Publication: The East Hampton Press & The Southampton Press
By Cailin Riley and Drew Budd
 Feb 23, 2015 4:08 PM 
 Feb 24, 2015 3:32 PM

Seven wrestlers from the East End will make the trip to Albany this weekend to compete in the New York State Championships at the Times Union Center. Some will be looking to make a splash in their final high school season, while others have their eyes on a state title. Here’s a look at how those wrestlers might fare and who they will face when they take to the mats on Friday.

Wrestling will begin on Friday with preliminary rounds at 10 a.m., with quarterfinals slated to start at 2 p.m., and wrestle-backs set to start at 4 and run until 8 p.m. On Saturday, wrestling will begin with the semifinals and more wrestle-backs from 10 a.m. until 12:30 p.m., and wrestle-backs/consolation semifinals from 12:30 to 2 p.m. Consolation finals will take place from 2 to 3:30 p.m. The gates will then reopen at 5 p.m., with finals set to begin at 6:30 p.m.





Westhampton 
Beach-Division I

For the ninth time in the last 10 years, the Westhampton Beach wrestling program will be represented at the state tournament in Division I, this time thanks to senior 145-pounder Hunter Hulse. Hulse finished third in the county, but earned one of the four wildcard spots that are awarded in each weight class. The rest of the bracket in each weight class is made up of the champions from each section, while the remaining wildcard spots are awarded based on a points system that takes into account a wrestler’s win/loss differential, placement at the sectional tournament, placements from sectional and state tournaments from previous years, and the strength of the section the wrestler hails from. Coming from Section XI (Suffolk County) always provides a boost—as it is ranked as the most competitive section year after year—and Hulse also earned the maximum number of points (35) for win/loss differential. He was 41-3 on the year, and the maximum win/loss points a wrestler can earn is 35. Hulse also earned points for placing third in the county this year, as well as for being a two-time Division II county champion when he was a freshman and a sophomore and attended Stony Brook. READ MORE

Publication: The East Hampton Press & The Southampton Press
By Cailin Riley   Feb 9, 2015 4:39 PM

Talk about exceeding expectations.

The Westhampton Beach wrestling team wasn’t expected to make big waves at the League VI tournament at East Hampton High School over the weekend. The Hurricanes were a middle-of-the-pack squad, sporting a 4-3 record in what was a highly competitive league, so a similar finish at Saturday’s tournament—where the top four wrestlers in each weight class advance to counties—was a reasonable expectation.

Instead, however, the Hurricanes reeled off upset after upset on their way to a second-place finish, behind only undefeated league leader and Suffolk County Dual Meet Champion Elwood/John Glenn. The Knights, the top ranked team on Long Island, won the league tournament with 257 points, followed by Westhampton Beach with 184.5 points. Miller Place, the seventh-ranked team in the county, was third with 165 points, followed by Shoreham/Wading River (146.5), Mount Sinai (123), host East Hampton (70), Bayport/Blue Point (63) and Amityville (35).

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Publication: The East Hampton Press & The Southampton Press
By Kerry Monaco
 Feb 9, 2015 3:42 PM 
 Feb 11, 2015 3:14 PM

It’s simple word association: Paul Bass and wrestling.

And now the Westhampton Beach High School varsity wrestling coach’s lifelong dedication to the sport is being recognized in a big way, with his induction into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.

Coach Bass, who surpassed the 250 wins mark during the 2014 season, received a letter in the mail last May notifying him of his upcoming induction. His reaction? Shock.

“I had just lost my dad in February, and [wife] Kim and the boys were away, and I cried because I couldn’t share it with him—I had no one to share it with,” said coach Bass, a social studies teacher for three decades and a varsity wrestling coach for a quarter of a century at his alma mater.

He continued, “I’m extremely humbled, because I don’t think that I am somebody who should be getting something at this level. I have made a lot of mistakes. I have made a lot of enemies. I have ruffled a lot of feathers over the years. I am not a politically correct guy. I’m never satisfied, I’m always stretching for better.

“It’s good, but it’s also bad. Sometimes you just have to sit back and enjoy it. I have a hard time doing that.”

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Publication: The East Hampton Press & The Southampton Press
By Cailin Riley   Jan 19, 2015 10:54 AM 
 Jan 19, 2015 11:45 AM

The Westhampton Beach wrestling team has certainly hit its stride.

The Hurricanes had another impressive week, winning a pair of League VI dual meets—beating Bayport/Blue Point, 40-27, at home on January 14 before sneaking past Shoreham/Wading River, 39-35, at Shoreham two days later—and also coming up with an unexpected victory at the Kujan Tournament at William Floyd on Saturday.

Head coach Paul Bass did not mince words when he spoke about his team’s ability to come out on top in a field of nine teams at the Kujan Tournament, which his squad had not won since 2011. READ MORE

Hurricanes Win Commack Duals, Beat East HamptonBy Cailin Riley   Jan 12, 2015 10:26 AM

Westhampton Beach wrestling coach Paul Bass entered the season not knowing what to expect from his young and untested team, but in the last few weeks, the Hurricanes have “turned the corner,” he says, and last week he continued to be impressed with his athletes.

The Hurricanes wrestled seven matches in just four days, starting with a bout at Elwood/John Glenn—the top ranked team in Suffolk County and third-ranked team in New York State—on January 7, followed by a home match against another League VI foe, East Hampton, on Friday before 

culminating with five matches at the Commack Duals on Saturday. READ MORE

Publication: The East Hampton Press & The Southampton Press
Staff Writer   Jan 5, 2015 10:35 AM 

It’s been almost a year since the Westhampton Beach community lost one of their own with the death of Cory Hubbard, and the Westhampton Beach wrestling program has made sure his memory will be honored by naming the team’s annual dual meet tournament after the former three-sport athlete.

Hubbard was struck and killed by a hit-and-run driver who eventually turned himself in in College Park, Maryland in January of last year. Hubbard, who was a senior at the University of Maryland at the time of the accident, is remembered by those who knew him for his love of the water, sense of humor and work ethic both in the classroom and in athletics. Hubbard was a three-sport All-County athlete in football, lacrosse and wrestling and as a senior, he was named.......READ MORE

Before the start of the season, members of the Westhampton Beach wrestling team learned they would be getting new singlets, complete with a new design created by 2013 graduate Liam Bass, son of head coach Paul Bass. The singlets looked sharp, and they were excited to wear them. Then Coach Bass told them they wouldn’t be—until they proved they deserved them.

When the Hurricanes take to the mats again on December 29 and 30 at the Half Hollow Hills East Tournament, they will finally debut the new singlets, thanks to the performance they put in at the Center Moriches Duals this past Saturday and Sunday. In what Bass calls “the toughest dual meet tournament on Long Island, the Hurricanes showed the type of grit that Bass had been waiting to see, going 3-1 on Sunday with wins over teams Bass said his squad was not expected to beat. The Hurricanes went 2-3 against some tough competition on Saturday as well in the first day of the tournament, and—combined with a non-league dual meet against Connetquot on December 17—it meant the Hurricanes had wrestled 10 duals meets in the course of just five days. Bass liked what he saw during that stretch, in both wins and losses, and went as far as saying he was ecstatic, an adjective he does not use often. 

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Wrestling Publication: The East Hampton Press & The Southampton Press
By Cailin Riley   Dec 15, 2014 1:54 PM

That’s what Westhampton Beach wrestling coach Paul Bass always tells his kids when they compete at tournaments. Placing first, third or fifth means that they’ve won the final match they’ve wrestled, and for Bass, finishing strong is key.

The coach had some mixed feelings about his team’s performance at the Sprig Gardner Tournament at East Hampton High School on Saturday though, overall, he was fairly pleased considering that his wrestlers won eight of the 12 “medal” matches on the day.

Dane Mendoza (99 pounds) and Hunter Hulse (145) were champions for the Hurricanes. It was the first tournament championship for Mendoza, who beat Dan Mauriello of Hauppauge, 12-4, in the finals.

“That’s the best Dane’s ever wrestled,” Bass said. “We’ve been waiting for that for him, so it was kind of special.”

Along the way, Mendoza was dominant with two pins before the easy decision.

Hulse was dominant as well, going 3-0 and beating Matt Carney of Ward Melville, 9-1, in the finals. Hulse also had one pin on the day.

Read the full article

A team dinner to kick off a season, or get ready before a big match, is a popular tactic used by coaches to create chemistry and cohesiveness.

This year, Paul Bass took it one step further.

Members of the Westhampton Beach wrestling squad toted their sleeping bags and pillows to the high school gymnasium on November 25, the night before their first official practice of the season. After dinner, their parents went home, and the wrestlers got comfortable on the mat, where they spent the night.

At 4:40, a.m., Bass woke them up—and the 2014/15 wrestling season officially began for the Hurricanes, with practice running from 5 until 7 a.m.

“I wanted us to be the first team in the county to practice,” Bass explained. “So, we started ahead of everybody, and we have to stay ahead of everybody.”

READ THE FULL ARTICLE

Growing up involved in the sport of wrestling is a very interesting experience. You are exposed to a manner of thinking that few others will understand, even fewer will agree with, and none outside the fraternity of wrestlers will recognize the power of. This method of thinking is near and dear to me, as it shaped my entire life to this point. The reason why the “wrestler mentality” is so incredibly powerful is because it makes zero concessions in terms of acceptance of mediocrity or failure. The only option is success, and the only way to get there is to be unyielding in your pursuit of your goals. These are the 10 major life lessons that I learned through wrestling that have impacted me as a husband, father, teacher, student, and overall human being. While some of these lessons are straight forward, there are some that are Miyagi-esque in terms of the metaphorical application to everyday life experiences...READ MORE