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Section XI News

SWR’s Joe Condon Reaches 300 Career Wins

The Shoreham-Wading River High School wrestling team took part in a recognition ceremony of varsity head coach Joe Condon on achieving his 300th career win with the celebrated Wildcats.

Athletic Director Eric Bramoff hosted the Jan. 8 celebration before a home match against Bayport-Blue Point.

Coach Condon achieved the historic milestone at the December 27th Mountain Duals in Johnston, NY. He was lauded by former SWR wrestling coach Athletic Director Paul Jendrewski and current assistant wrestling coach Kevin Nohejl, who shared stories of Coach Condon’s contributions and legacy to SWR’s wrestling program. Family members, administrators, and spectators gifted him with a plaque.

Section XI News

John Glenn Wins D2 NYS Dual Meet Championship

Congratulations to John Glenn on winning the Division II New York State Wrestling Dual Meet Championship!

Glenn beat Nassau’s Plainedge, 38-29, in the finals.

John Glenn (JG) 38, Plainedge (Pdge) 29
131 – Dom Agovino (Pdge) dec. Aidan Lee (JG) 9-6 SV
138 – Karahn King (JG) TF Jon Cynar (Pdge), 18-1
145 – Kyle Carter (Pdge) pinned Ricky Jimenez (JG), 1:41
152 – Peter Bell (JG) def. Luke Nieto (Pdge) by DQ 3:52
160 – Dylan Bulger (JG) pinned Jake Dephillips (Pdge), 1:04
170 – Dylan Fella (Pdge) dec. Niko Drakopoulos (JG), 6-1
190 – Devin Downes (Pdge) pinned David Rafiq (JG), 0:54
215 – Carmine Gerbino (JG) TF Jake McClosky (Pdge), 20-4
285 – Elijah Porpora (JG) pinned Jayden Camp (Pdge), 0:58
101 – Luke Worzel (Pdge) TF Gianni Vargas (JG), 18-2
108 – Joe Manfre (Pdge) pinned Syed Abbas (JG), 0:57
116 – Tommy Aiello (JG) TF Nick Gerbasi (Pdge), 15-0
124 – Ashton Presti (JG)TF Jon Luca Frucci (Pdge), 19-4

Section XI News

National Football Foundation All-Star Classic Announced

Suffolk County football players can play in a regional all-star football game again.

The National Football Foundation All-Star Classic was announced recently and will be played at Hofstra University on Saturday, June 21, at 1 p.m.

The new event is funded by the National Football Foundation and College Football Hall of Fame’s New York City chapter and will be modeled after the Empire Challenge, which ran for 24 years, but has not been played since 2020.

Pete Blieberg, the Assistant Executive Director of Section XI, will serve as the game coordinator. He also ran the Empire Challenge for 24 years.

“We had a template in place that worked, and we’ll use the same footprint,” Blieberg told Newsday. “The communication is vital to the success of the event. The Boomer Esiason Foundation had just about the entire staff involved in one way or another making that game a great success.”

Section XI will share more information about rosters and tickets as we get closer to June.

Section XI News

East Islip Honors Newsday LI Player of the Year with Outfield Banner

The first note East Islip softball coach Jason McGowan ever sent Kyra Kreuscher as an 8th grader was “Dare to be great.”

She now has this quote on her glove as she continues her career at Seton Hall University.

“I am beyond proud of the player and person Kyra has become,” McGowan said. “She came to me as an eighth grader who played right field. She left EI an absolute legend.”

East Islip presented her with a Newsday Long Island Player of the Year banner that will be displayed on their outfield fence this spring and forever.

“Great motivation for my young team,” McGowan said.

Section XI News

Rocky Point Ladies Take Home the 2025 Journeymen NYS Girls Duals Crown

From New York USA Wrestling … 

Picked by 58 percent of pundits in a recent NYS USA Wrestling pool question, it was the Lady Eagles of Rocky Point emerging as the NYS Queens today at the 2025 Journeymen Girls State Duals.

Sweeping their three appearances by scores of 39-25, 45-17, and 38-18 over the likes of Phoenix, Minisink Valley, and Shenendehowa; the Suffolk County based program demonstrated depth and powerful throughout their line-up…

Prevailing in 8 of the 12 individual bouts in the crossover finale against the Plains(wo)men; huge efforts were delivered by Julianna Hernandez (2024 Girls State Champion), Lily Blenk, Ava Capogna (2023 State 4th), Julia Zuchowska (2x State Qualifier), and Madison Hernandez (2024 State Qualifier) who got their arms raised in five of seven matches from 120-165 to turn an initial 3-1 deficit on the scoreboard into a commanding 24-13 advantage…

Nationally ranked [Julianna] Hernandez (120) blew open a 6-3 lead in the 2nd period when she struck for two takedowns and three turns to earn the 14-3 TF over 2024 State Qualifier, Makenzie Harbour….

Tallying four takedowns (including a 4pt double-leg to make the score 6-0), Blenk (126) pitched a 10-0 shutout against Olivia Fox….

After a loss at 132 pounds, Capogna converted a quick TD to go up 2-0 and then utilized a half to stick Haley Miller at the 46-second mark…

2024 State runner-up/2024 Pan-American U15 Gold medalist, Ava Guilmette keeping Shen’s hopes alive when she banked the 16-second stick of Bridget Myers to make the score 13-12;  any momentum established for the S2 powerhouse was short-lived as Zuchowska fought off of her back (headlocked to go down 4-0) for a 1pt reversal and then from par terre was able to maximize a power-half to put and keep Karley St. Gelais on her back until the slap of the mat echoed at the 1:11 mark!!

[Madison] Hernandez followed suit with a half of her own, as she needed just 52 seconds to glue Isabella LaScala!

Isha Bouicicaut accepted a forfeit at 185 to mathematically clinch the dub (28-12 with just three matches to go) before Angelica Smiech and Clover Van Der Velden (2023 State Qualifier) closed strong with respective verdicts of 10-0 TF and pin in 1:33 (up 7-2) versus Isabella Palleschi and Elizabeth Bailey at 100 and 107 pounds…

In defeat, it was Madeline Hill (2024 S2 Girls 4th) collecting a blue chip head-to-head victory when she tallied a pair of 2nd period takedowns to claim the 9-6 decision over 2023 State Qualifier, Ophelia Rosenthal-Vincenti!

Section XI News

Sachem North, John Glenn Win Suffolk County Dual Meet Wrestling

Congratulations to Sachem North (D1) and John Glenn (D2) on winning their respective Suffolk County dual meet championships.

Good luck to both teams as they compete in the New York State dual meet championships next weekend in Syracuse.

Section 11 D1 Dual Meet Championships Championship FinalSachem North (SacN) 28, Connetquot (Con) 18

  • 215 – Kyle Mclaughlin (Con) dec. Niko Valenza (SacN) 8-3
  • 285 – Valdey Pierre (SacN) dec. Nick Feramola (Con) 9-6 SV
  • 101 – Brian Mormon (SacN) dec. David Yapyapan (Con) 4-3
  • 108 – Ethan Hauser (Con) pinned Logan Sedani (SacN) 1:08
  • 116 – Jack Trotta (Con) dec. Corey Bardua (SacN) 7-5
  • 124 – Thomas Keegan (SacN) dec. Julian Medina (Con) 4-3
  • 131 – Jack Cusumano (SacN) md. Ruari Moore (Con) 11-2
  • 138 – Joseph Marotta (SacN) dec. Zachary Carlson (Con) 4-2
  • 145 – Joshua Thomas (SacN) dec. Darien Francisquini (Con) 5-0
  • 152 – Logan Williamson (SacN) dec. Reid Harvey (Con) 13-6
  • 160 – Seamus Mcbreen (SacN) dec. Andrew Amarando (Con) 8-2
  • 170 – Thomas Vecchio (SacN) dec. Kai Shapiro (Con) 7-0
  • 190 – Nicholas Theodoulou (Con) by FFT

Section 11 D1 Dual Meet Championships Championship Final
John Glenn (JG) 42, Shoreham-Wading River (SWR) 29

  • 170 – Niko Drakopoulos (JG) TF Leo Marcario (SWR) 21-6
  • 190 – David Rafiq (JG) dec. Jer`Shawn Coffey (SWR) 3-1
  • 215 – Carmine Gerbino (JG) pinned Adam Benali (SWR) 0:10
  • 285 – Elijah Porpora (JG) pinned James Como (SWR) 0:29
  • 101 – Bradley Brandt (SWR) pinned Gianni Vargas (JG) 0:36
  • 108 – Thomas Matias (SWR) TF Syed Abbas (JG) 18-1
  • 116 – Tommy Aiello (JG) pinned Shane Cowan (SWR) 3:29
  • 124 – Aidan Lee (JG) pinned Jake Davis (SWR) 0:55
  • 131 – Keith King (JG) TF Brady Kitchen (SWR) 17-2
  • 138 – Shane Hall (SWR) pinned Jaxson Sachs (JG) 3:07
  • 145 – Gavin Mangano (SWR) pinned Ricky Jimenez (JG) 0:28
  • 152 – Jacob Conti (SWR) pinned Peter Bell (JG) 1:12
  • 160 – Dylan Bulger (JG) TF Will Stankaitis (SWR) 18-3
Section XI News

Huntington Native Named Youngest D1 Wrestling Coach in Country

From LIU Athletics 

LIU Athletics is pleased to announce the promotion of Huntington native John Arceri to head coach of its wrestling team.

“I am excited to have Coach Arceri lead our men’s wrestling program and happy for our team as we continue to see great success and community support surrounding our program,” said LIU Director of Athletics Elliott Charles.

During Arceri’s prep career at Huntington High School, he was a state champion, a two-time state finalist, and a four-time county champion. He earned the prestigious High School Freak Show National Champion title, cementing his status as one of New York’s top high school wrestlers.

Having originally joined the staff as an assistant coach in 2022, Coach Arceri has played a pivotal role in the program’s development, helping to guide three EIWA place winners and mentoring LIU’s first-ever national qualifier.

“I’m honored to take on the role of head wrestling coach at Long Island University. This program has incredible potential, and I’m excited to build on its foundation to create a culture of hard work, accountability, and success, both on and off the mat,” he said.

“As the youngest NCAA Division 1 head wrestling coach in the country, I see this as a tremendous opportunity to inspire not only my team, but also the next generation of wrestlers who dream of achieving greatness,” Coach Arceri continued. “I’m grateful for the trust the university has placed in me, and I’m committed to helping our student-athletes excel as competitors, students, and individuals. The future is bright for LIU Wrestling and I can’t wait to get started.”

Coach Arceri brings a wealth of experience to his new role, both as a coach and as a former standout wrestler. At Nassau Community College (NCC), Arceri became a national qualifier and contributed to Nassau’s victory in the 2018 Division III National Championship. He continued his wrestling career at the University at Buffalo, where he became a national qualifier once again after finishing fourth at the Mid-American Conference (MAC) Championships. He was named a Scholar All-American and earned Academic All-MAC honors for his academic achievements.