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A Look At Who WHB's McClure, ESM's Busiello Brothers Will Face At Wrestling States

2/22/2016

Publication: The East Hampton Press & The Southampton Press Feb 22, 2016 1:24 PM

By Cailin RileyThree East End wrestlers will battle for New York State Division I championships this weekend at the Times Union Center in Albany. Here’s a look at who they’ll be facing and how they are expected to fare.

Dan McClure-Westhampton Beach

McClure, a senior, won the Suffolk County Championship at 182 pounds—his first county title—after beating Sam Schuyler of Kings Park in a 12-5 decision on February 14. He’ll be gunning for his first state title in what is his first trip to states, starting off in the first round against fourth-seed Alexander Melikian, a senior, of Lakeland Panas High School (Section I-Dutchess, Putnam, Rockland, Westchester). If McClure wins, he will face the winner of fifth-seed Tyreek Bromley of Long Beach (Section VIII-Nassau) vs. Simon Chee of Benjamin Cardozo (private school) in the quarterfinals. If McClure can get to the semis, he will likely face top seed Kevin Parker of Shenendehowa (Section II-Capital District), who won the state title last year at 170 pounds.

Suffolk County will be well represented in the bracket, with Schuyler and county runner-up Jeffrey Brown of Connetquot also earning at-large bids. Suffolk County typically receives the most at-large bids of any section in the state because it consistently wins the state tournament every year and is widely recognized as being the most competitive section in the state with the best wrestlers.

Westhampton Beach head coach Paul Bass said McClure has been working hard and is ready to go. He acknowledged that all the wrestlers in the bracket are strong, but said he believes McClure can hang with the best of them. McClure has been working for the past week with some of the best wrestlers in the state as part of the Suffolk County practices, grappling with Edwin Rubio (285) of John Glenn, Terron Robinson (220) of Walt Whitman, Christian Araneo (195) of Ward Melville, Marcus Bisono (170) of Hauppague, and Chris Mauriello (152) of Hauppauge. Those wrestlers all won county titles this year, and Rubo, Robinson and Araneo are all the top seeds in their brackets for states.

Adam Busiello-ESM

Freshman 106-pounder Adam Busiello is the favorite to win the state title, earning the top seed after cruising his way to the county title for the second straight year. Busiello won his first state championship last season at 99 pounds, and was a runner-up at states as a seventh-grader. He will start the tournament against David Traub of Tottenville (private) before taking on the winner of Zayne Benedict of Vestal (Section IV-Southern Tier) vs. Alex Samson of Victor (Section V-Genessee Valley).

Busiello became the third state champion in ESM history last season, following in the footsteps of Maverick Passaro (2012) and Travis Passaro (2014). He has a chance to become the first two-time state champ for the Sharks if he wins this year.

John Busiello-ESM

The state tournament will be a family affair for the Busiellos, as Adam’s older brother, John, a senior, will compete in the 145-pound bracket. Busiello beat Shoreham’s Jack Taddeo, 3-0, to win the county title on February 14. This year has been a homecoming for Busiello—after a successful freshman year at ESM, where he finished second in the county tournament and took third in the state tournament, Busiello decided to enroll at Wyoming Seminary, a prep school in Northeastern Pennsylvania with a reputation for wrestling excellence. He spent his sophomore and junior seasons there, finishing fifth in the prep nationals, before deciding to come back to ESM for his senior year. Busiello is seeded sixth at states this year, and will open up against Tyler Brazinski, seeded sixth, of Johnson City (Section IV-Southern Tier). If Busiello wins, it could set up a rematch of the county final, as Taddeo—who received an at-large bid—would be the next opponent, should Taddeo win. Taddeo will open against Angus Johnson of Canton (Section X-St. Lawrence Area).

The tournament is set to begin on Friday, February 26, with the Parade of Champions at 9:30 a.m. Prelims will run from 10 a.m. to roughly 2 p.m., with quarterfinals running from 2 to 4 p.m. and wrestlebacks running from 4 to 8 p.m. On Saturday, semifinals and wrestlebacks will run from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., with wrestlebacks and the consolation semifinals from 12:30 to 2 p.m. Consolation finals will run from 2 to 3:30 p.m. After those are over, the gates will close and then fans can return at 5 p.m., with ceremonies set to begin at 5:50 p.m. and the finals set to start at 6:30 p.m.

For the latest updates, follow sports editor Cailin Riley on Twitter @sportsgal27east.

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Westhampton Beach's McClure Wins County Title At 182 Pounds; Mendoza Takes Fourth At 113

2/12/2016

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Publication: The East Hampton Press & The Southampton Press
By Cailin Riley Feb 12, 2016 7:55 PM

Two years ago, there was not a more unlikely candidate to win a county wrestling championship than Dan McClure.

So when, at the end of his sophomore season, with zero varsity wins under his belt, McClure told Westhampton Beach head coach Paul Bass that he wanted to be a county champ, Bass’s initial response was laughter.

But later that night, Bass came up with a plan.

McClure followed that plan pretty much to the letter, and on Sunday night at the David S. Mack Arena at Hofstra University his dreams came true as he beat Kings Park’s Sam Schuyler, 12-5, to win the Division I county championship at 182 pounds.

McClure became the fourth Westhampton Beach wrestler to win a county crown, following in the footsteps of Nick Broccoli (2006), Steve Kobus (2007), and Alex Tanzman (2012 and 2013). The victory gives McClure a spot in the New York State Championships, set for February 26 and 27 at the Times Union Center in Albany. It marks the 10th time in 11 years that Westhampton Beach will have representation at the state meet, a streak no other program in the county can claim.

Two years ago, Bass never thought McClure would be the one to keep that streak intact.

“That’s what’s so special about this,” Bass said on Sunday night, moments after McClure’s win. “For most of his life, Dan was a knucklehead, he was a bad student, and got thrown out of everything.

“I told him, ‘you have so many things you need to change in your life to even think about that,’” Bass continued. “But the next day, I had a list of five things he needed to change in his life, and the first three had nothing to do with wrestling. One involved being a better person, a better student. And he has done everything I’ve told him to. He listened, and he just kept coming. It’s been an amazing turnaround in two years.”

McClure made it to counties last season, but fell one win short of placing in the top six and earning All-County status. That did not sit well with him, he said on Sunday night, overcome with emotion.

“I internalized that feeling and it did not feel good,” McClure said. “It was a learning experience. I grew from it.”

McClure admitted that he was far from the ideal athlete as a sophomore, but said his love of the sport helped him make a big turnaround.

“I was pretty much a big knucklehead,” he said. “But wrestling was really an outlet for me to exercise some kind of discipline, I guess you could say. I came off sophomore year getting pinned in my last match and I was like, no, I’m not making any excuses any more. It’s time to pick myself up and be a man.

“And, wow,” he added. “It really has changed my life.”

After winning the League VI title a week earlier, McClure was seeded third in the bracket for counties, but Bass maintained in the days leading up to the tournament that he felt McClure was the best wrestler in the weight class. McClure started the tournament by pinning Brian Williams of Sachem East in 3:13, before earning a 7-3 decision over Ben Aronow of Sachem North. He knocked off second-seed Luke Marino of Mount Sinai in a 4-0 decision before his dominant win over Schuyler. Schuyler wrestled at 170 for most of the season but bumped up to 182 for the postseason. McClure beat him in the semifinals of the league tournament in relatively easy fashion, but was even more dominant in the final. McClure scored the first takedown early on, and Schuyler reversed him quickly to tie it at 2-2, but McClure got out and then took control of the match from that point on.

McClure was emotional after the win, particularly during and after a long embrace with Bass.

“I love this sport,” he said, through tears. “It’s done so much for me in these last couple of years.”

As for what he hopes to achieve in his final varsity tournament, McClure said he’s still interested in shattering expectations.

“One of my football coaches told me that when you achieve your goals, sometimes you have to update them,” he said. “So I guess my next goal is to place at states.”

McClure shared one final, more short-term goal, still wiping away tears, before gathering his things and heading to the locker room.

“I just want some ice cream,” he said.

Mendoza Is All-County

Of the eight Hurricane wrestlers who competed at counties, four made it to the second day, and one other aside from McClure—junior Dane Mendoza—made it on the podium and earned All-County honors with a top-six finish. Mendoza (113 pounds) climbed one spot higher than his fifth-place finish from last year, taking fourth in his weight after a 4-2 loss to third-seed Danny Colondona of Connetquot. Mendoza started in the outer portion of the bracket, pinning Tristan Delaney of Hills West in 3:09 before beating fifth-seed Kenny Cracchiola of Ward Melville, 7-0. Mendoza got to the semifinals with an 8-3 win over fourth seed Mike Smith of Smithtown West, before running into a buzzsaw, top seed Tommy Cox of Deer Park, who is ranked in the top five nationally. Mendoza did an admirable job against Cox, losing a 13-3 major decision. Cox went on to beat Rocky Point’s Anthony Cirillo, 8-2, in the final.

In the consolation semifinals, Mendoza scored a 1-0 decision over Sean Fitzsimmons of Ward Melville before the loss to Colondona. Had he beat Colondona and taken third, Mendoza had a decent chance to go to states as a wildcard. Still, Bass was proud of his effort.

“I think Dane had a great tournament,” the coach said. “He wrestled very, very well.”

Hurricanes Liam McIntyre (145) and Billy Campbell (170) made it to what is known as the “blood round” in the wrestlebacks, where a win assures wrestlers of an All-County (top six) finish. Neither made it out of that round, however, with McIntyre, a freshman, losing 4-1 to Nick Munsch of Commack and Campbell losing 4-0 to Damien Caffrey of Glenn. Both McIntyre and Campbell went 2-1 with a pin each in the tournament. Hurricanes Tyler Skala (99 pounds) and Connor Glynn (120) each won their first-round matches with pins before losing their second-round matches in hard-fought, close decisions. Because the wrestlers who beat them did not win their next match, they were not able to advance—known as “piggybacking”—into the wrestlebacks.

Matt Tanzman (113) and Scott Rementer (152) both lost in the first round.

Overall, Bass was happy with the performance of all eight of his wrestlers.

“This tournament is a meat grinder,” he said, referring to the fact that Section XI has consistently been the most dominant section in the state for years. “I’m proud of the effort they showed the whole tournament. They all came to compete and they weren’t afraid of anybody.”

ORIGINAL ARTICLE HERE

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FINAL DUAL MEET STANDINGS - SUFFOLK COUNTY

2/11/2016

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The Hurricanes finish the regular season as #16 ranked Dual Meet team in Suffolk County! The Canes record was 17-7. 6 of their 7 losses came at the hands of higher ranked teams (#1,#2,#3,#4,#5,#9). Only Connetquot was not ranked in the top 20.

5 of the 8 League V Teams are in the top 20 (#1,#3,#5,#16,#17)

Well done Canes!

1. Rocky Point (League V)
2. Mattituck
3. Hauppauge (League V)
4. North Babylon
5. Kings Park (League V)
6. Lindenhurst
7. Hills East
8. Sachem East
9. Brentwood
10. Patchogue-Medford
11. John Glenn
12. Miller Place
13. Mount Sinai
14. Islip
15. Sachem North
16. Westhampton Beach (League V)
17. Eastport-South Manor (League V)
18. Smithtown West
19. Huntington
20. Hills West

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Westhampton Beach sends 8 to the Section Xi Tournament!

2/9/2016

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The Canes headed to Hauppaugue last Saturday (2/6/16) to compete against in one of the toughest league tournaments in the state. Featuring the #1 or #2 ranked wrestler in Section Xi in 10 of the 15 weight classes and 25 of the 90 ranked wrestlers in section Xi (27%). Considering League V makes up just over 15% of the schools in Section Xi, having 24% of the ranked wrestlers is a testament to the difficulty of the competition. The Hurricanes finished the season 4-3 in League V and came into the tournament with only 2 ranked wrestlers, but after all was said and done, Westhampton Beach captured one title (Senior Dan McClure 182 pounds) and will send 8 Hurricanes to the Section tournament which will be held Friday and Sunday at Hofstra University (2/12 & 2/14). The twitter feed is not yet confirmed for Friday, but an update will be posted once things gets sorted out. We wish all the Hurricanes the best and hope to see lots of fans out supporting the Canes on Friday!

HURRICANE SECTION XI TOURNAMENT QUALIFIERS
(See full League V Tournament bracket in the results section of the website)
99 - Sophomore Tyler Skala (3rd place League V)
113 - Junior Dane Mendoza (2nd place League V)
113 - Senior Matt Tanzman (4th place League V)
120 - Senior Connor Glynn (4th place League V)
145 - Freshman Liam McIntyre (2nd place League V)
152 - Junior Scott Rementer (2nd place League V)
170 - Senior Billy Campbell (4th place League V)
182 - Senior Dan McClure (1st place League V)

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Eight Hurricane Wrestlers Qualify For Counties

2/8/2016

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Publication: The East Hampton Press & The Southampton Press By: Cailin Riley Feb 8, 2016 7:16 PM

Crazy.

That’s how Westhampton Beach wrestling coach Paul Bass describes League V and the level of talent within it. The league features the top two teams in Suffolk County—Rocky Point and Hauppauge—who recently battled for the Suffolk County Dual Meet Championship, and three more ranked in the top 20 (Kings Park, Eastport South Manor and Westhampton Beach). Given the talent that entered the gym at Hauppauge High School for the League V Championships on Saturday, Bass figured the best he could hope for was to see nine of his wrestlers finish in the top four in their weight classes and secure at spot at the Division I county tournament, but he knew that number could easily drop as well. So he was quite happy at the end of the day, when eight Hurricanes stamped their ticket to counties by finishing in the top four.

Senior Dan McClure was the only champion for Westhampton Beach, beating Hauppauge’s Rich Dailey in a 3-1 decision. The bout was scoreless after the first period, and McClure went up 1-0 after choosing the bottom position to start the second and getting out right away. Dailey started on bottom in the third and got out to tie it at 1-1, and McClure sealed the win with a takedown. While the final score was close, McClure was the favorite, as he’s been ranked first in the county at his weight for much of the season.

“[Dailey] came out with a good game plan, and we have to get better at wrestling kids who are trying to stall, which is what you do against someone better than you,” Bass said. “Dan did what he had to do.”

McClure’s best effort of the day came in the semifinals, where he beat a talented wrestler in Sam Schuyler of Kings Park, a county-ranked 170-pounder who was wrestling up a weight. McClure won in an 8-2 decision.

McClure was seeded third for the county tournament, but Bass said he believes the senior has a shot to win a county title.

“I still think he’s the best kid in the weight,” Bass said.

Three other Hurricane wrestlers advanced to the finals—Dane Mendoza (113) was pinned in 1:09 by Rocky Point’s Anthony Cirillo; Liam McIntyre (145) was pinned by ESM’s John Busiello in 1:24; and Scott Rementer (152) lost by injury default to Hauppauge’s Chris Mauriello, who collected his sixth straight league championship. Rementer busted his lip during the match and couldn’t get the bleeding to stop. He got four stitches later that night, and Bass said he’ll be ready to go for counties.

Bass said he was particularly proud of the efforts of McIntyre and Rementer.

“They had a great tournament,” he said. “It was good to see Liam beat some kids he had had some real tight matches with; it’s tough to beat quality kids twice. And Scott beat a few kids who had beaten him earlier on in the season. I think Scott might be coming out of his shell.”

In the consolation finals, Tyler Skala (99 pounds) beat Logan Sciotto of Rocky Point, 2-0, to take third. Skala nearly made it to the finals, losing 4-2 to ESM’s Zach Redding. Skala nearly scored a reversal on Redding with 10 seconds left in their match, but couldn’t quite pull it off. Redding injury defaulted to Anthony Sciotto in the final.

At 113 pounds, Matt Tanzman lost, 6-0, to Jay Best of Harborfields to finish fourth, and at 120 pounds, Connor Glynn lost a 6-2 decision to William Romero of Rocky Point. Glynn made it to the final in a tough weight class with a 1-0 win in the quarters over Manny Romero of Rocky Point. At 170 pounds, Billy Campbell finished fourth for the Hurricanes by injury default, bowing out after he made the semifinals to rest a nagging injury so he can be ready for counties.

For seniors Glynn, Tanzman, Campbell and McClure, the county meet will be their last action in a Hurricane uniform, unless they can get to states.

Mendoza, who finished fifth in the county last year, is making a return to counties, while it will be the second trip to the big meet for Skala, Rementer and Campbell as well.

Bass added that while he was very happy to get eight wrestlers to counties, he was sad to see senior Alex Kravitz fall short of getting to counties. Kravitz lost, 4-2, in overtime to Steven Holder in a weight class that featured six very equally strong wrestlers. During the regular season, Kravitz defeated the eventual champion, Claude Corbett of Comsewogue.

Wrestling will start at 10 a.m. on Friday at Hofstra University. Wrestlers who advance to the semifinals and second round of wrestle-backs will return on Sunday, where wrestling will begin again at 10 a.m.

ORIGINAL ARTICLE HERE

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A Look At Who WHB's McClure, ESM's Busiello Brothers Will Face At Wrestling States

Westhampton Beach's McClure Wins County Title At 182 Pounds; Mendoza Takes Fourth At 113

FINAL DUAL MEET STANDINGS - SUFFOLK COUNTY

Westhampton Beach sends 8 to the Section Xi Tournament!

Eight Hurricane Wrestlers Qualify For Counties

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