By Cailin RileyThe end of Dan McClure’s high school wrestling career played out in bittersweet fashion at the New York State Division I Championships at the Times Union Center in Albany on Saturday.

The Westhampton Beach senior went into the tournament riding the high of winning his first Suffolk County championship, taking the title at 182 pounds in convincing fashion, and capping an incredible transformation for a wrestler who came into his junior year without any varsity dual meet wins. At states, there was one standout in the 182-pound bracket—top seed and defending champ Kevin Parker of Shenendehowa (Section II-Capital District)—but Westhampton Beach head coach Paul Bass believed that the rest of the field was evenly matched, and believed that McClure could go toe-to-toe with anyone. 

But an All-State finish was not in the cards for McClure, as he went 0-2. 

McClure, who was unseeded, got off to a shaky start in his first-round match with fourth-seeded senior Tommy Mackay of Elmira, (Section IV-Southern Tier), getting taken down and put to his back within the first 20 seconds to fall behind 5-0. McClure managed to close the gap to a 7-4 deficit later, but couldn’t get much closer, ultimately dropping a 9-5 decision. McClure finished the match with an impressive throw, putting Mackay on his back, but it came with just one second left, and so was essentially meaningless.

Unlike at counties, there are full wrestlebacks at states, so McClure wasn’t done yet. In the next match, McClure took on junior Simon Chee of Benjamin Cardozo (Private), and was in a much closer match. The score was knotted at 2-2, but Chee took a lead he would not give up with a minute left in the final period when McClure was given a caution for a third time, for starting before the whistle, resulting in a point for Chee. McClure elected to give Chee a free escape after that, putting Chee up 4-2, but putting both wrestlers back on their feet, a situation where McClure had a better chance to score points, hopefully a takedown that would have tied the match. But Chee remained elusive and scored points of his own, with the score ending at 6-3 in his favor.

“I feel like I went in a little timid and obviously it cost me,” McClure said. “I guess it was the nerves being there for the first time.”

McClure said he felt less nervous in the second match, but still struggled to pick up the intensity.

“I was just lethargic and unexplosive,” he said. “It was very disappointing to me, because I expected to have a better run. But that’s something this sport keeps teaching you over and over. You can do everything right, eat right, lift hard, practice hard, and sometimes things just don’t go your way. But the best part about it is that life goes on, and the best you can do is pick yourself up, dust yourself off and keep heading forward.”

Bass admitted that he too was disappointed that McClure did not earn All-State status or even pick up a victory at states. But he said that overall, what McClure accomplished in two years was impressive, considering he was not on anyone’s radar—even his own coach’s—as a sophomore.

“I think he made the most out of the last two years of his high school wrestling career,” Bass said. “Before that, he wasn’t really focused. But he bought in for two years, and to be a county champ is pretty neat. I still think he’s an All-State caliber kid, but he just didn’t have a good tournament. But if you look at what he accomplished in the last two years, it’s really not normal.”

McClure is hoping to continue his wrestling career at the next level, and has drawn interest from several colleges, although he says right now that Ithaca College is his top choice. 

“I would love to wrestle in college,” he said. “I just love the sport so much; I love the grind, I love practicing.”

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.

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 Hurricanes defended their title at the Kujan Tournament yesterday (1/16)!!! The Canes topped a ten team field. Here are the final standings:

 1. Westhampton Beach 327.5
  2. William Floyd 225
  3. Bellport 217
  4. Half Hollow Hills West 210.5
  5. Plainedge 146.5
  6. Newfield 142.5
  7. Smithtown East 116
  8. Eastport-South Manor. 112
  9. Center Moriches 89.5
 10. Glen Cove 68

The Canes had wrestlers in 8 of the 15 final matches including the all-WHB final at 182 pounds, 12 place finishers overall, and Senior Billy Campbell (170) received the "Toughest Competitor" Award for the tournament!

Here is a quick look at the place finishers:

99 pounds
1st Place - Sophomore Tyler Skala
5th Place - 8th Grader Jason Montagna
6th Place - Freshman Cole Hempel

106 Pounds
2nd Place - Senior Matt Tanzman

113 Pounds
1st Place - Junior Dane Mendoza

120 Pounds
2nd Place - Senior Connor Glynn


132
6th Place - Junior Jack Ciolino

145 Pounds
2nd Place - FreshmanLiam McIntyre

152 Pounds
3rd Place - Junior Scott Rementer

160 Pounds
1st Place - Senior Alex Kravitz

170 Pounds
1st Place - Senior Billy Campbell

182 Pounds 
1st Place - Senior Dan McClure
2nd Place - Junior Tom O'Shea

220 Pounds
3rd Place - Senior Ed Ford

285 Pounds
4th Place - Junior Sal DiBenedetto

Congratulations to the team on a great tournament and to all the parents and Hurricane faithful that came out to make our fan section the loudest (by far) in the building!!

If you were at Commack on Saturday or on the team Twitter feed getting live updates, you knew all this information about 16 hours ago (see Twitter info below if you are interested). The Hurricanes traveled to Commack for the Annual Duals tournament on Saturday (1/9) after a very tough road match and first League V loss to King's Park the night before. It remained to be seen how the team would respond mentally to that experience.The Canes captured the title last year but were facing significantly increased competition. The most obvious change was the addition of North Babylon, a League III competitor, and currently ranked #3 in Suffolk County. There were 8 teams in attendance;  

Pool A - Westhampton Beach, Trumbull (CT), Mepham (Nassau), & Freeport (Nassau). 
Pool B - North Babylon, Commack, Hills West, & Harborfields.

Speaking with Coach Bass, he felt that the Canes responded admirably to the pressure especially after a tough loss at King's Park the night before. At the tournament, the Hurricanes faced three ranked teams and 14 wrestlers ranked at state or county level. During those matches, the Canes gave up only 3 pins and an average of 3.6 points. "That's how you win dual meets" the coach said. 

A special thank you to all the parents and Hurricane supporters who came out to support the team. It was a great day for the team!


                                                              RECAP
TRUMBULL (CT) - 46-34 (W - 1-0) 
The Hurricanes first faced Trumbull (CT) which is ranked #3 in the state of Connecticut and came into the day undefeated at 11-0 just off a victory over the #1 ranked Danbury on Wednesday night.
The Canes gave Trumbull a friendly welcome to Section Xi wrestling.

FREEPORT (Nassau) - 39-24 (W - 2-0)
Next up for the Canes was Freeport who is currently ranked #9 in Nassau county. The Red Devils came into the match sporting 4 Section VIII ranked wrestlers.

MEPHAM (Nassau) - 52-19 (W - 3-0)
WHB needed one more victory to win their pool and move on to the 1st-4th playoff matches. Up next was Mepham High School who had a pair of Senction VIII ranked wrestlers. The victory gave the Hurricanes the #1 seed for Pool A.

Pool A                                       Pool B
Westhampton Beach #1           North Babylon #1
Trumbull #2                               Commack #2

The #1 of each Pool faced the #2 of the opposite pool. 

COMMACK - 44-27 (W - 4-0)
In the semi-final match, the Hurricanes faced a League I opponent in Commack. The winner would face the winner of the other semi-final matchup (North Babylon) for the title.The Cougars, a League I team had some excellent wrestlers, but the Canes appeared the better overall team. The victory set up the final pairing.

NORTH BABYLON - 45-25 (L - 4-1)
The Canes then ran headlong into North Babylon, a League III competitor ranked #3 in Suffolk County. The Hurricanes gave the very deep and talented Bulldogs all they could handle, but in the end could not quite get the victory.

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!