Nick Piccininni of Ward Melville beats Nathan Marshall during their...

Nick Piccininni of Ward Melville beats Nathan Marshall during their match during the NYS Wrestling tournament in Albany, NY. (Feb. 25, 2011) Credit: Pat Orr

ALBANY - Nick Piccininni etched himself into the record books when he became only the second eighth-grader in Suffolk history to place at the state Division I wrestling championships. Piccininni battled his way through the wrestleback round to finish in third place in the 96-pound bracket with a 3-1 win over Anthony Orefice of Lockport Saturday night before a crowd of 4,008 at the Times Union Center in Albany.

The Ward Melville eighth-grader lost a 6-4 heartbreaker to Kyle Kelly of Chenango Forks in the semifinal round Saturday morning. He trailed 4-0 and came back late in the third period and ran out of time to complete the comeback. Kelley went on to win the state title Saturday night with a 7-4 win over Dylan Realbuto of Somers.

Although disappointed by the loss, Piccininni used it to fuel his run through the consolation bracket to finish third by winning two bouts.

"He's got a lot of character and a great work ethic for such a young wrestler," Ward Melville coach Bill DeSario said. "He wrestled extremely well to take third."

Piccininni was also wrestling with his mother, Loren, in mind. He wrestled throughout the two-day event with a pink sock on his left foot.

"I dedicated the season to my mom who was diagnosed with breast cancer in September," Piccininni said. "It was very scary. But she's doing great and the doctors said the cancer is completely gone."

Piccininni's father Anthony said his wife has been through a very difficult time and had to have a double mastectomy.

"She's doing great and we have one more appointment to make sure we're in the clear," he said. "You wake up one morning and the whole world is turned upside down. But it's been all good news now."

Piccininni said the entire Ward Melville team wore pink socks this season. And every pin by a Patriots wrestler helped raise money for Breast Cancer Awareness.

"You could say I wrestle for two reasons," Piccininni said. "And both are very important."

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