Ward Melville’s Phillips, Glenn’s Aiello and Smithtown East’s McDermott shine at Smithtown wrestling tournament

Chase Phillips was fired up as he walked off the mat.

He had good reason to be excited.

The Ward Melville sophomore is currently ranked second in Suffolk County at 101 pounds. His opponent in the 101-pound final of the Smithtown Tournament was Smithtown West’s Tyler Conzo, who is the top ranked wrestler in the weight class.

Phillips outlasted Conzo in a 2-1 decision to take first place in the tournament Saturday at Smithtown West.

After two scoreless periods, Phillips started the third period on bottom and earned a reversal with 1:30 left to take a 2-0 lead. Conzo escaped in the final seconds, but couldn’t take Phillips down before the time ran out.

“I had a pretty nice reversal and I know that on top is where I win,” Phillips said. “I just stayed heavy on top to keep it my match.”

Phillips lost a 4-2 decision to Conzo in the county semifinals last season.

“It’s a big confidence booster going into late in the season,” Phillips said. “It was a really good match. I’ll probably see him again.”

Glenn senior Tommy Aiello got payback from last week’s Raider Invitational when he lost an 8-1 decision to Smithtown East’s Dylan Reinard.

On Saturday, Aiello took a 9-4 decision over Reinard in the 116-pound final. Aiello said it was his seventh meeting with Reinard and he is now 4-3 in the series.

“Last week, I got in on a lot of shots and he was really good at defending it,” Aiello said. “Leading up to this match, he’s never shot on me and he’s scored a lot. So, I didn’t want to be overly aggressive like I usually am.”

Aiello led 6-4 before scoring a takedown as time expired in the third period to seal the win. Aiello is a three-time Division II county champion and went undefeated on his way to 102-pound state title in 2023. Last week’s loss to Reinard was already his third loss of the season, but it hasn’t bothered him.

“The pressure was definitely with me all of last year,” Aiello said. “This year, I’m not worried too much about wins and losses. I’m judging matches on my effort and how I felt and I’m just trying to get better technically.”

Connetquot won the team competition with 309.5 points and had six winners. Zachary Carlson and Nicholas Theodoulou led the way by pinning their way through the tournament to the 138-pound and 170-pound titles, respectively. Ethan Hauser (108), Julian Medina (124), Reid Harvey (152) and Kai Shapiro (160) also won their respective weight class.

Smithtown East’s Matthew McDermott was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Wrestler. He defeated Floyd’s Jack Meyer via 6-3 decision in the 131-pound final.

Before the final round, Smithtown West coach Kenny Leverich held a moment of silence for Jacque LaPrarie Sr., the assistant football coach and elementary school teacher who died at age 61 on Dec. 23. Leverich said he and LaPrarie became Phys. Ed. teachers in the district around the same time and he had known LaPrarie for about 30 years.

“He was just a wonderful Phys. Ed. teacher, community member and parent in this town,” Leverich said. “Jacque was a mentor to people without knowing he was being a mentor. Other Phys. Ed. teachers would look to him and say, ‘I want to be like him.’ He’s missed dearly and he should be remembered at events like this.”