Liam McIntyre maintains control over 195-pound Matt Kelly of Iona Prep during the second round of the state championships at Times Union Center in Albany Feb. 22. Independent/Jim Franco
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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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.
READ THE REST AT THE INDEPENDENT
| 2019_wrestling_final_results.pdf |
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