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Southampton Press
January 16, 2003
Hurricanes Open with Two Wins
By Kerry Monaco
The Westhampton Beach wrestling team got the League IV season off on the right foot
as the Hurricanes topped Half Hollow Hills West, 36-20, on January 8 at home and pounded Sayville, 66-9, on Friday
on the road. The squad faced the daunting task of wrestling Islip, the top-ranked team in the state, in a league
match yesterday.
It was seesaw battle between the Hurricanes (2-0) and Half Hollow Hills West (0-1) through the first six matches.
But after that it was smooth sailing for the Hurricanes as the squad grabbed the 36-20 victory to open the league
season.
“We were beat in every facet except the final score,” Westhampton Beach coach Paul Bass said. “We were out-hustled,
out-toughed, outworked and outsmarted. Yeah, we won, but I wasn’t very happy with the performance. I think that
part of the reason for the poor showing was that we are starting to get recognition now as a good team and they’re
happy with just being good and that upsets me.”
At 103 pounds, Hurricane Kyle Pisaneschi lost a heartbreaker as Jason Greene scored a takedown as time expired
in the bout to snatch a 5-4 win.
Westhampton Beach sophomore Andrew Mistina got the job done at 112 pounds when he pinned Matt Berger in 2:23 to
boost Westhampton Beach to a 6-3 lead.
The Colts tied the score at 6-6 when Jason Siegelheim won a 9-6 decision over Ryan Spano at 119 pounds and then
grabbed a 10-6 lead with a 14-5 decision at 125 pounds.
Westhampton Beach regained the lead, 11-10, when Joe Guiffre (130) clinched a 21-7 decision against Jason Gilbert.
A win at 135 pounds for the Colts gave the squad a 13-11 lead but that was the last time the Colts would be in
control.
In the 140-pound bout, Rob Sanfilippo built on his 2-0 lead and then scored a takedown followed by two sets of
three near-fall points to jump to a 10-0 lead early in the second period against Vin Riscia. Sanfilippo went on
to win a 12-9 decision to give the Hurricanes a 14-13 lead, a lead they never surrendered.
Tom Sheppard (145) pinned Ryan Miller in 2:33, Jeff Karl (152) won a 16-6 decision over Chris Russell and Travis
Chornoma (160) pinned Andrew Barbaccia in 5:16 to boost the Hurricanes to a 30-13 lead.
Hills West still had a shot at the win, but needed six points in each of the next three bouts to capture the victory
and the Hurricanes made sure it didn’t happen.
The Colts could manage only three points at 171, four points at 189 pounds and forfeited the 215 bout for a 36-20
Hurricane win.
“The kids had it rough after that match because they knew I wasn’t happy with them,” Bass said. “They didn’t have
the typical day-before practice on Thursday and the kids responded well and beat a team that was better than us.”
The Hurricanes tallied 11 pins in the 66-9 win over Sayville (1-1) on Friday.
Mistina (103), Todd Fitzgerald (113), Spano (119), Rob Fredette (125), Kyle Berglin (135), Sanfilippo (140), Sheppard
(145), Karl (152), Jim Christy (171), Frank Schlegel (189) and John Krupp (215) all pinned their opponents against
Sayville.
“I have to stress to them that they can’t be happy where they are,” Bass said. “They have to want to be better
and I hope they realize that.”
The Hurricanes will travel to East Hampton on Friday and will compete in the Kujan Tournament at William Floyd
High School on Saturday.
The Press 01/16/03
Copyright The Southampton Press
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