East Hampton wrestling's Austin Bronco Campsey wins ultimate tiebreaker to reach state semis

ALBANY — It was the All-Long Island quarterfinal at 108 pounds, arguably the top bout of the first few rounds at the state Division I wrestling championships.

East Hampton sophomore Austin Bronco Campsey and MacArthur junior Vincent Orandello battled through three scoreless regulation periods in an attempt to earn a spot in Saturday’s semifinal round at the MVP Arena. The two continued to counter each other through two action-packed overtime periods, but neither could secure a point. With the match still scoreless, it came down to the ultimate tiebreaker in sudden victory.

Orandello (30-2) chose the top position — a spot where the wrestlers thrived throughout the bout — for the 30-second period. But this time, Campsey escaped Orandello’s grip with five seconds left and secured a 1-0 victory. Campsey will face Hauppauge senior Connor Sheridan (28-2) for the third time this season on Saturday in a rematch of the Suffolk Division I championship.

“I can get out on anyone,” Campsey said. “But I was in a little bit of danger at times.”

Campsey (33-2), the Bonackers’ first Suffolk champion since Eric Kaufman in 1987, is the pride of the East Hampton wrestling program.

“We watched him together as a team on the livestream when he wrestled at the Eastern States Classic,” East Hampton coach Ethan Mitchell said. “He’s a unique kid, one of very few words. He prefers to let his actions speak for him.”

Mitchell said Campsey is a tireless worker, whom the coaching staff always believed would be an All-State wrestler.

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MacArthur coach Mike Marrero praised Campsey, while touting the performance of Orandello.

“It was a lot of high-level wrestling,” Marrero said. “That was the most action you’ll see in a scoreless match. It’s obviously disappointing but he [Orandello] will bounce back. He put together a great season and won his first county title. He went from the high of highs to the disappointment of a state loss. He must refocus to be a state place winner.”

Two other semifinal bouts also will feature Nassau versus Suffolk wrestlers. At 101 pounds, Hauppauge sophomore Trevor Patrovich will battle Massapequa eighth grader Jon Tutku.

Patrovich (26-2), the Most Outstanding Wrestler at the Suffolk championships, won two dominant decisions to reach the semifinals. Tutku (45-1) defeated third-seeded North Babylon freshman Xavier Seabury, 7-6, in a quarterfinal.

At 116 pounds, top-seeded Long Beach junior Dunia Sibomana-Rodriguez (47-2), a three-time state place winner, secured victories by technical fall and a pin in 1:44. He will face fourth-seeded Longwood sophomore Anthony Lagala-Ryan, who collected falls in 1:51 and 3:05.

Seven Suffolk wrestlers reached the semifinal round, including Smithtown East freshman Matt McDermott (39-3) at 131 pounds, Bellport freshman Camryn Howard (42-2) at 138 and Brentwood senior Jason Kwaak (39-0) at 160. Nassau had three wrestlers reach the semifinals, including Farmingdale senior Eric Wolf (39-5) at 152.

Perhaps the toughest loss in the tournament took place at 124 pounds when Hauppauge’s 16th-seeded Gino Manta pushed defending state champion Evin Gursoy (33-0) of Midwood into the final seconds before suffering a 1-0 loss.

Long Beach freshman Ethan Andreula (38-4) gave defending state champion Will Soto of Newburgh all he could handle in the 108-pound quarterfinal. Soto led 1-0 early in the third period before pinning Andreula in 4:21.

“He was in it,” Long Beach coach Ray Adams said. “I was proud of him.”

In the Division I team scoring, the CHSAA leads with 124.5 points going into the semifinal round. Suffolk is fourth (104.5) and Nassau is sixth (75.5).

By Gregg Sarra

gregg.sarra@newsday.com@Gregg_Sarra

Gregg Sarra is Newsday's high school sports editor and has been on the beat since the mid-1980s.