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Home Schedule Team Record Picture Gallery News Articles Middle School Related Links Sponsors Alumni   Contact Coach Bass Home: 653-8146 Office: 288-3800 x323	Southampton Press January 25, 2007 Third Straight Title Won’t Be Happening Hurricanes fall to 2-3 with two more losses By Kerry Monaco With a third straight League VI title out of reach, the focus for the Westhampton Beach wrestling team is on winning out the rest of the season and defending its League VI tournament title. A three-peat became impossible after the team fell to 2-3 losing its second and third straight matches when it fell to Rocky Point 38-19 on January 17 at home and at Harborfields 35-18 on Friday. Those two teams are undefeated and at the top of the league standings. If all goes as expected, the league title will come down to the meeting between the two on Friday, February 2, in the season finale. Entering the season, Westhampton Beach coach Paul Bass knew the league was going to be stocked with some of the county’s best talent. Rocky Point, Harborfields and Mount Sinai are all ranked among the top 10 in Suffolk County. “We always expect to win the league,” coach Bass said. “Now, we have to get motivated to win the league tournament. We train to win championships.” Westhampton Beach won the League VI tournament last season, just weeks after winning its second straight undefeated regular season league title, and the Canes will attempt to defend the tournament title on February 10 at Rocky Point. The top three wrestlers in each weight class will qualify for the Suffolk County Tournament on February 16 and 17 at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. The county champion from each weight class will then head to the state championships on March 2 and 3 in Albany. Bass blamed a lack of intensity for his team’s loss to Shoreham/Wading River, but that problem has seemed to disappear since then. “Do I think Rocky Point and Harborfields were a little better? Yes. But I think we could have beaten them,” Bass said. “We have had some bad performances, but it was not for a lack of effort.” Rocky Point brings six county-ranked wrestlers to the mat, four of whom got wins against Westhampton Beach, one by way of a forfeit and the sixth being ranked at 96 pounds, an optional class during dual meets. Rocky Point won nine of the 13 classes including the forfeit. Only four Westhampton Beach wrestlers won that evening, Paul Dilandro (145) and Steve Kobus (189) both pinned, Kyle Hubbard (135) won a major decision and Joe Santaly-Graf (140) tallied a decision accounting for Westhampton Beach’s 19 points. Westhampton Beach had one more winner but one less point against Harborfields with five victories and 18 points. Kobus (189) had the only pin of the night for the team in green while Pete Detore (103), Dilandro (145), Mike Miller (152) and Alex Mazarakis (171) scored decisions. “We had them on the ropes at one point, but we couldn’t finish,” Bass said. The Hurricanes were slated to take on Amityville yesterday and the squad will travel to Mount Sinai on Friday, February 2, for the final dual meet of the season. After losing those two dual meets, the Hurricanes came back with a third-place finish at the Kujan Tournament at William Floyd High School on Saturday. Plainedge, Nassau County’s thirdranked team, won the tournament with 264 points followed by Connetquot with 246 and then Westhampton Beach with 225.5. Host William Floyd finished fourth with 216.5. The Hurricanes had 13 place-winners, 10 finishers in the top four with two champions, junior Paul Dilandro (145) and senior Steve Kobus (189). Kobus was also awarded the Toughest Competitor Award. Recently entering Suffolk County’s top six at the sixth seed, Dilandro gave even more reason why he should be there by winning the 145-pound title with a 10-4 win over Evan O’Brien of Plainedge in the finals. O’Brien is ranked fifth in Nassau County. It was a battle between Suffolk’s second- and third-best 189 pounders in the final bout that night. Kobus proved why he is ranked one step above, winning the title with a 13-7 decision over Conor Pryor from Ward Melville. On his way to the title, Kobus got some revenge for his only loss of the season. The senior fell to Mike Mills from Bellmore/JFK, Nassau’s fifth-ranked wrestler at 189, in the semifinals of the Half Hollow Hills East Tournament back in December, but came away the winner when the two met at Floyd. In the 189-pound bracket, there were five wrestlers ranked in the top 10 in either Nassau or Suffolk. “They were physical and non-stop for six minutes,” Bass said of his two champions. “They both set the pace on the mat. That’s the way I want my kids to wrestle.” Reaching the finals but losing were Detore (96), Santaly-Graf (135) and Mazarakis (171). Winning in the consolation round were Kyle Hubbard (135) and Mike Miller (152) for third place, while Scott Lagoumis (125), James Frost (152) and Rich Mailand (160) were fourth. Placing fifth were Cory Hubbard (112) and heavyweight Jimmy Zambik and Dennis Hayes finished sixth at 119 pounds. Westhampton Beach’s Paul Dilandro, top, and Steve Kobus were both victors in the matches with Rocky Point and Harborfields. The two were also crowned champions at the Kujan Tournament at William Floyd on Saturday. Dilandro is ranked sixth in the county at 145 pounds and Kobus is second at 189. K.MONACO
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