THE INDEPENDENT - ​BY | DESIRÉE KEEGAN

Liam McIntyre can hang with the best of them.
Entering the state wrestling tournament as the No. 6 seed, the Westhampton Beach senior 195-pounder felt he had something to prove. And even up against No. 1 Sam Deprez of Hilton, who had pinned every opponent in the first period on his side of the bracket up until the finals, McIntyre was making moves.
Deprez got his first two points early, and racked up back points to end the first period, stretching McIntyre’s left leg on several occasions to form a 90-degree angle, even forcing him into a split at one point in the second. But McIntyre refused to go down easy. The Hurricane avoided multiple pin attempts, and earned back points late in the third, but his effort fell just short with a 4-2 loss.
“Liam wrestled a very, very smart match,” head coach Paul Bass said, adding that across Deprez’s 51-0 record, he’d either pinned or won by a technical fall in all but two of his bouts, including the one against McIntyre. “Sammy scores a lot of points early, so we tried to keep it close and steal it at the end, and Liam almost did. Deprez hadn’t had a match all year long, and he knew he was in quite a battle. Even their coaches said of Liam, ‘That kid is something. That kid is tough’.”
McIntyre dominated the first two rounds with 6-1 wins, even while wrestling conservatively, according to his coach. He upset No. 2 Jhordyn Innocent of East Ramapo with a 4-3 decision to become the second Hurricane to ever advance to the finals. Innocent had placed second at 195 last year, and was the only other wrestler not to lose by a technical fall or pin to Deprez, losing his match 12-2. McIntyre was in a 2-2 tie with Innocent heading into the final period, and earned a takedown for the win.

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Hampton Bays 126-pounder Willy Kraus pulled a tough first-round matchup, facing second seed senior Bradley Cheek of Canisteo/Greenwood at the state championships at Times Union Center in Albany February 22. Cheek pinned Kraus in 1:05, but the Division II junior won his first wrestleback match with a 14-1 major decision over freshman Mitchell Barcus of Eagle Academy Bronx before falling 4-1 to junior Colby Petrie of Medina in the next round.
Unseeded sophomore Jackson Hulse, of Westhampton Beach, came close in a Division I 4-3 loss to No. 5 Drew Bogdan from Albany Academy in the first round. He earned a penalty point in the first period, and chose to start the second in neutral. Bogdan bounced back with a takedown 1:15 in, but Hulse escaped quick to tie the match 2-2.
Hulse’s opponent chose to start down in the third, hoping for an escape point to win, but Hulse kept him in check, riding him through the first half of the third. Each wrestler was cautioned, and a Bogdan reversal with 15 seconds left, and another Hulse escape gave the match its final score.
The Hurricane was unlucky to face No. 4-seeded Steve Gazillo from Cornwall, who was upset early, in the first of wrestlebacks. He lost that match 4-1. Both of Hulse’s opponents were seniors.
“He wrestled hard, wrestled tough,” Westhampton head coach Paul Bass said. “You see 0-2 and you think it’s a disappointment, but it was experience mistakes. Hopefully this takes him to the next level, gets him hungry. I hope he realizes he’s right there.”

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​Publication: The East Hampton Press & The Southampton Press
By Cailin RileyThere is the pressure to win, and then there is the pressure to pin. For wrestlers, the difference between them can be intense. But Westhampton Beach sophomores Grant Skala and Jack Santora rose to the latter challenge in their team’s match with Newfield—the 13th ranked team in Suffolk County—at the Cory Hubbard Duals in Westhampton on Saturday.

Skala (99 pounds) and Jack Santora (106) were the last two Hurricanes to take the mats in their team’s bout with Newfield, ranked three places ahead of the Hurricanes in the county team standings. Facing a 35-24 deficit going into those matches, they knew the only way their team could win is if they both pinned their opponents (a pin in worth six points, a technical fall five points, a major decision four points, and a decision three points). Both Santora and Skala were favored to win their matches, according to Westhampton Beach head coach Paul Bass, but he said the strategy for pinning an opponent is often different, and requires both skill and savvy on the part of the wrestler.

The young wrestlers delivered. Skala pinned Nick Roethel in 1:55, while Santora delivered the match-clinching mat slap over Andrew Gabb with just seconds left in the second period.

The Hurricanes finished as the runner-up in their host tournament, losing, 42-39, to Patchogue/Medford, ranked 10th in Suffolk County. In addition to the win over Newfield, the Hurricanes also beat Holy Trinity, 67-18.

Bass said that while he always wants to win, he was about as happy as he could have been with a loss after facing Patchogue/Medford.

“At the end of that match, I was the first one to cheer,” he said. “That’s what high school sports is supposed to be. You had two sets of fans going crazy the whole time, kids laying it on the line, and it was back and forth, and it came down to [Will Zaffuto] wrestling really tough against an All-League kid and losing, 7-4, but they just battled the whole time.”

Over the course of the tournament, Skala was 3-0 with a pin; Santora was 2-0 with two pins; Jay Montagna (126 pounds) was 3-0 with two pins; and Jackson Hulse (160 pounds) was 3-0 with two pins, beating Newfield’s Frank Micari, ranked fourth in the county in his weight class, in a 7-0 decision. For that effort, Montagna was chosen as his team’s Most Outstanding Wrestler for the day. Larry Citarelli (170/182 pounds) was 3-0 with a pin; Hunter Burling (182/195) was 2-1, suffering his first loss of the season, an OT defeat at the hands of Newfield. Liam McIntyre, ranked first in the county at 195 pounds, was 3-0 with two pins, wrestling both at 195 and 220.
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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."

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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 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!