Publication: The East Hampton Press & The Southampton Press - By Cailin Riley
Westhampton Beach head wrestling coach Paul Bass has a philosophy when it comes to December matches.
During that time, he’s not as concerned about wins and losses, but rather is eager to see how his wrestlers perform individually, how they respond to adversity or handle themselves in underdog situations.
By that criteria, he was quite happy during the bus ride home from Center Moriches on Sunday afternoon after his squad went 5-2 in the two-day Center Moriches Dual Meet Tournament.
The Hurricanes lost to powerhouses Mattituck (55-18) and Brentwood (49-15) but had wins over Putnam Valley (52-29), Port Washington (70-13), host Center Moriches (72-12), Edgemont (78-11) and Smithtown East (63-15).
“I was really happy,” Bass said. “I thought we wrestled Mattituck and Brentwood really tough. Against Brentwood, we lost five matches by three points or less.”
Bass added that all of his wrestlers were competing up a weight class, a move he said was intentional going into the tournament.
“I wanted them to focus on wrestling, not on losing weight,” he said of his approach to the tournament, pointing out that once Christmas passes, the rules will allow wrestlers to hold an extra two pounds of weight, making certification at the weights they will stay at for the rest of the year a little easier.
“December, to me, is about learning and finding out who you are as a team,” Bass added. “We settle in in January.”
Bass pointed out that while his team did suffer two losses, it had a winning record in 13 of the 15 weight classes over the course of the tournament.
“I thought we grew a lot as a team and grew in toughness wrestling against some good teams,” he said.
Matt Tobin (170 pounds) had a great tournament, going 7-0 with five pins. He scored 39 points in seven matches, impressive considering the max number of points a wrestler can score in seven matches is 42.
Alex Kravitz (160) went 6-1 with three pins, while four other Hurricane wrestlers went 5-2—Billy Campbell (182) had two pins; Dan McClure (195) had three pins; Edward Ford (220), a first-year wrestler, also went 5-2; and Sal DiBenedetto made weight at 285 for the first time this year, and also went 5-2 with two pins.
Before the Center Moriches Duals, Westhampton Beach beat Harborfields, 51-15, in a road match to open the League V dual meet season on December 16. Hurricane 99-pounder Cole Hempel scored an impressive 4-2 win over Justin Klei in his first varsity match. McClure (195) and Kravitz (160) won with pins, while Scott Rementer (152) had a major decision. Campbell (182), Tyler Skala (106), Dane Mendoza (120), Connor Glynn (126), and Sean Ebrus (138) all won by decision, while Ford (220), Matt Tanzman (113), and David Cable (132) won by forfeit.
Westhampton Beach was scheduled to face Connetquot, the returning League II champion, in a non-league match on December 23 and will compete in the two-day Hills East individual tournament on December 28 and 29. Westhampton Beach will host the Cory Hubbard Duals on January 2.
Original Article Here
During that time, he’s not as concerned about wins and losses, but rather is eager to see how his wrestlers perform individually, how they respond to adversity or handle themselves in underdog situations.
By that criteria, he was quite happy during the bus ride home from Center Moriches on Sunday afternoon after his squad went 5-2 in the two-day Center Moriches Dual Meet Tournament.
The Hurricanes lost to powerhouses Mattituck (55-18) and Brentwood (49-15) but had wins over Putnam Valley (52-29), Port Washington (70-13), host Center Moriches (72-12), Edgemont (78-11) and Smithtown East (63-15).
“I was really happy,” Bass said. “I thought we wrestled Mattituck and Brentwood really tough. Against Brentwood, we lost five matches by three points or less.”
Bass added that all of his wrestlers were competing up a weight class, a move he said was intentional going into the tournament.
“I wanted them to focus on wrestling, not on losing weight,” he said of his approach to the tournament, pointing out that once Christmas passes, the rules will allow wrestlers to hold an extra two pounds of weight, making certification at the weights they will stay at for the rest of the year a little easier.
“December, to me, is about learning and finding out who you are as a team,” Bass added. “We settle in in January.”
Bass pointed out that while his team did suffer two losses, it had a winning record in 13 of the 15 weight classes over the course of the tournament.
“I thought we grew a lot as a team and grew in toughness wrestling against some good teams,” he said.
Matt Tobin (170 pounds) had a great tournament, going 7-0 with five pins. He scored 39 points in seven matches, impressive considering the max number of points a wrestler can score in seven matches is 42.
Alex Kravitz (160) went 6-1 with three pins, while four other Hurricane wrestlers went 5-2—Billy Campbell (182) had two pins; Dan McClure (195) had three pins; Edward Ford (220), a first-year wrestler, also went 5-2; and Sal DiBenedetto made weight at 285 for the first time this year, and also went 5-2 with two pins.
Before the Center Moriches Duals, Westhampton Beach beat Harborfields, 51-15, in a road match to open the League V dual meet season on December 16. Hurricane 99-pounder Cole Hempel scored an impressive 4-2 win over Justin Klei in his first varsity match. McClure (195) and Kravitz (160) won with pins, while Scott Rementer (152) had a major decision. Campbell (182), Tyler Skala (106), Dane Mendoza (120), Connor Glynn (126), and Sean Ebrus (138) all won by decision, while Ford (220), Matt Tanzman (113), and David Cable (132) won by forfeit.
Westhampton Beach was scheduled to face Connetquot, the returning League II champion, in a non-league match on December 23 and will compete in the two-day Hills East individual tournament on December 28 and 29. Westhampton Beach will host the Cory Hubbard Duals on January 2.
Original Article Here
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