The Westhampton Beach Hurricanes had some very notable honors at the Suffolk County Awards Dinner. Honored for becoming County Champions were seniors Liam McIntyre & Sophomore Jackson Hulse. In addition, McIntye along with fellow Senior Suraj Patel were both awarded SCWCA scholarship awards due to their outstanding academic achievement! Coaches Ethan Mitchell, Connor Miller and Andrew Petroulias were awarded the League VI JV Coaches of the year! We also learned that former Hurricane Dan McClure (2016) was named an Academic All-American for the 2nd year in a row! Congratulations to all of the Hurricanes!! Well done!

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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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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A historic night for Westhampton Beach Wrestling! Two Section XI Champions for the first time in school history! Ten Hurricanes made the trip to the two-day 2019 Section XI Championships being held at the Brentwood campus of Suffolk County Community College. When Saturday concluded, the Hurricanes had 2 wrestlers still remaining. Senior Liam McIntryre the #1 seed at 195 and Sophomore Jackson Hulse (160) had both made it into the quarter-finals. Hulse was not ranked in the Section XI rankings top 6 as of 2/5/2019 but was the #3 seed for the tournament. 

#3 Tournament Seed - Sophomore Jackson Hulse
Jackson entered Sunday with a quarter-final match-up against Nick Camson from Smithtown West. Camson had previously won his pigtail match, and then defeated #6 Tournament seed Jonathan Delvecchio from Longwood 8-6. Jackson handled Camson by a 7-1 final score and advanced to the semi-finals. In the semi-finals, Jackson faced Stephen Kane (#5 Section XI, #2 Tournament Seed). It was a very close match with Hulse prevailing 12-8, setting up his finals match against Jett Tancsik from Centereach (#1 Section XI & #1 Tournament seed). Tancsik made his way to the finals with two byes, a 4-3 win over #8 tournament seed Bryan Whitman from Rocky Point, and a 5-4 win over Josh Leidig (#2 Section XI and #5 tournament seed) from Bellport.
160 POUND FINALS MATCH
     Hulse led off the scoring with a takedown with 30 seconds remaining in the 1st period. He looked aggressive, strong and most importantly not intimidated at all from the opening whistle. Tancsik was able to escape with 2 seconds left and the 1st period ended with Hulse leading 2-1. Tancsik elected to start down for the 2nd period. Hulse arguably setup his title win by being able keep Tancsik down for the entire 2nd period. Hulse elected bottom to start the 3rd period and was able to escape in the first 5 seconds giving him a 3-1 lead. Halfway through the 3rd period, Hulse was called for stalling as he was tied up with Tancsik but was giving ground and backed out of bounds. Hulse made his only noticeable mistake of the match as he got caught by Tancsik and taken down with about 30 seconds to go in the match which tied the match at 3-3. The takedown completed near the edge of the mat and a reset took place with 26 seconds remaining. Hulse with a quick spin was able to escape Tancsik with 20 seconds remaining and avoided trouble the rest of the way to claim his Championship title!! It was an amazing run. Congratulation Jackson!!!

#1 Section XI and #1 Tournament Seed - Senior Liam McIntyre
Liam was expected to win. However, that doesn't mean it will happen. It can arguably make it harder to stay focused and avoid overlooking any opponents. Someone forgot to tell Liam that as he seemed completely focused. He started the tournament with a bye and then pinned Soel Molero from Commack to reach the quarter-finals on Sunday. In the quarter-finals Liam pinned Shakeese Byrd from Bellport setting up his match with #4 tournament seed Jaylyn Butler from Bellport in the semi-finals. Liam wasted no time and and moved on with a convincing 17-1 victory. In the finals, Liam faced Peter Magliocco from Northport (#3 Section XI and #3 tournament seed). 
195 POUND FINALS MATCH
Liam was the aggressor from the beginning and busted through with a takedown with about 1:!5 remaining in the 1st period. He let Magliocco escape soon after and led 2-1. Liam followed up with another real nice takedown with about :50 second left in the 1st period to build his lead to 4-1. That lead held until the start of the 3rd period. Liam on the bottom escaped to make it 5-1 and made his only mistake of the match with about 30 seconds to go which gave Magliocco a takedown and made the score 5-3. Magliocco let Liam up late in the match in a last ditch effort to close the gap. Liam looked in control the whole match and took the 6-3 victory for his back-to-back Section XI Championship titles! Congratulations Liam!!!