Bronco Campsey Places Second at Eastern States Classic

Add another notch to the belt of the East Hampton/Pierson/Bridgehampton wrestling program.

The Bonackers had never sent a single wrestler to the highly touted Eastern States Classic. Well, not only did they send three wrestlers to compete in the regional tournament that brings in wrestlers from multiple states this year, they had a finalist.

Austin “Bronco” Campsey placed second in the 108-pound weight class, while Juan Roque (116 pounds) went 2-2 and Adam Beckwith (190) went 1-2. Bonac head coach Ethan Mitchell said it was a very, very late call to even go to the tournament, which was held at the Impact Athletic Center in upstate Clifton Park, just north of Albany, and that getting his three wrestlers in was a bit of a process in and of itself.

The application, Mitchell explained, asks for All-State and All-Section wrestlers, and while the Bonackers are building to that point, they simply don’t have those wrestlers yet. But, as Campsey proved, sometimes all it takes is just getting in to prove yourself.

The Pierson sophomore who was ranked 26th in his bracket, more or less ran through his competition, Mitchell said, and to the finals. He defeated a Section V returning state champion, a Section XI returning state champion, Section VIII Division II champion and another Division II state champion all to get to the finals, where he faced William Soto of Newburgh.

According to an article in the Mid Hudson Times, Soto, a sophomore, placed third in New York State as an eighth-grader and won his first state title last season. He also competed at the U15 Pan-American Championships in San Salvador, El Salvador, winning gold in freestyle wrestling and beach wrestling, and silver in Greco-Roman wrestling, representing the Puerto Rican Youth Wrestling national team.

Soto wound up defeating Campsey via technical fall, 15-0, in 1:48. Despite the loss, Mitchell was still struggling to describe Campsey’s accomplishment Tuesday morning.

“It really is amazing. I’m at a loss for words on how awesome it was for Bronco to be able to showcase what we feel was some of his best wrestling,” he said. “And what’s great about it is that he didn’t do anything crazy, he didn’t change his technique or anything. He did the same thing that he always does, he just did it at 100 percent and did it the entire match.

“I don’t like to talk about the officials all that match, but when you go upstate, whether it’s states or a tournament like this, the Long Island teams have a target on our backs and you have to earn every single point,” Mitchell continued. “We do feel, even as well as Bronco did, he didn’t get a call or two that I thought he should have definitely got. But he stayed focused and earned and got those points later on. He did what he had to do. It was awesome.”

Roque took out a pair of All-State wrestlers in his performance, but had a tough pull in the Round of 16, where he had to face Dunia Sibomana of Long Beach, a two-time state finalist who went on to win the weight class. Beckwith took out a public school state champion in his lone win.

“It was a really good experience for all of them,” Mitchell said. “They wrestled tough. Juan and Adam still have a little learning and growing to do. But Bronco showed what it is to be a Tough Bub.”

Campsey should see a bump up in the Suffolk County Division I rankings because of his performance, Mitchell said, which would mean he’d be the top-ranked wrestler at 108.

“At the end of the day, though, none of it means anything if we can’t use it going forward,” he said. “He’ll have some people looking at home now and scouting him.”

A drawback of sending its top wrestlers to Eastern States was that it left the team back home on Friday a bit thin for its home dual meet against Newfield, which was winless coming into the match. To their credit, the Bonackers, missing four starters with Juan Espinoza also being out, and the team forfeiting 101 pounds, which it typically does, still almost pulling off the victory, but ultimately lost, 36-30.

Andy Berezueta (145) and John Chillogalli (190) each came up with one-point decisions to score some much needed points for the Bonackers. Matias Gonzalez (152) also pinned his opponent, as did Justin Prince (170), Francesco Palombino (285) and Josue Elias (124).

“Andy and John are both not regular starters for us. They’re both about to finish their first full season with us, so they both had big nights for us,” Mitchell said. “Justin Prince bumped up a weight class for us. And Matias Gonzalez has been battling injuries all year, so the rest of the boys stepped up. They could have easily said without having the other guys, we’re not going to win, who cares? But they made sure Newfield earned that win.”

East Hampton had its final League III dual meet of the season at Huntington on Wednesday and will have off until January 30, when the team hosts its Senior Night in a nonleague tri-meet with Comsewogue and William Floyd at 5 p.m. The Bonackers will have their youth and middle school wrestlers on hand and Mitchell is inviting all alumni to come down and take part so that every generation is represented.