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Hamptons Online
February 11, 2008
Westhampton Takes Fourth In League VI; Seven ’Canes Advance To Counties
By Brett Mauser
Senior Alex Mazarakis of Westhampton erases a third-period deficit and
pins Mattituck's Sean Heaney with 34 seconds to go in their semifinal. Photos by Brett Mauser
Miller Place - At every meet, wrestlers
and their coaches recognize missed opportunities, and in that regard, the League VI championship was like any other
meet for the Westhampton Beach wrestling team. However, seven wrestlers, many of them facing a win-or-go-home scenario,
went with the former, giving the Hurricanes a formidable lineup heading into next weekend’s Division I tournament.
At the League VI meet, Westhampton had one league champion – 96-pounder Conner Bass – two runners-up and four third-place
finishers. Overall, the Hurricanes placed fourth behind champion John Glenn, Mt. Sinai and Miller Place.
Westhampton's Conner Bass looks for a late pin against Mount Sinai's Eric
Kogel.
“I’m a little disappointed in some matches,” Hurricanes Head Coach Paul Bass said.
“I thought we had a couple more chances and a few more place-winners. The kids wrestled hard. John Glenn had a
great day, not only against us but against everybody. This league is brutal. It’s a real meat grinder.”
The individual qualifiers will suit back up on Friday, Feb. 15, with the first round and quarterfinal matches at
Stony Brook University.
Rising Son
Conner Bass, the coach’s son, entered the league tournament as the No. 1 seed, and thus the favorite to take home
the 96-pound championship. Without having been in the pressure cooker before, no one knew how the freshman would
react to being the expected victor. Bass answered that by winning emphatically in both the semifinal and final
match. He moved into the championship round by defeating Bayport-Blue Point’s Ryan Hake by technical fall (15-0).
In the championship, he took care of Mount Sinai’s Eric Kogel, 5-2.
The 96-pound Bass will enter the counties as one of six seeded league champions. He ran his record to 22-2 on the
year with two victories in League VI. Reluctant to praise his young son, Coach Bass only said “he wrestled well
in the finals.”
Westhampton's Paul DiLandro mulls his options as he's in a compromising
position against Amityville's Angel Mazara.
Senior co-captain Paul DiLandro hoped to avoid his third consecutive second-place finish at the league tournament,
but to do so, he’d need to beat the top ranked 152-pounder in Suffolk County, Amityville’s Angel Mazara. DiLandro
pinned each of his first three opponents in the first period to set up the Mazara match. DiLandro, No. 2 in the
Suffolk rankings, reversed Mazara late in the second period to draw even, 4-4. Mazara switched DiLandro just before
the close of round two, and a takedown late in the third iced a 9-5 win for the Amityville star.
“I hope it ticks off Paul as much as it ticks off me,” Coach Bass said. “It’s really what [that match] should do.
He’s lost twice to him and I still think he’s better. We made some corrections, and he didn’t put it to practice.”
The loss leaves DiLandro entering counties as an unseeded wrestler for the third straight year. Last winter, he
lost to Harborfields’ Christian Jimenez in the 145-pound final, 8-5. As the top seed in 2006 lost to Paul Coffin
of Smithtown East at 135 pounds, 6-5.
“To be county champ, you’re going to have to beat everybody anyway,” DiLandro said. “It would have been nice to
be seeded, knowing you’d have an easier way to the finals, but hopefully I’ll just keep making improvements and
be ready to go.”
The Hurricanes' Cory Hubbard tries to break free from Amityville's James
Banks
in their 119-pound consolation match.
His classmate, Alex Mazarakis pinned Mattituck’s Sean Heaney, who he’d lost to in their Feb. 1 match, in the 171-pound
semifinals. Mazarakis couldn’t mount much of an offensive in the final against Miller Place’s Kyle Minogue, falling
9-4.
“I wrestled pretty good before that match,” Mazarakis said. “That match was a little bit harder. He rode tight
and I really didn’t do too much. Hopefully I’ll do better next week.”
Battling Back
Pete Detore’s day was shorter than he had anticipated. The 103-pounder entered the meet ranked second, looking
for an opportunity to avenge an earlier loss to League VI’s top seed, John Glenn’s Nick Meinsen. Detore was just
a win away from getting that chance but lost 3-2 in the semifinals to Mount Sinai’s Anthony Powers, who he beat
5-0 and 7-0 in two matches this year and 6-2 in last year’s League VI consolation match at 96 pounds.
“They knew their only shot was to try to keep it close,” Bass said. “That’s what coaches do, and that’s what we
do. The referee has to make them wrestle. The kid literally ran away from Pete for five or six minutes.”
Finishing third last year was a disappointment for Detore, but he rebounded to take third at counties. The sophomore’s
going to use this year’s letdown as he prepares for the Division I Tournament.
“The Powers match will definitely give me a lot of motivation for next week,” Detore said. “People think that I
can’t win counties, but I know I can. I know I have the skill, the talent and work ethic to do it. I just need
to dig deeper and come through.”
Detore was one of four Hurricanes who finished third, thus qualifying for counties, after losing his semifinal
match. Cory Hubbard (119), Kyle Hubbard (135) and Dennis Hayes all extended their seasons by winning close decisions
in the consolation round.
Cory, the younger of the Hubbard brothers, nearly picked off Mount Sinai’s Jon Hoeg in the semis to make the 119-pound
final. Hoeg broke a 4-all tie by escaping midway through the third period. Hubbard came seconds away from stealing
the match as he had his opponent on the mat when the buzzer sounded. The sophomore took care of Amityville’s James
Banks handily in the third-place match.
Westhampton's Dennis Hayes rolls Glenn's Ryan Young on his back, but had
to settle for a victory by decision in the 140-pound third-place match.
“It feels great,” Hubbard said. “Going back to the counties again, it’s what I’ve
wanted the whole year.”
His brother, senior Kyle, needed to climb off the mat and win another match after falling to Mount Sinai’s Dan
Morbillo, 7-1, in the semis. Hubbard jumped out to an early lead against Miller Place’s Rob Young in the consolation
and took home a 9-6 decision. At 140 pounds, Dennis Hayes lost to eventual champ Jermaine Jacobs of Amityville
before qualifying with a convincing win over John Glenn’s Ryan Young.
“We had five guys lose in the semis, and four of them came back and took third,” Bass said. “That’s huge. That
shows a lot of character. Character’s how you handle adversity.”
Hurricanes senior John Prudenti, who went 27-4 predominantly at 160 pounds this year, was unable to wrestle due
a left hand injury suffered on Feb. 3.
LEAGUE VI WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIP
at Miller Place
Team Scores: John Glenn 230.5, Mt. Sinai 149, Miller Place 135.5, Westhampton Beach 130.5, Amityville 115, Mattituck
110, Shoreham-Wading River 96, Bayport-Blue Point 92
Championship Finals
96: Conner Bass (WHB) dec. Eric Kogel (MS), 5-2
103: Nick Meinsen (JG) dec. Anthony Powers (MS), 7-3
112: Steven Keith (SWR) dec. Glenn Donatelli (BBP), 6-5
119: Tyler Sinisgalli (JG) dec. Jon Hoeg (MS), 5-0
125: Matt Fusaro (JG) dec. Nick Terdick (JG), 8-6 OT
130: Dave Flynn (SWR) dec. Tim Dooley (BBP), 8-1
135: Mike Castellano (JG) dec. Dan Morbillo (MS), 5-2
140: Jermaine Jacobs (A) dec. Ryan Connell (Matt), 5-2
145: T.J. Neidhart (SWR) dec. Kevin Edwards (BBP), 3-0
152: Angel Mazara (A) dec. Paul DiLandro (WHB), 9-5
160: Alex Martocello (MP) dec. Dan Steiger (MP), 10-0
171: Kyle Minogue (MP) dec. Alex Mazarakis (WHB), 9-4
189: Nick Buonaiuto (MP) pinned Garrett Yablonski (MS), 3:19
215: Carl Korpi (MP) dec. Mike Kline (Matt), 11-3
285: Reggie Robinson (A) dec. Zach Pileski (Matt), 5-3
Consolation Finals
96: Ryan Hake (BBP) dec. Tim Daly (WHB), 7-2
103: Pete DeTore (WHB) dec. James Dekrone (JG), 3-1
112: Matt Gannon (JG) dec. Mico Wong (A), 12-5
119: Cory Hubbard (WHB) dec. James Banks (A), 8-5
125: James Russell (A) dec. Jesse Ahrem (MS), 10-4
130: Justin Bridges (JG) dec. Chris Kar (Matt), 4-3
135: Kyle Hubbard (WHB) dec. Rob Young (MP), 11-6
140: Dennis Hayes (WHB) dec. Ryan Young (JG), 9-5
145: Ray Powers (MS) pinned Joe Giaramita (JG), 2:15
152: Chris Carlucci (JG) def. Jared Cheatman (JG) by injury default
160: Alex Rosenberg (JG) pinned Asim Henry (A), 2:19
171: Sean Heaney (Matt) dec. Frank Abbondanza (MS), 9-1
189: Corey Best (Matt) pinned Corey Schweitzer (SWR), 1:30
215: Will Kosch (MS) dec. Ted Richerdt (Matt), 3-2
285: Joe Mazzola (JG) pinned Guillermo Ortiz (A), 2:22
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