The Hurricanes traveled to East Islip tonight and came out on top by a final score of 42-31. After a forfeit by East Islip to start the meet, WHB fell behind 10-6 after losses at 99 & 106 pounds. The Canes then got a pin at 113 pounds to take the lead 12-10 and never trailed again. Late in the meet with the Canes leading 36-22 and three matches remaining (182,195 & 220), East Islip had a team huddle behind their bench. Needing wins in all three matches and at least 15 points (tie would go to WHB), East Islip elected to forfeit at 182, giving the Hurricanes the victory, after Coach Bass sent out Junior Tom O'Shea. It appears they wanted their wrestler Garcia to get a chance to test Senior Dan McClure who was waiting to go at 195 pounds. Unfortunately the match ended just after the start. Garcia went right to an upper body move against McClure. Dan obliged, picked Garcia up, and returned him to the mat. Unfortunately, Garcia came down hard, hitting the mat on his shoulders and neck area and did not get back up. It was immediately obvious that the match would not continue and we all hoped Garcia was OK. He was taken by ambulance for x-rays as a precaution and it was later reported that he is fine and already back home this evening. Because the referee awarded a penalty point to East Islip for the hard mat return, East Islip took the 6 points for that match and added an overtime win at 220 pounds to round out the scoring at 42-31. Thanks to those who came out to support the Canes and we hope to see you Friday for our last home match of the season!

The Hurricanes hosted Comsewogue yesterday and were too much for the undermanned Warriors. WHB aided by forfeits at 106, 113 & 170 pounds, cruised to the victory improving their league record to 3-1 and dropping Comsewogue to 0-4.

Westhampton Beach dropped their first League V match of the season tonight at King's Park by the final score of 48-24. The Kingsmen feature the #7 ranked dual meet team in Suffolk County and displayed a lot of talent on the mat. The Hurricanes added another teammate to the injury list as Junior Danny Strebel (132) was unable to wrestle tonight. We hope he will be back very soon! 

                           RECAP
The Hurricanes jumped to the early 6-0 lead after Junior Dane Mendoza (113) started off with a pin. The Canes lost by decision at 120 & 132 and suffered pins at 126 & 138. So after 5 matches the score was 18-6 in favor of King's Park. Freshman Liam McCintyre (145) righted the ship with a 7-5 decision and Junior Scott Rementer (152) followed with a 4-2 decision closing the gap to 18-12 still in King Park's favor. The pivotal match was a 160 pounds. Senior Alex Kravitz (160) battled extremely hard with Doyle of King's Park and the score was tied 6-6 with about 30 seconds left when Kravitz got taken down and pinned. I'm not sure what happened exactly, but the Canes went from a potential 3 point deficit to a 12 point deficit in the blink of an eye. Instead of 18-15, the Canes found themselves down 24-12 with 8 matches gone. A King's Park pin at 170 and the score was 30-12. King's Park forfeited at both 182 & 195 to give the Canes a glimmer of hope at 30-24, but the Hurricanes would not win another match. A pin at 220 and major decisions at 285, 99, & 106 sealed the deal for the final score of 48-24. This was the short end of a difficult score, but the Hurricanes didn't give up, not in one match and not for a second. I was proud to be out there cheering for a tough group of young men who left everything out there on the mat. 


The Hurricanes head to Commack tomororow morning (1/9) for the Commack Duals in an attempt to defend last years title at the event! See you in Commack! Go Canes!

The HURRICANES traveled to Harborfields High School yesterday to open League V play against the TORNADOES. The canes trailed 3-0 after the first match, tied it after the 2nd enroute to a convincing 59-15 victory. WHB rolled up to Harborfields in category 4 or 5 form and the Tornadoes seemed more like a dust-devil. All kidding aside, the Canes battled hard with several wrestlers going up in weight and head into this weekends Center Moriches Duals on a high note. See you Saturday!