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Southampton Press
February 12, 2004
League Title Slips Through Their Hands
By Kerry Monaco
It was there for the taking.
The Westhampton Beach wrestling team had a chance to win the program’s first league title since 1991 in a battle
of undefeated teams versus Shoreham/Wading River Friday evening on the road. But the Hurricanes fell short, losing
33-22.
“They were better on paper,” Westhampton Beach coach Paul Bass said. “We had to wrestle a perfect match to beat
them. I’m disappointed because I thought we could’ve had them. We won matches we should have but we didn’t win
some of the other ones that we were favored in. We didn’t have any room to play.”
But the season isn’t over yet. The Hurricanes will compete in the League VI Tournament on Saturday at Amityville
High School and the top three competitors in each weight class will head off to the Suffolk County Tournament on
February 21 at the State University of New York at Stony Brook.
Where a wrestling match begins is decided at random. A weight class is drawn out of a hat and on Friday, the match
began at 125 pounds, which caused some concern for Bass, who said that the Wildcats were stronger than his team
in the final three bouts at 103, 112 and 119 pounds. The Hurricanes needed a sizable lead heading into the final
three bouts to ensure a victory if the three lightweights couldn’t pull off upsets.
The Shoreham/Wading River coaching staff also shifted their lineup, throwing another wrench in the works for the
Hurricanes. Charles Hoeg and Corey Jantzen, who both scored pins at 103 and 112 pounds, respectively, are both
ranked in the top three at 96 pounds in the county. Last season, Jantzen won the League VI title and finished fourth
at the counties at 96 pounds while Hoeg took third at 96 pounds at the league tournament.
“Two of those lightweight kids are ranked in the top three in the county, that’s tough to beat,” Bass said. “They
moved Jantzen up to 112, which they never did before. They also moved their 135-pounder to 130 to plug a hole because
they were weak there. They pulled out all the stops.”
Despite the torrential rain and flooding on Friday, the Hurricanes had plenty of support and Westhampton Beach
fans easily outnumbered the Wildcats fans.
“I was really happy with the number of fans there,” Bass said. “It wasn’t just families of the wrestlers out there.
Students, faculty, staff and administrators were there to support us. I want to say thanks to all of them for showing
up, especially on a night like that.”
Shoreham/Wading River opened with three three-point victories at 125, 130 and 135 pounds to take a 9-0 lead. Rob
Sanfilippo (140) brought life back to Westhampton Beach when he pinned Joe Sorrentino in 1:07 to cut the Wildcats’
lead to 9-6.
Hurricane Mauricio Molina scored a 6-2 decision at 145 pounds to tie the score at 9-9. Brian Beretta returned the
lead to the Wildcats with a 9-5 decision at 152 pounds over Bret Klug, putting Shoreham/Wading River ahead, 12-9.
Hurricane Travis Chornoma, who finished the league season undefeated, dominated Dave Butler in an 11-2 decision
to bump his team to a 13-12 edge. Chornoma was all over Butler from the opening whistle but Butler stalled several
times, which kept Chornoma from building on his lead.
Wildcat Wes Briesacher pinned Jay Gress in 5:15 at 171 pounds, putting Shoreham/Wading River up, 18-13.
The Hurricanes built themselves a 22-18 lead after Hurricane John Gillen squeaked out a 1-0 decision at 189 pounds
and Charlie Pendlebury pinned Tim Delaney in 1:44 in the heavyweight bout.
But the Hurricanes still faced the lightweight bouts that had Bass worried.
His worries became a reality when Shoreham/Wading River pinned in both the 103 and 112-pound bouts to take a 30-22
lead, a lead the Hurricanes couldn’t overcome with just one bout remaining. In the final bout at 119 pounds, Hurricane
Andy Mistina lost an 11-4 decision, bringing the final score to 33-22.
Wildcat Bobby Bliss edged Jason Herrick, 4-3, in overtime in the super heavyweight bout, which did not count toward
the team score because it is an optional weight class.
“Now we’re getting ready to make a run at winning the league tournament,” Bass said. “Hopefully, we can win that
next week and beat Shoreham there.”
The seeds for the league tournament had not been announced as of press time but Bass was expecting Nick Broccoli,
Sanfilippo, Molina, Klug, Chornoma, Pendlebury and Herrick to be seeded first or second in their respective weight
classes. He also expected Bryan Gales and John Gress to earn seeds near the top.
Issue Date: Southampton Press 02/12/04
Copyright, The Southampton Press
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