It had the feel of a league-championship meet, although the journey is not over
yet.
In front of a hometown, packed house, the Westhampton Beach wrestling team crushed Shoreham/Wading River, 48-19,
on Friday night, in an emotional win that was important to the Canes for many reasons.
First, and most important, it was a meeting between a pair of undefeated teams, and the defending league champion
Hurricanes emerged with the unblemished record to maintain a share of first place with Harborfields. Westhampton
Beach is currently ranked 16th on Long Island, and Shoreham/Wading River is ranked 17th.
Second, the win was a slice of revenge for the team in green, which lost to Shoreham/Wading River in the final
league match of the 2003-04 season to miss out on the league title, a loss that has been stewing inside the team
ever since.
“I don’t know if I ever wanted to win a dual meet more than this one,” Westhampton Beach coach Paul Bass said.
“In the lower weights, they were better than us. The best we had was a toss-up in the first six. I felt that if
we were within 24 points at the end of 135, we would have a shot. But it was 16-15, so we were 23 points closer
than I thought.”
The emotion and energy gave the meet the feel that the league title was on the line that night. In a sense, it
was because the loser will have a tougher time winning the banner. Despite the big victory, the Hurricanes still
have three more league meets ahead of them and cannot afford to overlook any opponent.
The second half of the season starts today when the Hurricanes take on winless Eastport/South Manor. Harborfields
(3-0) comes to town on February 1, and then the Canes will head to Amityville (1-2) on February 3 for the final
league match of the season.
Westhampton Beach beat Harborfields in the final league match last season to clinch the undefeated league championship,
and the loss to Shoreham/Wading River in 2003-04 was the only league loss for Westhampton Beach in the last three
seasons.
“We can’t overlook anyone,” Westhampton Beach junior Scott Lagoumis said. “We have to stay focused.”
Senior Jon Gress added, “Two years ago, we had this opportunity, and we lost it. You don’t always get things back,
but we had another chance. Now, we plan to win the league. We have to go down to the room and work on our mistakes.”
Eighth-grader Cory Hubbard set the tone that the Hurricanes weren’t going to be bullied in the first six matches,
the portion of the contest that the Wildcats might have figured they had locked up.
Hubbard was pitted against Steven Keith, the top-ranked wrestler in Suffolk County and fifth-ranked on Long Island
at 96 pounds. Although Hubbard ended up losing 12-4, it was a satisfying outcome for the Hurricanes and not exactly
what the Wildcats expected.
“They counted on six there, and a quick six, up against an eighth-grader,” coach Bass said. “When that didn’t happen,
that sent a message. He battled him [Keith] tooth and nail.”
Wildcat Zach Colgan pinned Tom Comorada in 1:19 at 119 to put the home team in a
10-0 hole, but then Scott Lagoumis got the entire gym pumped up.
Lagoumis took on T.J. Neidhardt and led 5-4 after two periods but then a takedown early in the third period gave
Neidhardt a 6-5 edge. Lagoumis managed to escape and scored two on a takedown to go up, 8-6, with a minute to go
in the bout. Lagoumis could have played it safe and secured three team points, but he wanted more.
“Coach just told me to ride him out and I said ‘no, I’m going to pin him,’” Lagoumis said. “I remembered from camp
how you have to push yourself, especially in the third period.”
Lagoumis pinned Neidhardt with 20 seconds to go in the third period to put his team on the board in commanding
fashion, as he basked in the deafening cheers from the Hurricanes and their fans.
“I never heard our gym that loud,” coach Bass said. “I knew that was one that we could win so to win it and to
get the pin, it was absolutely huge.”
Wildcat Corey Jantzen, the top-ranked wrestler on Long Island at 125, followed with a pin of Kyle Hubbard in the
125-pound bout. Hurricane Julian Lee responded with a pin of Nick Sorrentino in the 130-pound bout in 4:49.
“He just wore him out and that win was so important for us,” coach Bass said. “I told him after the match that
I had been waiting four years for that performance.”
An 8-4 decision by Cane Paul Dilandro over Joe Keck at 135 pounds was another early-meet bout that coach Bass was
pleased to score as a victory.
That decision cut the Wildcats’ lead to 16-15, putting the Hurricanes in just about the best possible situation
they could have asked for after the first six weights, as they went on to win six of the remaining seven bouts
for the easy win.
Hurricane Jon Gress pinned Hugh McKenna at 140 in 3:06 to put his team up, 21-16, which was the first lead for
the home team and the final lead change of the night.
Hurricane Rudy Mistina followed with a 10-4 win over Lee Maldendrino at 145, senior Nick Broccoli pinned Peter
Courtney in 1:54 and senior James Uresk pinned Keith Butler in 2:37 at 160, to give the Hurricanes an insurmountable
36-16 lead with three matches remaining.
Steve Kobus pinned Dan Fortuna in 4:20 and Alex Mazarakis pinned Matt Vernam in 3:06 to bring the Hurricanes’ final
tally to 48 points. Wildcat Mark Delaney beat Jimmy Zambik, 4-3, in the heavyweight bout to bring the final score
to 48-19.Coach Bass also said he appreciated the support from the student body and community at the match and “the
kids clearly fed off the fans.”
The following day, the Hurricanes competed in what is considered the most competitive tournament on Long Island,
the Kujan Brothers Tournament at William Floyd. Five of the teams in the tournament are ranked in the top 25 on
Long Island. The Hurricanes finished seventh of nine teams, which could be attributed to an emotional letdown from
the night before. Floyd won the tournament with 270 points, and the Hurricanes had 173.
“That little extra just wasn’t there,” coach Bass said. “That’s understandable after the emotional win the night
before, but we have to learn to bring it every time.”
Broccoli won the tournament’s 145-pound title while teammates Gress (140 pounds), Uresk (152 pounds) and Kobus
(171 pounds) finished in second after losing in the finals.
Lagoumis, Kyle Hubbard, Dilandro and Mazarakis all placed fourth while Joe Graf took fifth and Mistina took sixth.
