The Hurricane Wrestlers celebrated the end of a great season recently. It was a great time to reflect on team achievements, individual accomplishments, and enjoy each others company as a team one last time. There were wrestling alumni and even other coaches in attendance. The graduating seniors all made short speeches and passed along advice to the underclassmen. The food and company were great, and it was a great way to highlight the season, the wrestlers, and the special group that makes up the Hurricane Wrestling family. 

For Westhampton Beach wrestlers like Liam McIntyre, a good coach can change a match, but a great coach can change a life. And that’s exactly what Paul Bass has done.
McIntyre remembers being Bass’s first seventh-grade varsity starter at 106 pounds. After he’d made All-League but missed his shot at a title, his coach pulled him aside and told him he saw his young grappler was destined for greatness. Bass told him the two of them would be in the state finals McIntyre’s senior season at 195 pounds, and that’s exactly what happened. McIntyre became his coach’s second and last wrestler to make it to the state finals. After 37 years, 32 as head coach, the Westhampton coach and former Hurricane wrestler is retiring.
“Coach Bass is literally like a second father to me — we have conversations not only about wrestling, but about life, and he’s just been an unreal mentor and such an amazing influence,” McIntyre said. “I’m super happy we’ve had so much success in his final year. Everyone knows he can be a little crazy, but when you get to know him you realize this is a guy you want by your side through life. He’s one of the greats, and will be remembered as a legend of Long Island wrestling.”
Over his career, Bass amassed 324 wins, making him the sixth winningest coach in Suffolk County. He has produced 246 All-League, 50 All-County, eight county champion, 13 state qualifier, and six All-State wrestlers. He has sent wrestlers to the state tournament 12 out of the last 14 years, the best record over that span.
Bass has earned the Coach of the Year title seven times in his career, and was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2015, the same year he retired from teaching social studies. As a Westhampton student in 1978, the then-155-pound Bass was named the school’s second Suffolk County champion. He is currently vice president of the Suffolk County Wrestling Coaches Association, where he previously served as treasurer.
Dedicated To His Athletes
Bass’s other state finalist, 2013 graduate Alex Tanzman, said his coach was always encouraging and eager to lend a helping hand. What he loved most was how being a part of the team was always about more than wrestling.
“Of course he taught me a number of wrestling moves and techniques, but also how to compete with dignity and pride,” said Tanzman, who added his coach also helped him battle through injury and issues at home, learning his coach had struggled with his own issues, including overcoming thyroid cancer in 1991. “It was great knowing that my coach cared about me not only as a wrestler, but as an individual off the mat. He was a mentor and a friend.”
Wrestling was about family for Tanzman, and the sport had been in Bass’s family for some time. He took to the mat after watching his cousin compete for Westhampton.
“I got into a fight after school in sixth grade, broken up by the basketball coach in middle school,” Bass said during a Hall of Fame interview, laughing. “He told us he would see us next year, and that’s when I decided to wrestle instead of play basketball.”

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