Publication: The East Hampton Press & The Southampton Press By: Kerry Monaco
It was a day to honor a “family” member, and the Westhampton Beach wrestling team did it in a big way, sweeping the competition to win the annual Cory Hubbard Dual Meet Tournament on January 2 on the Hurricanes’ home mats.
The tournament was the second since the team changed the name of its annual event to honor the memory of Westhampton Beach graduate Cory Hubbard. Hubbard, a three-sport athlete while he was in high school, was killed in January 2014 by a hit-and-run driver during his senior year at the University of Maryland. The driver who hit Cory was sentenced in February 2015 to two years in prison followed by three years’ probation.
“Cory is the epitome of what a high school athlete should be,” Westhampton Beach coach Paul Bass said. “We named the tournament not for just the athlete he was. But the person he was. For the way he lived his life.
He continued, “This is what athletics is all about. Using sports to create men out of boys. He was all that. He was positive. He had a blast with everything. That’s the kind of person you want to name a tournament after. He wouldn’t want us to have a moment of silence for him. He would want us to go out and wrestle like hell. Be like Cory. He always said things like spread love and good will; today is a beautiful day; let’s have at it. He was just a great kid.”
After cruising through the first three matches of the day, Westhampton Beach found a spot in the championship bout against Longwood, which emerged the victor among Bellport, Hampton Bays and Bay Shore in pool two. The Hurricanes easily beat their opponents, Newfield (63-21), Sayville (60-24) and Valley Stream North (55-24).
And after a day full of wrestling, it came down to the final bout of the match to determine the tournament’s champion with Longwood holding a 33-28 advantage—meaning nothing but a pin would do for the Hurricanes. And the squad’s lightest wrestler in the lineup came through in the biggest way possible.
Sophomore Tyler Skala pinned Zach Soriano in 2:32 at 99 pounds to earn his team six points, just enough to edge the Lions, 34-33. Skala had to pin Soriano for the win because even though a technical fall decision would earn him five team points and a tie in team score, Longwood would have taken the match because it had won eight of the 15 bouts.
“Tyler has more experience than him [Soriano], he’s a little older, so that helped,” Bass said. “His head was in the right spot. We have a very close team and winning that match for us meant a lot to him. These guys are all team oriented and Tyler knew everyone was right behind him. He had a plan and made it happen.”
And just as important as Skala’s win was to the team victory, so was Ed Ford’s loss at 220 pounds.
With three bouts to go, Westhampton Beach held a 28-24 advantage, however, the squad was giving up a definite six points at 285 with a forfeit, leaving the final spread of the match to the bouts at 220 and 99. Trailing 8-0 as the bout came to a close, Ford managed a takedown with just a single tick left on the clock to make the final score 8-2, a result that gave Longwood only three team points. Had Ford lost by an eight-point margin, the Lions would’ve received four team points and even with Skala’s pin at 99 pounds, there would have been no way for the Hurricanes to win.
“He is a great kid with a super attitude,” Bass said. “He hasn’t wrestled much but he has so much heart. Had he lost in any other way, we would’ve lost. The match would’ve been over right there. That takedown made all the difference for us.”
In addition to Skala, five other Hurricanes walked away with a sweep of victories on the day—Matt Tanzman (106), Dane Mendoza (113), Alex Kravitz (152), Billy Campbell (170) and Dan McClure (182).
While the day was full of positives for the Hurricanes, there was one negative that will impact the team for the remainder of the season as starter Matt Tobin broke his leg in his second bout of the day, sidelining the 160-pound senior for the rest of the year.
“He was one of the team leaders, second in the league last year, looking to get on the podium at Hofstra next month,” Bass said. “It’s a huge loss for the team but it’s a good reminder for the kids. Every time you step on the mat is a gift. You don’t know what tomorrow brings; you don’t know what today brings. So treasure every minute.”
Half Hollow Hills East Tournament
Prior to hosting their tournament, the Hurricanes traveled to Half Hollow Hills East’s annual holiday tournament and crowned two champions and boasted seven other place-winners.
Dan McClure won the 182-pound title and was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Wrestler after he knocked off the county’s top-ranked wrestler at that weight, Half Hollow Hills East’s Griffin Arcuri.
Also taking home the top spot in his respective weight class was Dane Mendoza at 113 pounds while Matt Tobin took second at 160 pounds and Tyler Skala finished in third at 99 pounds. Finishing in fourth place were Sean Erbus (126), Connor Glynn (120) and Tom O’Shea (182) as Danny Strebel (132) and David Cable (126) both took fifth.
Westhampton Beach was scheduled to host Eastport South Manor on December 6 and will visit Kings Park for another League V match on Friday at 4:30 p.m. before competing in the Commack Duals on Saturday.
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