With Ehlinger out, Delvecchio reaches final

Amid congratulatory handshakes for Kings Park's Mike Delvecchio stood Hauppauge's Michael Ehlinger.

Delvecchio capitalized on an opportunity Ehlinger afforded him, winning four straight wrestling matches Friday at the Sports Complex at Stony Brook to earn a spot in Saturday's 125-pound Suffolk County final against Ryan Gerondel of Sachem North.

Ehlinger knew he could have been in Delvecchio's place, but he wasn't bitter. Instead, Ehlinger extended his right hand to Delvecchio and the two shared a brief embrace.

Last Saturday, Ehlinger defeated Delvecchio in the 125-pound semifinals of the League V tournament. But Ehlinger was forced to pull out of the Suffolk championships because of illness, giving Delvecchio, who placed third in the league, a better seed.

"My coach said it was good karma from me working so hard," Delvecchio said. "Eventually, good things will happen."

Delvecchio was slated to face top seed Casey Brice of Longwood in the first round but instead was placed in an outbracket match against Sachem North's Kevin O'Hagen, whom he beat by technical fall. Delvecchio was the only wrestler to advance to the final from the outbracket round.

"The door was left unlocked for him," Kings Park coach Clark Crespi said. "He not only left it open, he kicked it down."

Delvecchio's semifinal victory came against Brice - two rounds later than they were supposed to meet. Down 5-1 in the third period, Delvecchio threw Brice to his back and pinned him at 4:52.

"It was very disappointing,'' Brice said. "He just got one throw, that's it."

Looking on was Ehlinger, who discovered he was ill on Sunday, but was told by his doctor that he likely would be cleared to wrestle by Friday.

But when his illness persisted, he was told Thursday that his season was over.

"I'm happy that [Delvecchio] won," he said. "It's better to know that I could've made it that far, but it makes it a little frustrating, too."

This season had been a frustrating one for Delvecchio up until Friday. He missed three weeks in January with a partially torn ligament in his right ankle and said it stopped hurting him only this past week. He showed he was OK when he used his double underhooks to toss Brice to his back.

Delvecchio is one of four Kings Park wrestlers in the finals, joining Max and Mike Soria (103 pounds) and 215-pounder Greg Martin.

"It finally gives Kings Park the credit it deserves as a program," Crespi said.

And Delvecchio believes it validates his 12-mile runs and intense training regimen.

"I'm always working to be better," he said. "Even when I was losing, I still felt like I was going to win."

Good karma, indeed.