Mauriello Wins Suffolk County Wrestling Title

A Hauppauge High School wrestler got his shot at a long-awaited Suffolk County title and grabbed ahold of it. Now he's moving forward to the state competition.

Nearly one year after being hospitalized in a, senior Nick Mauriello won the Suffolk County 132-pound title on Friday night at Stony Brook University. The win qualified him to compete in the New York State championships in two weeks. 

Newsday reports that Mauriello beat out Connetquot's Joey Gates in a hard-fought 5-3 decision to lay claim to the county title. He broke a 3-3 tie in the third period with a reversal for the win, avenging an earlier defeat to Gates. 

"It is truly a remarkable comeback," Hauppauge coach Chris Messina said to Newsday. "To come back from a life-threatening situation in which he needed to be in a drug-induced coma to wrestle again at this level is just incredible. The road has not been easy but here he is battling for the title."

Read more about Mauriello's match for the Suffolk County title on Newsday.

In 2011, Mauriello was ranked fifth in Suffolk County's Section 11, Division 1 in the 125-pound weight class. He began reporting neck pain, breathing problems and neck pain on Jan. 30, 2011, days before the county championships and was hospitalized. 

Mauriello was diagnosed with Lemierre’s Syndrome, a rare but deadly bacterial infection in the mouth or throat spread through the circulatory system, as a secondary infection caused by Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus, commonly called MRSA. He was placed on a ventilator and hospitalized for 19 days. 

The Hauppauge senior's comeback battle has been gradually building, win by win, throughout the Hauppauge Eagles varsity wrestling season. Mauriello began proving he was a force on the matts winning the Spring Gardner Tournament, Massapequa Holiday Tournament on Dec. 29, 2011, and took second place in Eastern States. 

Mauriello took the League IV title and Most Oustanding Wrestler title in January. He ended the season ranked No. 1 on Long Island in the 132-pound weight class.