Bronco Campsey registered his 108th win despite a disappointing sixth-place finish at the 2026 Eastern States Classic wrestling tournament upstate in Clifton Park last weekend. The winningest wrestler in Bonac history went into Eastern States ranked seventh in the 126-pound weight class and qualified for the quarterfinals, where he beat number two, Brock Frederick of South Jefferson, in a 4-0 decision. He then lost to third-ranked Vincent Mastrianni of Colonie, which is near Albany, in the semifinals, a heartbreaking triple-overtime result. Campsey went on to lose his fifth-place match, a 10-3 decision to Hewlett’s Carlos Salazar, to finish sixth.
“We are very proud of how he pulled himself up after two tough losses and went out and battled,” East Hampton’s head coach, Ethan Mitchell, said of the Pierson High School junior. “Every kid he lost to has placed in the state. The kid he beat in the quarters was a two-time returning state finalist.”
Last year, Campsey took second place in his weight class at Eastern States, and was expecting a better performance in 2026, but he’s still had a tremendous start to the year. He became the winningest wrestler in Bonac history on Jan. 3, with win 103, passing Eric Kaufman, who graduated in 1987 with 102.
“Every record that Bonac has, he’s going to find a way to break it,” Mitchell said. “He has the most wins. He’s the youngest county champ. He’s only the second one that we’ve had. He’s the youngest All-State, the youngest state finalist. If he gets another ticket to states this year, he’ll be the only Bonacker to go to states twice.”
While Campsey was competing at Eastern States, his teammates were participating in the Anthony Cipriano Invitational in Copiague, but made time to watch his matches between their own. None of the Bonackers placed at the invitational, but Caleb Mott had two wins — pinning Seaford’s Brandon Morris and defeating Bayport-Blue Point’s Joey Balestra in a 4-0 decision. Jason Bueno had one win, pinning Jeyri Almedarez of Copiague. Juan Espinoza pinned Harrison Terzopoulos from Bayport-Blue Point. Orson O’Brien pinned Roy Bottelo from Copiague. Francesco Palombino pinned Juan Pantaleon, also from Copiague. Joe Quizhpi pinned Bottelo. And Brian Torres pinned Angel Guevara from Harborfields.
Meanwhile earlier this month, on Jan. 7, Campsey wrestled in the 132-pound weight class, pinning Adam Niewinski of West Islip, for his 106th win, helping the Bonackers give the Lions a run for their money in a 44-36 loss at home.
“It feels good, but there’s more to come. I just focus on the next match,” Campsey said. “We had good matches all around. It was a close score and we almost had them. We need to compete more and keep fighting and don’t give up.”
Coach Mitchell was pleased with the home-mat performance. “That was a heck of a match. The one thing the Bonackers do is they always show up at home. I thought we were about to pull it off. We were in line, but we don’t have our full lineup, they don’t have their full lineup — injuries, vacation — but that’s wrestling. You’ve got to find a way.”
Now he’s hoping Campsey will find a way to keep winning and get to another state championship. “He’s such a hard worker and such a good kid. He’s great in the classroom, he’s great in the wrestling room. He leads by example.”
