Doyle, Venier lead Kings Park's comeback
Kings Park's Doninick Montemurro controls Islip's Chris Whelan with a gut wrentch in their 135 lb. match. Montemurro won by decision 11-2. (Jan. 5, 2011) Credit: Joseph D. Sullivan
Youth would be served on this night in Islip. Islip and Kings Park were set to open the League V dual-meet season with lineups loaded with underclassmen. Only three of Islip's 15 starters were seniors. Kings Park had four.
"We knew the younger guys were going to have to wrestle well to get a win here," Islip coach Rob Cuffie said. "We hoped that our more experienced guys would come through."
And of course it came down to the final few bouts. But perhaps the most impressive win came at 119 pounds, where perseverance was the key. Matt Haag of Islip held a 3-0 lead over Kevin Doyle late in the third period and was seemingly in control. And in one final shot at pulling out the win, Doyle's body locked the Islip wrestler to the mat with nine seconds left. Doyle gained the takedown and was awarded three back points by referee Sean Brocking just before time expired to pull out an improbable 5-3 comeback win.
Doyle's win got Kings Park within three team points, and Tom Venier's pin in 2:50 over Jonathan Theo at 125 sent the Kingsmen to a 34-28 win over Islip last night before a crowd of 450.
"The win at 119 pounds was huge," Kings Park coach Clark Crespi said. "Our kids really came through in some tight spots. I thought we hung tough and won some of the closer bouts."
The dual meet kicked off at 135 pounds, and Dominick Montemurro got the Kingsmen off to a fast start with an 11-2 victory over Chris Whalen. But the lead didn't last as Islip reeled off three straight wins, including a 46-second pin by state runner-up Kyle Wade at 152 pounds. Wade improved to 13-0 and staked the Bucs to a 16-4 lead.
But Kings Park would win three of the next four bouts, including 160 and 171 pounds. Preston Garrick countered Vinny Provenzano's third-period takedown attempt and gained the two-point takedown for a 5-3 lead and a big comeback win.
"He made the move at the end and took it away," Provenzano said. "I have to finish that one."
Kings Park also received a big lift when Andrew Ventura came out of a wild scramble for a takedown late in the third period for a 4-2 win over Joe Sabbatino at 171 pounds.
"I thought we could have won both of those bouts," Cuffie said. "We lost too many close ones."
