|
|
"Commitment to Excellence" |
||||||||||||||
|
|
Southampton Press In a tournament stocked with some of the best teams Long Island has to offer, the
Westhampton Beach wrestling team put on an impressive showing, finishing second among 10 teams at the two day Half
Hollow Hills East Tournament on December 27 and 28. Mount Sinai won the tournament with 296 points. Westhampton
Beach had 268.5 points and Half Hollow Hills East came in third with 256.5 points. League VI action began last night for the Hurricanes, who hosted Miller Place, which is considered the weakest team in the league—but that is relatively speaking. The Panthers are not lacking talent, boasting three potential all-county wrestlers, but they aren’t as strong as the rest of the teams in the league, which boasts some of the best the county has to offer. The Canes will head to Bayport/ Blue Point tomorrow and then will host their annual dual meet tournament on Saturday. Hills East Tournament “It was some unbelievable wrestling,” Bass said. “There were guys there that are ranked in the county that finished fifth and sixth. It was some great competition. There were weight classes with 28 guys; some of my guys got six matches.” Westhampton Beach will face just one of the nine other teams during the regular season, Mount Sinai, which moved up from Division II and is not showing any signs of trouble dealing with the increased level of competition. The teams will meet in the final dual meet of the season on February 2 at Mount Sinai. Even though the team crowned just one champion, 96-pounder Pete Detore, the Hurricanes’ depth make them dangerous. The team had 12 overall place-winners, with a top six finisher in 10 of the 15 classes. What makes a great tournament team doesn’t always make a good dual meet team. So far, the Canes have proven they are a solid tournament team and also have what it takes to dominate in dual meets. “We’re right there and we can go with anyone,” Bass said. “And the kids know that. I’m feeling good about our team. At full strength, we are going to be a very good dual meet team.” The Hurricanes were without a pair of starters from the get-go, Kyle Hubbard, who has a broken nose, and Alex Mazarakis, who was sick. After the semifinal round, the Canes ended up without another two wrestlers, Alex Mailand and John Prudenti, who both suffered injuries. Mailand and Prudenti both ended up in sixth place after their injury defaults. Aside from Detore, the Hurricanes had three other finalists, all of whom lost for second place—Cory Hubbard at 112, Scott Lagoumis at 125 and Jimmy Zambik at 215. Placing third were Paul Dilandro (145) and Steve Kobus (189) while in fourth place it was Conner Bass at 96 pounds, Russel Skinder at 112, Joe Santaly-Graf at 135 and Mike Miller at 152. Connetquot Tournament “Connetquot will win League II or take a run at it and it’s been that way for 20 years,” Bass said. “It was a hell of a win, especially without two starters.” With three matches remaining and a narrow 22-21 advantage, it was Westhampton Beach
junior Alex Mazarakis who put his team in the driver’s seat to victory in what was a wobbly, back-and-forth match.
After being dominated in the first period, Mazarakis stuck his opponent in 3:09. Kobus followed suit, sticking
his opponent in 1:46 to seal the victory. Also at that tournament, the Hurricanes wrestled a struggling Comsewogue team, which forfeited eight weight classes, for a 69-3 Westhampton Beach victory. Of the matches that were actually wrestled, Comsewogue won just one, at 103 pounds.
Hayes (119), Lagoumis (130), Santaly-Graf (135) and Mailand (160) were winners in the other matches.
|
|
|||||||||||||
|
Home | Schedule | Team Record | Picture Gallery | News Articles | Middle School | Related Links | Sponsors
|
|||||||||||||||
