Publication: The East Hampton Press & The Southampton Press By: Cailin Riley
Over the course of two weeks, the Westhampton Beach wrestling team took on eight of the top 10 ranked teams in Suffolk County. It was a grueling stretch, but it paid off, as evidenced by the team’s performance at the Kujan Tournament at William Floyd High School on Saturday. The Hurricanes were head and shoulders above the competition, winning the tournament with 327.5 points, well ahead of second-place Floyd (225 points). Westhampton Beach had five champions (and nine finalists), winning those matches in dominant fashion with four pins and one technical fall, and it had 30 pins over the course of the day, and a total of 15 who placed in the top six in their weight classes. Even more impressive, the Hurricanes did it without four starters—Sean Ebrus (126 pound), Thatcher Cord (140), Danny Strebel (132) and Matt Tobin (160/170)—who are out indefinitely with injuries.
The dominant effort at the tournament came on the heels of a very respectable 44-27 League V loss at Hauppauge, the top ranked team in the county, on January 14. Westhampton Beach head coach Paul Bass said on Sunday he was extremely pleased with his team’s effort against both Hauppauge and at the Kujan tournament, after what he felt was a lackluster effort in a 49-19 League V win over a weak Comsewogue team on January 13.
“They were very flat against Comsewogue, and I lit them up afterwards,” Bass said. “They responded really well.”
Bass said that while he wasn’t necessarily surprised that his team did well and won the Kujan tournament, he didn’t necessarily expect his team to be as dominant as it was.
“We’re a team that tries to peak at the end of the year, so I always expect to do well at this time of year,” he said. “But I’m surprised we won that much with four starters out in the last two weeks. They really wrestled for each other, which was nice to see.
“I believe we have one of the hardest schedules in Suffolk County,” Bass continued. “So they’re used to going at that level right now. Even though there weren’t any top 10 teams in this tournament, they were all good to average teams. We were just at a whole other level.”
Tyler Skala started the Canes off with a pin of Plainedge’s Odysseus Lauca at 99 pounds in the final, before Matt Tanzman was the runner-up with an 11-0 loss to Donald Wood of Center Moriches at 106 pounds. At 113, Hurricane Dane Mendoza won by technical fall (4:32) over Tim Troeber of Newfield, and at 120, Connor Glynn was the runner-up after a hard-fought 6-4 loss to Joseph DeRosa of Half Hollow Hills West, who had dominated Glynn in a match earlier in the season. At 145, Westhampton’s Liam McIntyre took a 5-4 loss against Darrell Carson of Bellport, before the Hurricanes rattled off three straight victories by pin—Alex Kravitz (160) took out Pablo Molina of Floyd in 1:52; Billy Campbell (170) stuck Isaac Smith of Hills West in 4:45; and Dan McClure (182) beat his own teammate, Thomas O’Shea, with a pin in 4:24. Campbell was recognized as the Joe Randazzo Toughest Competitor for his performance in the tournament. In the consolation finals, Scott Rementer (152) pinned Andrew Passaro of Floyd in 3:28, while at 220, Ed Ford pinned Bellport’s George Berry in just 46 seconds. At 285, Sal DiBenedetto took fourth after getting pinned in 18 seconds by Marcus Wong of Floyd. At 99 pounds, Hurricane Jason Montagna beat teammate Cole Hempel, 11-4, in the match for fifth and sixth place, while Jack Ciolino took sixth at 132, getting pinned in 1:54 by Brian Reid of Bellport.
Against Hauppauge, a team that boasts six wrestlers ranked in the top three of their weight class in Suffolk County, the Hurricanes put in a strong effort. Kravitz had a nice showing at 160, pinning Steven Holder in 1:04 in what Bass said was a “toss-up” match, and McIntyre pinned Luke Smith in 5:20 at 145 pounds in another quality win for the Canes. Westhampton Beach only gave up three pins in the match. Skala (99), Mendoza (113), McClure (182) and Ford (220) also had wins on the day, while both Tanzman (113) and Glynn (120) avoided getting pinned against Dan Mauriello and Jake Silverstein, respectively, two of the best wrestlers in the state in their weight classes.
Against Comsewogue, McIntyre, Skala, and Glynn won with pins.
Westhampton Beach was scheduled to take on East Islip for a league match on January 20 and will be home to take on Rocky Point, the second-ranked team in the county, on Friday for senior night at 4:30 p.m.
Original Article
The dominant effort at the tournament came on the heels of a very respectable 44-27 League V loss at Hauppauge, the top ranked team in the county, on January 14. Westhampton Beach head coach Paul Bass said on Sunday he was extremely pleased with his team’s effort against both Hauppauge and at the Kujan tournament, after what he felt was a lackluster effort in a 49-19 League V win over a weak Comsewogue team on January 13.
“They were very flat against Comsewogue, and I lit them up afterwards,” Bass said. “They responded really well.”
Bass said that while he wasn’t necessarily surprised that his team did well and won the Kujan tournament, he didn’t necessarily expect his team to be as dominant as it was.
“We’re a team that tries to peak at the end of the year, so I always expect to do well at this time of year,” he said. “But I’m surprised we won that much with four starters out in the last two weeks. They really wrestled for each other, which was nice to see.
“I believe we have one of the hardest schedules in Suffolk County,” Bass continued. “So they’re used to going at that level right now. Even though there weren’t any top 10 teams in this tournament, they were all good to average teams. We were just at a whole other level.”
Tyler Skala started the Canes off with a pin of Plainedge’s Odysseus Lauca at 99 pounds in the final, before Matt Tanzman was the runner-up with an 11-0 loss to Donald Wood of Center Moriches at 106 pounds. At 113, Hurricane Dane Mendoza won by technical fall (4:32) over Tim Troeber of Newfield, and at 120, Connor Glynn was the runner-up after a hard-fought 6-4 loss to Joseph DeRosa of Half Hollow Hills West, who had dominated Glynn in a match earlier in the season. At 145, Westhampton’s Liam McIntyre took a 5-4 loss against Darrell Carson of Bellport, before the Hurricanes rattled off three straight victories by pin—Alex Kravitz (160) took out Pablo Molina of Floyd in 1:52; Billy Campbell (170) stuck Isaac Smith of Hills West in 4:45; and Dan McClure (182) beat his own teammate, Thomas O’Shea, with a pin in 4:24. Campbell was recognized as the Joe Randazzo Toughest Competitor for his performance in the tournament. In the consolation finals, Scott Rementer (152) pinned Andrew Passaro of Floyd in 3:28, while at 220, Ed Ford pinned Bellport’s George Berry in just 46 seconds. At 285, Sal DiBenedetto took fourth after getting pinned in 18 seconds by Marcus Wong of Floyd. At 99 pounds, Hurricane Jason Montagna beat teammate Cole Hempel, 11-4, in the match for fifth and sixth place, while Jack Ciolino took sixth at 132, getting pinned in 1:54 by Brian Reid of Bellport.
Against Hauppauge, a team that boasts six wrestlers ranked in the top three of their weight class in Suffolk County, the Hurricanes put in a strong effort. Kravitz had a nice showing at 160, pinning Steven Holder in 1:04 in what Bass said was a “toss-up” match, and McIntyre pinned Luke Smith in 5:20 at 145 pounds in another quality win for the Canes. Westhampton Beach only gave up three pins in the match. Skala (99), Mendoza (113), McClure (182) and Ford (220) also had wins on the day, while both Tanzman (113) and Glynn (120) avoided getting pinned against Dan Mauriello and Jake Silverstein, respectively, two of the best wrestlers in the state in their weight classes.
Against Comsewogue, McIntyre, Skala, and Glynn won with pins.
Westhampton Beach was scheduled to take on East Islip for a league match on January 20 and will be home to take on Rocky Point, the second-ranked team in the county, on Friday for senior night at 4:30 p.m.
Original Article
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