LI arm wrestlers grapple for championship

John Bountinas clasped his sweaty, chalked palm with Mike Ayello's much larger hand and realized he had little chance of pushing his opponent's arm to the table.

"I can't even close my hand, Mike," said Bountinas, moments before Deer Park's brawny Ayello smashed the Astoria resident's arm backward.

And just like that, Ayello -- a New York City firefighter -- was crowned owner of Long Island's Strongest Right Arm. He and Bountinas battled in a field of 50 in Sunday's 33rd Annual Long Island Arm Wrestling Championships, held at Mulcahy's Pub in Centereach.

Ayello, 33, pocketed $100 for his win, but bowed to Kevin Nelson, 42, a graphic artist from Holbrook, in the lefthanded championship match. A sometime bouncer who has arm wrestled at competitions for about three years, Ayello said the challenge is a bigger lure than the cash.

"I love anything that's one-on-one," he said. "It's typical meathead, testosterone-fueled garbage."

The event, which attracted a few dozen spectators, is a key part of New York's competitive arm wrestling circuit, said Gene Camp, who emceed the contest for the New York Arm Wrestling Association. The Long Island competition is part of the New York Golden Arm Series that culminates in the Empire State Golden Arm Tournament of Champions in Manhattan on Nov. 17.

The number of entries in the Long Island event has ebbed and flowed over the years, as has the size of the venue, Camp said. In some years the tournament has attracted more than 90 wrestlers and was held at Belmont Park raceway, he said.

Last year, the event was canceled for the first time since the 1970s, he said. This year, "We're back on the map," he said.

A handful of women also competed. One, Ana Kenah of Jersey City, N.J., lives on a houseboat and hones her sport by challenging male dockworkers.

Kenah won the Long Island's Strongest Arm award for lefthanded women. Joyce Boone of Brooklyn beat her in the righthanded category.

As the event wound down, one also-ran, David Milburn of Jamaica, Queens, reflected on why he competed. "If you're part of it," he said, "it's part of you."