming off record dual meet season, tourney title,Eagles have work cut out with move to League V

The Hauppauge wrestling team is coming off of a stellar year in which it swept through the season, set a Suffolk record with 22 dual meet victories, sent 16 wrestlers to the county tournament, dominated the League IV tournament with seven champions, produced the only Section XI state champion and still the word rebuild remains no where in its vocabulary.

While depth has been a mainstay of the program, the Eagles will have to show it this season as they move from League IV into a tougher League V with five starting wrestlers having graduated and 130-pound Suffolk County champion Stephen Dutton since transferring to Rocky Point. For 27th year head coach Chris Messina, no problem.

"We graduated nine guys and you have to just keep plugging away and keep giving the kids good competition," Messina said. "What matters is that you learn from each year and when the year ends a new one comes around and you have to figure out how to win."

This years equation will be without the likes of defending League IV champions Jon Senese (145 pounds), David McGarry (189), League IV runners-up Keith Collado (135), Dan Scheim (152) and Austin Schneider (160) who have all graduated. One standout, though, the Eagles’ squad will be returning with is 103-pound New York State Champion Kenneth Collado."He has been working real hard and he knows he has a real tough year ahead," Messina said of Collado who will make the jump to either 112 or 119 pounds. "He has that bulls eye on his back but he has a great attitude. He will weather the storm."

At the League IV tournament last year, Collado was one of a school record 13 Eagles grapplers to advance to the finals as Hauppauge finished in first with 325.5 total team points. Over 150 more then second place Deer Park. Joining Collado as a returning league champion this season are junior Jesse Marro (125), senior Eric Wolley (189) and senior Scott Munro (285). Marro returns with nearly 30 wins under his belt from last season and will either be wrestling at 135 or 140 pounds. Wooley is fresh off helping lead the Eagles into the playoffs on the gridiron as a starting tailback and will be wrestling at 189 pounds while Munro will hold down the 275-pound slot.

Sophomore Adam Lepkowsky comes in as a sixth place county finishers last season and is slated to see time at the 96-pound weight class once again. He will be joined in the lightweight divisions by All-League freshman Sam Schwartzapfel who will be wrestling at either 103 or 112 pounds and freshman Nick Maurello who will making his debut at 96 pounds.

"He will be one of our better kids," Messina said of Maurello. "He wrestles year round and is an outstanding wrestler."

On the other end of the spectrum, senior Steven Marro is coming off a second place All-League season and will once again hold down the 285-pound weight class. Shoring up the middle of the Eagles lineup will be the the brothers Bonaventura. Dan, a senior, will be at 160 while Anthony, a junior, will either be wrestling at 140 or 145-pounds. Gennaro, the youngest of the three being a sophomore could also work his way into the line up as the season progresses.

Still coming in as returning All-League wrestlers are sophomore Mike Ehlinger and junior Anthony Piscitello. Ehlinger will look to improve on his third place league finish wrestling at 130 pounds while Piscitello looks to improve on his fourth place finish at either 140 or 145 pounds. He might has a run for his money in returning All-League junior Kevin Panebianco who won over 30 matches last year in addition to placing second in the league tournament. He will be wrestling at either 135 or 140 pounds.

At 171 pounds the Eagles have a couple options in junior Chris Dutton and sophomore Anthony Martello. Both return with some experience from last season as does junior Matt Oswald at 119 pounds and junior Alex Carnaxide.

Adding some new options for Hauppauge will be sophomores Chanse Menedez and Tyler McGann as well as senior Vincent Guntur. Menedez and Guntur make the move up from the jayvee to wrestle at 160 and 152 pounds, respectively, while McGann – a Hauppauge native – is a transfer student from St. Anthony’s. Adding a revisited option rather then a new one will be senior James Napolitano who was an All-League wrestler as a sophomore only to miss last season due to injury.

"We are going to be a better tournament team then a dual meet team," Messina said. "We have some holes to fill from last year but we are going to be pretty balanced and we will have a couple competitive kids in each weight class."

While that puts the Eagles in good shape for their annual tournaments, it still doesn’t help the fact that they are now in a league with the likes of Rocky Point, Sayville, Islip Huntington and Harborfields.

"As far as the league goes, we are in one of the toughest leagues in the state," Messina said. "Last year we had 16 kids get into the county tournament and it’s going to be much more difficult for our kids to get in this year."

The complete Hauppauge schedule is as follows: At East Islip (scrimmage), December 6, 4 p.m.; host West Islip (non-league), December 10, 5:30 p.m.; at Baldwin Invitational, December 13, 10 a.m.; host Connetquot (scrimmage), December 15, 3 p.m.; host St. Anthony’s, December 18, 5:30 p.m.; at Massapequa Invitational, December 27, 10 a.m.; host Hauppauge multi-team dual meet, January 3, 9 a.m.; at Rocky Point, January 7, 6 p.m.; host Islip, January 9, 6:30 p.m.; at Sayville, January 14, 5:45 p.m.; host Harborfields, January 16, 6:30 p.m.; at Farmingdale Invitational, January 17, 19, 10 a.m.; at East Hampton, 4:30 p.m.; host Comsewogue, January 23, 6:30 p.m.; host Huntington, January 30, 6:30 p.m.; at Newburgh Invitational, January 31, 10 a.m.; at Harborfields Invitational, February 7, 9:30 a.m.; at Hofstra Invitational, February 13-14, 9:30 a.m.; at Albany Invitational, February 27-28, 9 a.m.

Returning state champion Ken Collado (112lb) and senior Scott Munro (285lb) win the section XI Championships. Placing in the tournament for all county status were Eric Wooley, Jesse Marro, Nick Mauriello, Anthony Piscitello and Sam Schwartzapfel.