There might not have been an official team score count kept at the Rick Hermann
Memorial Wrestling Tournament at Bellport High School on Saturday, but with a quick glance at the numbers, it’s
clear that Westhampton Beach was the best team there.
With four champions, nine finalists, 12 wrestlers finishing in the top three and
16 overall place winners, the Hurricanes were the main event on the mats that night. The next closest team was
Lindenhurst, which equaled Westhampton Beach in champions, but was short in all other category comparisons with
six finalists, nine in the top three and 13 place winners.
Not only was Westhampton Beach head coach Paul Bass happy with the way his athletes
performed on the mats, but he was also happy with what another strong showing does for the respect that his team
will get from other teams in the county. Lindenhurst and Patchogue/Medford from League I, Bellport and Comsewogue
from League V and League III’s Centereach were at the tournament, providing some tough competition. Also at the
tournament were the second string wrestlers from Sachem East, Sachem North and Sayville, which had their first
string athletes at other tournaments.
“It’s a great way to start, winning two tournaments, especially with who this was,
against some good west teams,” Bass said. “The East End doesn’t get any respect. This was a real deep tournament,
all the brackets were full with the exception of a couple.” Westhampton Beach opened the season winning the Sprig
Gardner Tournament in East Hampton a week earlier.
The tournament at Bellport brought mixed emotions for the Lagoumis family, who saw
one son earn a tournament title and the other head to the hospital with a broken arm.
In opening seconds of his semifinal match at 103 pounds, younger son, Brian, a sophomore, was lifted by his opponent
off the ground and broke two bones in his left arm when he hit the mat. Brian was taken via ambulance to the hospital
and will miss the rest of the season. He ended up finishing in fourth place.
Less than 20 minutes later, his older brother, Scott, a senior, took the mat, winning
his semifinal match and going on to win the 125-pound title, his second in two weeks.
With the loss of the 103-pounder, the team’s flexibility becomes limited. Of the small guys, at 96 and 103, Pete
Detore is the best of the bunch, but now if Detore is needed at 96, eighthgrader Zach Bass is going to have to
step into the 103 role.
“It’s a shame about Brian because he was really just coming into his own,” Bass
said.
Junior Paul Dilandro was the second Most Outstanding Wrestler for the Hurricanes in as many tournaments as he won
the 145-pound title by beating Jake Hruby, the county’s fourth-ranked wrestler at 145 pounds, in the finals. Dilandro
was also voted Champion of Champions.
Detore was the Most Outstanding Wrestler at East Hampton.
Freshman Cory Hubbard found tournament championship glory for the first time in
his career, winning the 112-pound title, while senior Steve Kobus won his second tournament title of the season
at 189.
Coming up just shy of titles were Detore at 96 and Dennis Hayes at 119, both losing
one-point decisions in the finals. Also taking second were Kyle Hubbard (135), Joe Santaly-Graf (140) and Jimmy
Zambik (215), who lost to Noah Faunce of Centereach, the sixthranked heavyweight in the county.
Placing third was Conner Bass at 96 pounds, Rich Mailand at 160 and Alex Mazarakis
at 171. Brian Lagoumis was the only fourth-place finisher, while John Prudenti (140) and Mike Miller (152) finished
in fifth and super heavyweight Anthony Familia was sixth.
While many teams will take it easy over the Christmas vacation, Westhampton Beach
will be hard at work. The Hurricanes will compete in a dual meet tournament at Connetquot tomorrow night and then
head to the two-day Half Hollow Hills East Tournament on December 27 and 28.
Staying active and on the mats over the break is perhaps more important for wrestling
than for any other sport because the league season gets underway as soon as the kids return to school, whereas
other sports have already started the league season before the break. Westhampton Beach will start the defense
of back-to-back undefeated League VI titles on January 3 at home against Miller Place.
