Huntington's McNeil wins 119-pound title

It is a streak that began on Feb. 14, 2009, at Hofstra's Mack Arena.

Huntington's Nigel McNeil, who was a 112-pound sophomore, won a 5-4 decision over Ward Melville's Dan Gray in the Suffolk Division I championship consolation match. That affirmed his status as one of the top young wrestlers in the county.

Nearly two years and 70 consecutive wins later, he is pound-for-pound among the county's best. As for the streak . . . it just keeps going and going and going.

McNeil's 13-3 win over Sayville's Chris Siracusa Saturday in the 119-pound final of the League V Tournament extended that streak to 71.

McNeil went 38-0 last year en route to a 2010 state title. He is 32-0 in 2010-11 but quickly silenced talk of another perfect season. "No, I don't think about that because that is how you lose it," McNeil said. "If you go out and wrestle like it is any other match, it just comes."

Whatever magic elixir McNeil possesses, he is using it to dominate New York competition. Huntington coach Kieran Mock says it is McNeil's uncanny work ethic that separates him from the pack. "He just goes so hard all the time that, when he is out on the mat, six minutes isn't that much time," Mock said.

McNeil's explanation was a bit less technical.

"I'm just going out there on the attack and bringing the pain to somebody," he said.

Siracusa was just the latest in a long line of McNeil foes who have felt the pain.

Huntington's Lou Puca authored the encore to McNeil's one-man show, as he extended his unbeaten record to 30-0 with a 9-6 decision over Chanse Menendez of Hauppauge to win the 171-pound title.

Those undefeated records, however, mean little without the ultimate prize.

"It only matters what you do at the end," Mock said. "Wins and losses are a great thing to look at down the road, but the only thing that matters now is to win a state championship."

Seventh-grader Chris Mauriello of Hauppauge won the 96-pound title with a 16-11 decision against Kings Park junior Andrew Roden. Mauriello improved to 32-7.

"I knew that if I wrestled my best, I could win," he said.

Mauriello controlled much of the early action and built a 13-7 lead heading into the final period. Winning as one of the youngest wrestlers in the room was only an added bonus.

"They are really strong because I am giving up man-strength," Mauriello said of his older opponents.

Kings Park won the team title with 210.5 points and broke Hauppauge's run of five straight league championships. Hauppauge was second (197).

Mauriello earned the tournament's most outstanding wrestler award.

Islip's Kyle Wade, who won the 152-pound title, had the most pins (three) in the least amount of time (5:49).

In the most dramatic third-fourth place match of the day, Hauppauge 152-pounder Brendan Ehlinger pinned Preston Garrick of Kings Park at 2:52. At the time of the pin, Ehlinger trailed 8-2. The top three wrestlers in each weight class earn berths to the Suffolk Championships/State Qualifier beginning Feb. 13.