THE INDEPENDENT - ​BY | DESIRÉE KEEGAN

Liam McIntyre can hang with the best of them.
Entering the state wrestling tournament as the No. 6 seed, the Westhampton Beach senior 195-pounder felt he had something to prove. And even up against No. 1 Sam Deprez of Hilton, who had pinned every opponent in the first period on his side of the bracket up until the finals, McIntyre was making moves.
Deprez got his first two points early, and racked up back points to end the first period, stretching McIntyre’s left leg on several occasions to form a 90-degree angle, even forcing him into a split at one point in the second. But McIntyre refused to go down easy. The Hurricane avoided multiple pin attempts, and earned back points late in the third, but his effort fell just short with a 4-2 loss.
“Liam wrestled a very, very smart match,” head coach Paul Bass said, adding that across Deprez’s 51-0 record, he’d either pinned or won by a technical fall in all but two of his bouts, including the one against McIntyre. “Sammy scores a lot of points early, so we tried to keep it close and steal it at the end, and Liam almost did. Deprez hadn’t had a match all year long, and he knew he was in quite a battle. Even their coaches said of Liam, ‘That kid is something. That kid is tough’.”
McIntyre dominated the first two rounds with 6-1 wins, even while wrestling conservatively, according to his coach. He upset No. 2 Jhordyn Innocent of East Ramapo with a 4-3 decision to become the second Hurricane to ever advance to the finals. Innocent had placed second at 195 last year, and was the only other wrestler not to lose by a technical fall or pin to Deprez, losing his match 12-2. McIntyre was in a 2-2 tie with Innocent heading into the final period, and earned a takedown for the win.

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Hampton Bays 126-pounder Willy Kraus pulled a tough first-round matchup, facing second seed senior Bradley Cheek of Canisteo/Greenwood at the state championships at Times Union Center in Albany February 22. Cheek pinned Kraus in 1:05, but the Division II junior won his first wrestleback match with a 14-1 major decision over freshman Mitchell Barcus of Eagle Academy Bronx before falling 4-1 to junior Colby Petrie of Medina in the next round.
Unseeded sophomore Jackson Hulse, of Westhampton Beach, came close in a Division I 4-3 loss to No. 5 Drew Bogdan from Albany Academy in the first round. He earned a penalty point in the first period, and chose to start the second in neutral. Bogdan bounced back with a takedown 1:15 in, but Hulse escaped quick to tie the match 2-2.
Hulse’s opponent chose to start down in the third, hoping for an escape point to win, but Hulse kept him in check, riding him through the first half of the third. Each wrestler was cautioned, and a Bogdan reversal with 15 seconds left, and another Hulse escape gave the match its final score.
The Hurricane was unlucky to face No. 4-seeded Steve Gazillo from Cornwall, who was upset early, in the first of wrestlebacks. He lost that match 4-1. Both of Hulse’s opponents were seniors.
“He wrestled hard, wrestled tough,” Westhampton head coach Paul Bass said. “You see 0-2 and you think it’s a disappointment, but it was experience mistakes. Hopefully this takes him to the next level, gets him hungry. I hope he realizes he’s right there.”

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