After a great weekend at the Cory hubbard Duals, the Hurricanes may have had an emotional letdown heading into their final League VI match of the season. Needing a win to secure 2nd place in League VI and an automatic bid to the Suffolk County Team Duals Tournament, WHB was not up to the task. Miller Place took a forfeit at 285 and still led 6-4 after Sophomore Grant Skala got a major decision at 99 pounds. Miller Place then went on to take 40 straight points with 5 pins and wins in 8 matches in a row from 106 through 152 and the match was over. The final tally was 54-19. The Canes will have to cross their fingers and hope they can get an "at large" bid to the Duals Tournament. Meanwhile it was a tough dose of reality but perhaps at a key time as the League Tournament and post-season wrestling is right around the corner! Go Canes!

Miller Place High Sch (MPHS) 54.0 Westhampton Beach Sr (WBS) 19.0
285: Angelo Casiano (MPHS) over   (WBS) (For.)
99: Grant Skala (WBS) over Michael Giugliano (MPHS) (MD 11-2)
106: Alexander Constantis (MPHS) over Jack Santora (WBS) (MD 13-4)
113: Justin Klein (MPHS) over Will Zaffuto (WBS) (Dec 7-4)
120: Mark Rado (MPHS) over Ian Recchion (WBS) (Fall 1:26)
126: Travis Grebe (MPHS) over Jason Montagna (WBS) (Fall 0:52)
132: Ryan Hucke (MPHS) over Dominic Jurgel (WBS) (Fall 3:41)
138: John Hucke (MPHS) over John Shannon (WBS) (Fall 3:49)
145: Kyle Klein Jr. (MPHS) over James O`Neill (WBS) (Fall 2:52)
152: Jordan Syperski (MPHS) over Gage Rubio (WBS) (Dec 6-2)
160: Jackson Hulse (WBS) over Collin Letterio (MPHS) (Fall 2:22)
170: Noah Bila (MPHS) over Lawrence  Citarelli (WBS) (Dec 8-5)
182: Hunter  Burling (WBS) over Christopher Bold (MPHS) (Dec 9-8)
195: Liam McIntyre (WBS) over   (MPHS) (For.)
​220: Nicholas Neyland (MPHS) over Erich Schaumloffel (WBS) (TF 19-4 2:30) 

​Publication: The East Hampton Press & The Southampton Press
By Cailin RileyThere is the pressure to win, and then there is the pressure to pin. For wrestlers, the difference between them can be intense. But Westhampton Beach sophomores Grant Skala and Jack Santora rose to the latter challenge in their team’s match with Newfield—the 13th ranked team in Suffolk County—at the Cory Hubbard Duals in Westhampton on Saturday.

Skala (99 pounds) and Jack Santora (106) were the last two Hurricanes to take the mats in their team’s bout with Newfield, ranked three places ahead of the Hurricanes in the county team standings. Facing a 35-24 deficit going into those matches, they knew the only way their team could win is if they both pinned their opponents (a pin in worth six points, a technical fall five points, a major decision four points, and a decision three points). Both Santora and Skala were favored to win their matches, according to Westhampton Beach head coach Paul Bass, but he said the strategy for pinning an opponent is often different, and requires both skill and savvy on the part of the wrestler.

The young wrestlers delivered. Skala pinned Nick Roethel in 1:55, while Santora delivered the match-clinching mat slap over Andrew Gabb with just seconds left in the second period.

The Hurricanes finished as the runner-up in their host tournament, losing, 42-39, to Patchogue/Medford, ranked 10th in Suffolk County. In addition to the win over Newfield, the Hurricanes also beat Holy Trinity, 67-18.

Bass said that while he always wants to win, he was about as happy as he could have been with a loss after facing Patchogue/Medford.

“At the end of that match, I was the first one to cheer,” he said. “That’s what high school sports is supposed to be. You had two sets of fans going crazy the whole time, kids laying it on the line, and it was back and forth, and it came down to [Will Zaffuto] wrestling really tough against an All-League kid and losing, 7-4, but they just battled the whole time.”

Over the course of the tournament, Skala was 3-0 with a pin; Santora was 2-0 with two pins; Jay Montagna (126 pounds) was 3-0 with two pins; and Jackson Hulse (160 pounds) was 3-0 with two pins, beating Newfield’s Frank Micari, ranked fourth in the county in his weight class, in a 7-0 decision. For that effort, Montagna was chosen as his team’s Most Outstanding Wrestler for the day. Larry Citarelli (170/182 pounds) was 3-0 with a pin; Hunter Burling (182/195) was 2-1, suffering his first loss of the season, an OT defeat at the hands of Newfield. Liam McIntyre, ranked first in the county at 195 pounds, was 3-0 with two pins, wrestling both at 195 and 220.
Read the entire article on 27 East

The Hurricanes needed everything to go right against undefeated and #1 ranked Rocky Point on Friday (1/4) night if they wanted to come away with a victory. Unfortunately, in the end, it wasn't meant to be. WHB saw 3 matches turn the wrong direction that left them on the short end of a 44-33 score dropping them to 4-1 in League VI. There was no time to dwell on the defeat as the Canes hosted the Cory Hubbard Duals and were in action about 12 hours later. The Canes got a forfeit from East Hampton just couldn't field enough wrestlers. The Canes then handled Holy Trinity 67-18 which brought up a tough match up against 2017 Champion and #13 ranked Newfield. The match was expected to be difficult and was just as advertised. Newfield had 5 Section XI ranked wrestlers, but Sophomore Jackson Hulse was able to defeat the #4 ranked wrestler in the 160 pound match and the Canes limited the damage done by the others. Ultimately, the Hurricanes found themselves down by 11 with 2 matches remaining and just as has been the case so many times this season were able to do what was necessary to win. In this case, pins by Sophomores Grant Skala and Jack Santora delivered the 36-35 victory in front of a very raucous crowd in the gym. Meanwhile, in the Middle School, #10 Patchogue-Medford had taken care of business and dispatched all other Group B members including a tough Bellport team that had beaten Newfield the previous evening. That earned them a spot in the 3pm final. Once again, the Canes knew they would have to wrestle extremely well to win the title and the match did not disappoint. After getting down very early the Canes battled back and things ultimately came down to the final match at 113 pounds with everything knotted 39-39. Sophomore Wil Zafuto in the must win match took the mat and gave it his all but ended up on the wrong end of a 7-4 decision and Patchogue-Medford claimed the Cory Hubbard Duals title for 2019. Inside the match though, 6 weights earlier, there was a genuine show of sportsmanship by the Patchogue-Medford coach that should be noted. WHB Senior Hunter Burling at the start of the 195 pound match picked his opponent up and slammed him to the mat too hard and was called for a penalty. The wrestler, if unable to continue, would have caused WHB to forfeit that match due to the penalty and Hunter Burling would also not be able to wrestle in the next dual meet as punishment. The forfeit would have made it impossible for the Canes to win. The trainer examined and ultimately cleared the wrestler to continue but the Pat-Med coaches felt it best that he not wrestle further. Rather than claim the forfeit, they allowed the match to restart and then forfeited to the Canes giving us 6 points and allowing the close match to continue to its ultimate, very exciting conclusion. While the Hurricanes certainly wanted to keep the Cory Hubbard Duals trophy in Westhampton Beach, the knowledge that it is in the hands of Patchogue-Medford for now, is perhaps fitting, given the way Cory Hubbard competed as a Hurricane. Overall, the tournament was a great success and it was really great to see the Canes in action all day. Go Canes!!

The Hurricanes, Coaches and fans react at the moment Sophomore Jack Santora pins his Newfield opponent, winning the match 36-35 , and earning the Canes a spot in the finals of the 2019 Cory Hubbard Duals Tournament.
Photo courtesy of Haley Burling