Camryn Howard comes through for Bellport wrestling in win over Smithtown West
Bellport’s Camryn Howard controls Smithtown West’s Donovan Rail and won via pin in 1:37 at 138 on Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024. Credit: George A Faella
Camryn Howard has been the consistent stitch in a loaded Bellport wrestling lineup this season.
The 14-year-old eighth-grader won the Suffolk 126-pound championship as a seventh grader and finished eighth in the state last year. He has returned this season with a vengeance. He has 22 wins in a row, including 18 pins, and is looking for his first state crown.
“I have individual goals and we have team goals,” Howard said. “First things first, let’s win the league dual meet title and then the league tournament.”
Consider Howard the key to Bellport’s exciting 31-30 win over previously undefeated Smithtown West Wednesday night which helped the Clippers clinch the Suffolk League IV title in front of a packed gymnasium. Bellport improved to 13-2 overall and 5-0 in league competition. Smithtown West is 9-1, 4-1 after the showdown of unbeatens in the final league dual meet of the season.
Howard pinned Donovan Rail in 1:37 at 138 pounds for a 31-21 Bellport lead with only two bouts left. Smithtown West, which earned three league titles since 2016, needed two pins to pull out the win and came up just short. Smithtown West senior Jack DiMaggio shutout sophomore Kingston John, 5-0 at 145 pounds to get the Bulls within 31-24 and senior Peter Graham pinned R.J. Hermann in 4:26 at 152 pounds for the final margin.
“We knew it would be a tight dual and we lost the close ones,” Smithtown West coach Ken Leverich said. “We’ll readjust our goals and get ready for the league tournament. We’re deep and we’ll be motivated.”
Bellport has set the bar in league competition winning five of the past six league titles. And in 2022 when Hauppauge wrested the league title from Bellport’s grasp, the Clippers came back to exact revenge to win the league tournament.
“We continue to grow the program and we’re really young with seven sophomores, a freshman and an eighth-grader in our starting lineup,” Bellport coach Chuck Maragioglio said. “Howard is certainly our catalyst in the lineup and the guy that makes us go. It was a very tough dual meet and every point mattered. We had a huge win in the opening bout at 160 pounds . . . ”
Sophomore Jason Nichols got Bellport off to a great start at 160 pounds. He opened an 8-0 lead after two periods and beat Wyatt Millich, 14-2, for the 4-0 lead.
“That was the only major decision in the dual meet,” Maragioglio said. “And it was the difference as everything else fell into place.”
Smithtown West made a run in the middle weights when sophomore Colten Ford turned in the Bulls’ third pin at 124 pounds to get within 25-18. Ford made quick work of sophomore Louis Saballechi with a first period pin in 1:01. Senior Max DeSousa followed with a hard fought 6-0 win over Anthony Santana to make it 25-21 before Howard’s clinching pin.
“My team relies on me,” Howard said. “I’m happy we won.”
Gregg Sarra is Newsday's high school sports editor and has been on the beat since the mid-1980s.
