The holiday break was something less than relaxing for members of the Westhampton
Beach wrestling team, as a pair of tough tournaments coincided with their brief vacation. But the Hurricanes and
their coach, Paul Bass, emerged from the contests feeling good about their work on the mats, and are now poised
to defend their League VI title, a defense that starts tomorrow night at home against Smithtown East.
The Hurricanes split a pair of dual meets over the holiday break, beating Bayport/Blue Point and falling to the
host team at the Connetquot Dual Meet Tournament on December 23. Westhampton Beach finished in third place at the
two-day Half Hollow Hills East Tournament, held on December 27 and 28.
“I scheduled one more tournament before leagues this year, so I think that we are more prepared,” said Bass, explaining
why his team is participating in four preseason tournaments. “Right now, I have some kids that already have 15
matches in.”
The one negative that hurt the Hurricanes over the break was illness, as about 20 members of the team are now battling
a stomach virus. Coach Bass said he gave his players some time off over New Year’s weekend so they could rest and
get healthy for the league meet on Friday.
On the first evening of their holiday vacation, the Hurricanes gave their coach an early Christmas present of sorts,
battling hard in what turned into a 24-23 loss to League II Connetquot. Also at that tournament, the Hurricanes
crushed Bayport/Blue Point, 66-6, while Connetquot bested the Phantoms, 56-15.
“I didn’t think we had a chance,” Bass said of his team against Connetquot. “The kids wrestled their butts off.
Connetquot is a very good dual meet team and I wouldn’t be surprised if they win League II.”
Cory Hubbard won his match at 103 pounds and the Hurricanes didn’t get another win until the 145-pound bout when
Jon Gress nailed down a win. Nick Broccoli defeated Anthony Castellanos by technical fall in 5:56 by a score of
16-1, James Uresk pinned his opponent in 1:02 at 160 pounds, and Steve Kobus won at 189 pounds.
Sarah Bonilla lost to Nick Castellanos at 96 pounds, 13-0, but the points did not count toward the match. The 96-
and 275-pound bouts are optional and not calculated into the final score.
The most talked about of the wins for the Hurricanes against Bayport/Blue Point was Gress’ victory at 145 pounds
where he defeated Kyle Edward, 5-3. Edward won the Division II county title last year and placed sixth in the Division
II state tournament.
Pinning their Phantom opponents were Tom Comoroda at 112 pounds, Scott Lagoumis at 119, Joe Graf at 130, Julian
Lee at 135, Paul Dilandro at 140, Nick Broccoli at 152 and Uresk at 160. Eighth-grader Russell Sinder (96 pounds),
Kyle Hubbard (125 pounds) and Alex Mazarakis (171 pounds) won their matches by decision. Bayport/Blue Point forfeited
the 189- and 215-pound bouts.
The Hurricanes followed up that performance with a third-place finish at the Half Hollow Hills East Tournament.
Bellmore JFK won the tournament with 317 points, followed by Hills East with 307 and the Hurricanes came in third
with 260 points.
Westhampton Beach was the smallest school in terms of attendance at the tournament
aside from Mattituck. The Hurricanes entered 26 wrestlers, which is a smaller number compared to some of the larger
schools that have more than 40 wrestlers on their rosters. Of the 26 entrants, the Hurricanes had 16 place-winners,
11 of whom were in the top four, and had a place-winner in every weight class except 189 and 275 pounds.
“It’s tough being a small school in a tournament with teams that are putting so many more kids in,” Bass said.
“My kids wrestled hard and I was happy with their performances.”
Broccoli and Kobus were both crowned champions. Broccoli won the 152-pound title and was named Most Outstanding
Wrestler at the tournament, while Kobus won the 171-pound crown, wrestling at that weight for the first time.
Mazarakis also placed in the 171-pound bout, taking fourth. The Hurricanes had multiple place-winners at 96 and
130. At 96 pounds, Russell Skinder took fourth and Brian Lagoumis placed sixth, while at 130 Joe Graf finished
in third and John Prudenti took sixth.
Falling in the finals were Scott Lagoumis (119 pounds) and Kyle Hubbard (125 pounds), as both finished in second
place in their divisions. Lee also placed second, moving up two weight classes to 140 pounds, where he knocked
off the second seed in the opening round and made his way to the finals before losing to Kyriaco Curiacopoulous.
Winning their consolation matches for third place were Dilandro (135 pounds), Rudy Mistina (145 pounds) and Jimmy
Zambik (215 pounds). Cory Hubbard, an eighth-grader, finished fourth at 103 pounds, Uresk finished in fifth at
160 and Ethan Mitchell went 4-2 on the day, placing sixth.
Following the league-opener on Friday, the Hurricanes will host their annual tournament on Saturday and travel
to Miller Place on January 11 for a league dual meet.
