North Shore Sun

Stephen Dutton was one of three Rocky Point wrestlers to win a state championship Saturday.

The three-peat is complete.

Rocky Point crowned three wrestling champions to claim the team title at the state championships Saturday night at Times Union Center in Albany. Stephen Dutton, Anthony Volpe and Billy Coggins all went 4-0 in the tournament to stake their claim as the best in the state.

The Eagles scored 72.5 points to edge Huntington (67.5) for the team title, the first in school history.

Section XI dominated the tournament with eight champions and 280.5 points, the most for a section in at least a decade.

Check back for complete stories with reaction from all the Rocky Point wrestlers.

A live blog from the finals follows:

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A little after 5 p.m. and the crowd is already filing into Times Union Center in Albany for the finals of the New York State Wrestling Championship.

If you haven't been following along, four local wrestlers in Division I have reached the finals.

Malik Rasheed from Longwood and Rocky Point's trio of Stephen Dutton, Anthony Volpe and Billy Coggins.

In the first local match at 112 Rasheed faces Nigel McNeil of Huntington. McNeil beat Rasheed in the county final, 9-3, and handled him pretty well. So it'll be a very tough match for Rasheed to try to come out on top here. McNeil beat the No. 2 seed to get into the finals, Brian Realbuto of Somers. Realbuto was the defending state champion at 103. He ended up taking third place this year.

At 140 Dutton faces Jim Kloc. Dutton beat him in the semifinals last year at the state tournament to advance into the finals. He beat him rather easily, 12-0. But Dutton is far from 100 percent today, still feeling the effects of a stomach flu. Dutton had to pull out a last-second finish in the semifinals to get into the finals. He trailed by a point before an escape with three seconds left to force overtime. In the extra period he quickly got a takedown to escape with the win. Normally I'd day Dutton is a lock to win this, but anything's possible. He didn't look like he had much in the tank in the semis, so we'll see how he feels now, one match away from a second state title.

At 160 Volpe is in a rematch with Louis Puca of Huntington. Volpe beat Puca 7-2 in the county final. Volpe has looked very good so far in the tournament.

At 171 Coggins faces Joe Kavanagh from Wantagh in what should be a very tight match. Coggins beat Kavanagh at the Wantagh Duals earlier this season, 9-7. Kavanagh was the No. 2 seed in the bracket while Coggins was No. 1.

Rocky Point is looking to become the first school since 2005 to crown three individual state champions.

Going into the finals Section XI leads with 246 points, which is already more than the section had last year in placing first with 237.5. Section XI has the potential to crown nine champions and is guaranteed two champions.

The most points for a section in the last 10 years was 274.5, posted by Section V in 2007. Section XI should threaten that figure tonight.

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As the wrestlers come out for the Parade of Champions, "The Final Countdown" blares throughout the arena. I half expect to see GOB start to a magic trick from Arrested Development.

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The first match of the finals will feature:

96 Pounds

Mark West (Hauppauge) vs. Eric Lewandowski (Lancaster)

West wins 2-1 for Suffolk County's first champion of the night.

103 Pounds

Joe Barbato (Wantagh) vs. Al Dierna (Wayne)

Dierna wins 9-2.

112 Pounds

Malik Rasheed (Longwood) vs. Nigel McNeil (Huntington)

1st Period: The first period ends with Rasheed down 2-0. McNeil scored with :38 left in the period.

2nd Period: Rasheed starts down. With 1:46 left Rasheed gets shaken up and the trainer comes out look at him. The injury clock ends and Rasheed will start down when they begin. With :38 they go out of bounds and after a discussion between the two refs, Rasheed is awarded and escape but he still trails 4-1. Quickly it becomes 6-1. At the end of two it's 6-1.

3rd Period: McNeil makes it 8-1 with 1:45 left. McNeil closes it out 11-2.

McNeil 11-2 over Rasheed. So the first local wrestler in the finals goes down. No huge surprise there as McNeil is simply too strong for Rasheed at this point.

Rasheed falls to 42-5 on the season with two of the losses against McNeil.

119 Pounds

Grant Greene (St. Anthony's) vs. Damon McQueen (Huntington)

McQueen wins a wild 9-7 overtime decision. Great match. McQueen lost a nailbiter in the finals last year and this time he comes from behind to claim the title. That's three champions for Section XI.

125 Pounds

Nick Arujau (Syosset) vs. Justis Flamio (Mahopac)

Arujau and Flamio were both great rivals with Shoreham-Wading River's Steven Keith. Two years ago it looked Keith would face Arujau in the state finals, but it didn't happen with Flamio upset him in the semifinals. Keith came back to beat Flamio in the state finals last year. Arujau wrestled a different weight from Keith last year. All three always had terrific matches between them.

Arujau wins 7-5.

130 Pounds

Nick Meinsen (John Glenn) vs. Taylor Laraia (Newburgh)

Meinsen wins 6-0, a far less dramatic match than he had earlier in the day. That's four champions for Section XI and five from Long Island.

135 Pounds

Andrew Lenzi (Fordham Prep) vs. Cody Ruggirello (Valley Central)

Lenzi wins 2-0.

140 Pounds

Stephen Dutton (Rocky Point) vs. Jim Kloc (Iroquois)

1st Period: Dutton goes ahead 6-1 and is looking more like his regular self.

2nd Period: Dutton starts down. Gets the escape to make it 7-1 with 1:34 left. He leads 11-1 with :48 left. That's the way the period ends.

3rd Period: Dutton starts down again. An escape makes it 12-1. He gets the technical fall 16-1 in a match that is what Steve Dutton is all about. When you think he might be down, he comes back with a stunning performance. Clearly not at 100 percent, Dutton still wins the state championship, his second straight title.

He improves to 49-0 on the season and 227-12 for his six-year varsity career. And he's the all-time career wins leader in Suffolk County history.

145 Pounds

Andy Rodriguez (Central Islip) vs. Tony Carlo (Monsignor Farrell)

Rodriguez wins 3-2 in an overtime match.

Count 'em, that's six Suffolk County champs.

152 Pounds

Giuseppi Lanzi (Amsterdam) vs. Kyle Wade (Islip)

Lanzi wins 13-6.

160 Pounds

Anthony Volpe (Rocky Point) vs. Louis Puca (Huntington)

Volpe dominates the match 13-4 to win his first state championship. The only points he gave up were on escapes that he allowed to have a neutral start. He improves to 44-1 on the season and 221-19 for his career, equaling the mark set by Jesse Jantzen that his teammate Stephen Dutton just broke at the county tournament.

171 Pounds

Billy Coggins (Rocky Point) vs. Joe Kavanagh (Wantagh)

The Eagles complete the three-peat as Coggins wins a 3-2 decision. Coggins scored one in the second on an escape. To start the third Kavanagh was on bottom and Coggins twice got cautioned for jumping too early. He elected for a neutral start then which tied the match. With :44 left in the final period Coggins scored a takdown and Kavanagh quickly escaped. Clinging to a one-point lead, Coggins closed out the match to become a state champion for the first time, which should clinch Rocky Point the team title.

With the win Section XI concludes the tournament with eight state champions, an incredible display put on by Suffolk County.