Huntington High School History

The first wrestling meet in school history was held on February 19, 1937 and saw the Blue Devils lose to an experienced Lindenhurst team, 25-10.

Legendary coach and athletic administrator William Class started the program, after student interest surged.  Many other high schools around Suffolk sported teams in the 1930’s.

Huntington Station’s Charlie Smith won the first match in school history, taking a decision in the 105 lb. weight class.  Harold Cole, who easily won at 155 lbs., helped spur the development of a team.  Cole, an experienced grappler, transferred to Huntington High School from an upstate school and easily won at 155 lbs. in the school’s inaugural meet.

Jack Ackerly, one of the greatest Huntington athletes of his era, as well as the school president his senior year, lost in a wild bout during that first meet.  Acklery was ahead of his opponent when he thought the referee blew his whistle to stop action.  Acklery released his foe who immediately turned and threw the Blue Devil grappler to his back.

Huntington’s John Scanlon and Teddy Clayton both won exhibition matches on that historic day.  Huntington finished that first season with a 1-2 record.  The win came on February 23, 1937 against Garden City, 25-21.  All meets were away since the Blue Devils lacked an area to hold a meet.

Cole went on to place in the Suffolk County tournament, becoming the first Huntington wrestler to win all-county honors.

Class coached the 1938 squad, too.  That team finished 4-4 and qualified seven wrestlers for the county tournament, including Ackerly, who acquired the nickname, “Half-Nelson,” a popular move in the sport.   Following the 1938 season the program was disbanded due to a lack of interest after many of the wrestlers graduated.

It wasn’t until 1951 that the sport reemerged at Huntington, this time with another legend as coach in Frank Kubisa and with an inexperienced junior on the squad by the name of Lou Giani.


More state champions have come from Huntington High School than any other high school in New York State.
Huntington High School Blue Devil State Champions


Section

School

Year

Division

Place

Wgt

Name

Grade

11

Huntington

1973

1

1

155

Lou Giani Jr.

Sr.

11

Huntington

1973

1

1

167

Charles Gadson

Sr.

11

Huntington

1974

1

1

98

Jeff Thomas

Soph.

11

Huntington

1975

1

1

112

Jeff Thomas

Jr.

11

Huntington

1976

1

1

250

Mike Rosenbauer

Sr.

11

Huntington

1977

1

1

98

Paul Widerman

Jr.

11

Huntington

1978

1

1

105

Paul Widerman

Sr.

11

Huntington

1978

1

1

138

Mike Thomas

Sr.

11

Huntington

1980

1

1

138

Bill Gaffney

Sr.

11

Huntington

1982

1

1

98

Kieran Mock

Sr.

11

Huntington

1984

1

1

98

Gene McNeil

So.

11

Huntington

1985

1

1

132

Mark Billups

Sr.

11

Huntington

1986

1

1

119

Gene McNeil

Sr.

11

Huntington

1986

1

1

167

Drew Jackson

Sr.

11

Huntington

1992

1

1

91

Brian Fischenich

Sr.

11

Huntington

1994

1

1

119

Jim Amira

Sr.

11

Huntington

1998

1

1

189

Dawid Rechul

Sr.

11

Huntington

2000

1

1

103

Patrick Flynn

So.

11

Huntington

2000

1

1

160

Jack Piana

Sr.

11

Huntington

2002

1

1

112

Patrick Flynn

Sr.

11

Huntington

2002

1

1

125

Steven Palacios

Sr.

11

Huntington

2002

1

1

145

Stephon Sair

Sr.

11

Huntington

2004

1

1

130

Shawn Riley

Sr.

11

Huntington

2010

1

1

112

Nigel McNeil

Jr.

11

Huntington

2010

1

1

119

Damon McQueen

Sr.

11

Huntington

2011

1

1

119

Nigel McNeil

Sr.

11

Huntington

2015

1

1

113

John Arceri

Jr.

All-Time Huntington High School Coaching Records


Coach

Number
of years

Years

Record

Winning
Percentage

Bill Class

2 years

1937-1938

5-6

.455

Frank Kubisa

8 years

1952-1954, 1956-1959, 1966

35-33-5

.515

Al Cotton

1 year

1955

7-6

.538

Paul McCarthy

5 years

1960-1964

45-17-2

.726

Charles Robinson

1 year

1965

7-4

.636

Joe Victor

4 years

1967-1970

8-46

.193

Lou Giani

38 years

1971-2008

416-32

.929

Kieran Mock

5 years

2009-2013

42-16

.734

Travis Smith

5 years

2014-2017, 2020

50-17

.746

Lou Giani III

2 years

2018-2019

7-21

.250

 

 

 

 

 

7 Coaches

71 years

1937-1938; 1953-2020

622-199-7

.755

Source: Jim Hoops, Huntington HS; and Andy Slawson, Suffolk County wrestling historian.