Publication: The East Hampton Press & The Southampton Press
Dec 30, 2018 8:16 PM
By Drew Budd
Just wrestle.
It's a simple phrase that the Westhampton Beach wrestling team has started to use this season, but in this day and age where there is a lot more going than just the wrestling on the varsity high school stage, it's something that can be easily overlooked by teen-aged grapplers. There are a core of Hurricanes who have taken the saying to heart, and it showed this past week at the Sal DiFazio Holiday Tournament at Half Hollow Hills East High School that ran across two days, Thursday and Friday, December 27 and 28.
For the second year in a row, Westhampton Beach won the tournament with 279 total points, 40 points ahead of host Hills East and 92 points ahead of Bellmore JFK. What's different about this year's tournament victory than last year's, Westhampton Beach head coach Paul Bass said, is that he didn't have nearly as many wrestlers in this year's tournament, due to various reasons, from a few wrestlers being away on the holiday break, to injuries and illnesses. Only 20 of the 38 wrestlers that make up the Hurricanes made the trip to Hills East, and of those 20, 14 placed in the top four of their weight classes. Six of those wrestlers became champions and another was runner-up.
"They're really starting to buy in to our philosophy of just wrestle. Forget all of the scores, forget about all of the rankings, forget about all the drama that's involved in wrestling and just go out there and wrestle," Bass explained. "And it wasn’t just about the results at this tournament. This was a Christmastime tournament. All I care about is getting the kids some good matches. It was how we did it. It was a dominating train coming down the tracks, and it started at 99 pounds."
Read entire article on 27east.com
Dec 30, 2018 8:16 PM
By Drew Budd
Just wrestle.
It's a simple phrase that the Westhampton Beach wrestling team has started to use this season, but in this day and age where there is a lot more going than just the wrestling on the varsity high school stage, it's something that can be easily overlooked by teen-aged grapplers. There are a core of Hurricanes who have taken the saying to heart, and it showed this past week at the Sal DiFazio Holiday Tournament at Half Hollow Hills East High School that ran across two days, Thursday and Friday, December 27 and 28.
For the second year in a row, Westhampton Beach won the tournament with 279 total points, 40 points ahead of host Hills East and 92 points ahead of Bellmore JFK. What's different about this year's tournament victory than last year's, Westhampton Beach head coach Paul Bass said, is that he didn't have nearly as many wrestlers in this year's tournament, due to various reasons, from a few wrestlers being away on the holiday break, to injuries and illnesses. Only 20 of the 38 wrestlers that make up the Hurricanes made the trip to Hills East, and of those 20, 14 placed in the top four of their weight classes. Six of those wrestlers became champions and another was runner-up.
"They're really starting to buy in to our philosophy of just wrestle. Forget all of the scores, forget about all of the rankings, forget about all the drama that's involved in wrestling and just go out there and wrestle," Bass explained. "And it wasn’t just about the results at this tournament. This was a Christmastime tournament. All I care about is getting the kids some good matches. It was how we did it. It was a dominating train coming down the tracks, and it started at 99 pounds."
Read entire article on 27east.com
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