Publication: The East Hampton Press & The Southampton Press
Dec 30, 2018 8:16 PM
By Drew Budd

​Just wrestle.

It's a simple phrase that the Westhampton Beach wrestling team has started to use this season, but in this day and age where there is a lot more going than just the wrestling on the varsity high school stage, it's something that can be easily overlooked by teen-aged grapplers. There are a core of Hurricanes who have taken the saying to heart, and it showed this past week at the Sal DiFazio Holiday Tournament at Half Hollow Hills East High School that ran across two days, Thursday and Friday, December 27 and 28. 

For the second year in a row, Westhampton Beach won the tournament with 279 total points, 40 points ahead of host Hills East and 92 points ahead of Bellmore JFK. What's different about this year's tournament victory than last year's, Westhampton Beach head coach Paul Bass said, is that he didn't have nearly as many wrestlers in this year's tournament, due to various reasons, from a few wrestlers being away on the holiday break, to injuries and illnesses. Only 20 of the 38 wrestlers that make up the Hurricanes made the trip to Hills East, and of those 20, 14 placed in the top four of their weight classes. Six of those wrestlers became champions and another was runner-up.

"They're really starting to buy in to our philosophy of just wrestle. Forget all of the scores, forget about all of the rankings, forget about all the drama that's involved in wrestling and just go out there and wrestle," Bass explained. "And it wasn’t just about the results at this tournament. This was a Christmastime tournament. All I care about is getting the kids some good matches. It was how we did it. It was a dominating train coming down the tracks, and it started at 99 pounds."

Read entire article on 27east.com

The Canes traveled to Half Hollow Hills for a one day abbreviated version of the Sal DiFazio Individual Tournament and walked away with 6 of the 15 weight brackets titles and outpaced host Half Hollow Hills East to win the tournament. Senior Liam McIntyre (220) was named the Most Outstanding Wrestler of the Tournament while teammate and fellow Senior Hunter Burling (182) was named the Champion of Champions. All in all (see below), the Canes claimed 6 titles, 1 second place, 4 fourth place and 2 sixth places. It was a fantastic day all around for the Canes! Next week, WHB will host undefeated and Section XI #1 ranked League VI foe Rocky Point on Friday (1/4) and then host the Cory Hubbard Duals the following day in Westhampton Beach! This is certainly the most crucial week for the Canes all season. Please come out and support them!! Go Canes!

The Canes coming off a pair of wins the previous week were not tested at home against against Harborfields. WHB cruised to an 81-6 victory to move the Hurricanes record to 3-0 in League VI action. The match started with forfeits at 113 and 120 by Harborfields, with two other forfeits later at 145 and 106. Ultimately, 11 matches were wrestled and WHB came away with a 10-1 record and 9 pins. WHB will be action and heavily favored on the road at Amityville this Friday (12/21). Go Canes!!

Westhampton (WHB) 81, Harborfields (Harb) 6
December 19, 2018
113 - Luke Citarelli  (WHB) by FFT
120 - Will Zaffuto (WHB) by FFT
126 - Jason Montagna (WHB) pinned Dan Spreckels (Harb) 
132 - Suraj Patel (WHB) pinned Cole Sullivan (Harb) 
138 - Dominic Jurgel (WHB) pinned Brian Philips (Harb) 
145 - James O`Neill (WHB) by FFT
152 - Gage Rubio (WHB) pinned Nick Flynn (Harb) 
160 - Jackson Hulse (WHB) pinned Brandon Barnes (Harb) 
170 - Lawrence Citarelli (WHB) pinned Wyatt Lafountaine (Harb) 
182 - Hunter Burling (WHB) dec. Hogan Henrikson (Harb) 7-2
195 - Liam McIntyre (WHB) pinned Ian McGullam (Harb) 
220 - Erich Schaumloffel (WHB) pinned Dan Stein (Harb) 
285 - Scott Coleman (Harb) pinned Nicolas Pataridze (WHB) 
  99 - Joe D`Agostino (WHB) pinned Jack Cunningham (Harb) 
106 - Grant Skala (WHB) by FFT

By Cailin Riley As a junior last season, Larry Citarelli did not win a single varsity match for the Westhampton Beach wrestling team. Last week, he provided the clinching victories in two dual meets against two of the stronger teams in League V.

Citarelli took the mat against Jon Fitzsimmons for the final bout of the night in Friday’s tilt with Islip—a team that was ranked fifth in the county in the preseason—with meet tied at 32-32. With 25 seconds left in the 182-pound match, Citarelli scored a takedown to break a 1-1 tie, securing a 3-1 win over Fitzsimmons and the victory for his Hurricanes squad. Two nights earlier, in the third-to-last matchup of the night, Citarelli beat Connor Owenburg of Sayville in a 6-1 decision that put Westhampton Beach up by 13 points, thus guaranteeing the Canes would win even if Sayville had pins in the final two matches, in what was ultimately a 41-30 victory. Like Islip, Sayville was also ranked in the top 15 in the county in the preseason—the Hurricanes were as well—and Westhampton Beach head coach Paul Bass knew his team would be in for two tough matches early in the season against those squads. The key to victory in both, he said, is part of what is becoming a pattern for the Hurricanes so far this year.

“We had some [individual] matches we should have won, but in the end, the other guys picked them up,” Bass said. “That’s what dual meets are all about; picking each other up and wrestling for each other, and these guys are doing that as well as anybody. In every match, something bad has happened, but the guys keep stepping up.”

Citarelli is just one example, Bass said. The senior’s performance is not an exception, but rather seems to be the rule for the team this year. Bass pointed out that, of his 15 regular starters this season, only two are returning All-League wrestlers and only one other had a winning record last season. The rest of the starting lineup this year either was not in the starting lineup last season or had a losing record.

Read entire article on 27east.com

Senior Lawrence Citarelli is all smiles after his 6-1 victory at 170 pounds clinched the victory for Westhampton Beach against Sayville in their first League VI dual meet of the season.

The 2018-19 version of the Westhampton Beach wrestling built on their 2nd place finish at Sprig Gardner this past weekend. Travelling to Yorktown, NY for the Yorktown Dual Meet Tournament, the Canes posted a perfect 5-0 record on their way to claiming the title. Sophomore Joey D'Agostino, Junior Jason Montagna, and Seniors Hunter Burling and Liam McIntyre all went 5-0 during the day. Sophomores Grant Skala, Jackson Hulse and Senior Suraj Patel all went 4-1. Here is how the dual meets went on the day:

WHB - 51   Glen Cove - 27
WHB - 55   Lakeland Panas - 19
WHB - 45   Mahopac - 33
WHB - 63   Clarkstown North - 18
WHB - 50   New Rochelle - 30

Congratualtion to all the Hurricanes on the big win! WHB starts the league schedule this week when they host Sayville on Wednesday. The Hurricanes then travel to Islip for another League VI tilt on Friday. Go Canes!!!

The 2018-19 Hurricanes took to the mats in East Hampton at the Sprig Gardner Individual Tournament in what was likely supposed to be a very tough day. Without 12 wrestlers and 40% of the anticipated starting lineup, the Canes looked to give it their best. Someone forgot to tell Westhampton Beach that they didn't have a chance as the Canes challenged for the title and ended up finishing 2nd to Ward Melville in the tournament!! WHB had 4 First place, 2 second place, 3 third place, 4 fourth place, and 5 fifth place podium finishers! There was a great sense of team and excitement throughout the tournament and we all hope this is the beginning of something special! Congratulations to the whole team!