Westhampton Grapplers Secure Third At Sprig Gardner Invite; EH's Jarboe Second At 215

By Brett Mauser

Matt Mazarakis pulls Gianmichael Parente's arm toward his body in an effort to put him on his back. Photos by Brett Mauser

East Hampton - The 32nd Annual Sprig Gardner Wrestling Tournament accomplished just what an early-season competition is supposed to - the coaches learned a little bit about their wrestlers, the wrestlers learned a little bit about themselves, and they all caught an all important glimpse of the opposition.

For Westhampton Beach and East Hampton, the tourney was a strong first step in what is a long journey toward February's league and county championships.

Sophomore Conner Bass of Westhampton faced an early test in Bayport's Ryan Hake,
a county qualifier at 96 pounds last year. Bass won with a third-period pin.

Westhampton placed nine of their 11 semifinalists into the championship matches of their respective weight classes. Of them, the Bass twins - Conner at 103 pounds and Zach at 119 - pulled out victories for the Hurricanes to match last year's championship total. For the team totals, Ward Melville repeated as champion, racking up 280.5 points. By virtue of a pin by Gabe Rice in the final match of the day - the 135-pound final - Riverhead leaped Westhampton for second place, scoring 225 points, while the young Hurricanes took third overall with 223.5 points. Host East Hampton finished fifth with 91 points thanks in large part to a stellar day from junior Nick Jarboe, who reached the 215-pound final.

For the Hurricanes, Conner Bass, last year's tournament champ at 96 pounds, moved up and scored three wins by fall to capture the 103-pound title. The run included pins of Bayport's Ryan Hake, a county qualifier last year, and of Ward Melville's Ryan Krause in the finals. Conner's brother Zach squeezed a strong 6-0 decision over Dan Treacy of Ward Melville between a pair of pins. To emerge triumphant at 119 pounds, Bass, who took third last year at 112, pinned teammate Mike Purpura with five seconds to spare for his first Sprig Gardner win. In brief, Coach Bass said of his sons "I thought they wrestled well."

Pete DeTore of Westhampton uses all his might to avoid a one-leg
takedown from Ward Melville's Dan Gray.

The 112-pound draw, for which Hurricane junior Pete DeTore was ranked first, was undoubtedly the most loaded weight class. In the tournament, there were six wrestlers who competed in last year's county championships, and three were on a collision course at 112. Ward Melville's Will Mazzone, a qualifier at 96 pounds last year, was sent to the consolation bracket with a loss in the quarterfinals. However, the match-up everyone anticipated in the semifinal - DeTore against the Patriots' Dan Gray - materialized after each handily won their matches in the quarters and semis. The highly anticipated showdown did not disappoint as the match came down to waning seconds.

Gray, who took second in League I at 112 last year, scored a first-period takedown, but DeTore reversed Gray to even the score at two. After Gray escaped and brought DeTore to the ground again in the second, he led 5-2. Just as the buzzer sounded in round two, DeTore flipped Gray, amid controversy from the coaches, to trim the edge to 5-4. In the second, DeTore chose the bottom position and immediately reverted to neutral to push it to 5-5. Gray scored two more takedowns in the third but DeTore broke free each time, making the score 9-7 with a half-minute remaining. Needing two points to force overtime, DeTore brought Gray to the mat just as the buzzer sounded. He was originally awarded the two, causing a ballyhoo among the Patriot coaching staff. However, the officials conferred with the timekeepers and eventually waved off the two, thus handing Gray the win.

Even though Bass was adamant that DeTore beat the clock - "he had the two, there's no question" - he was proud of how the two-time county place-winner wrestled and, more importantly, how he responded.

Westhampton junior Mike Purpura wraps Rob Rohena's arm behind his back to keep
him in place.

"It was a great match," Bass said. "I thought the kid took Pete out of his rhythm on his feet. He did not wrestle well on his feet and it was only 9-7. Ten minutes after the match, he was talking about what he had to do and the situations he was in. That's why Pete's great. A lot of kids are like that. I try to teach them to constantly evaluate what you're doing and how you're going to change. Pete did that, and that's why he is what he is."

For Westhampton, it scored second-place points or better at every weight class up to 125 pounds. At 96, Andrew Capuano stormed to the finals with pins of Anthony Caratozzolo of St. John the Baptist and Ward Melville's Vinny Bracco. In the finals against Bracco's teammate Jackson Hoppey, Capuano fell down 7-1 early, battled back to 9-5 before eventually falling 11-5.

"Cappy wrestled his butt off," Bass said. "Every match of his was a battle. He was losing in the first round in every one, and he won them all. He almost pulled the thing out of at the end. That was a fun one to watch."

Mike Purpura might have scored the upset of the tournament from Westhampton's standpoint, not because he won but because of the fashion in which he did. At 119 pounds, Purpura manhandled St. John the Baptist's Rob Rohena, 18-5, to win by major decision and advance to the finals. Rohena, the top seed in the bracket, had placed fifth at last year's Catholic High School State Wrestling Championships.

Russell Skinder of Westhampton tries to work his way out of a tough situation without
the benefit of sight.

"Mike's one of those kids who's been on JV that I'm expecting to step up," Bass said. "He showed some of these other guys what we're expecting. He's a tough kid. He should be able to do that at these tournaments, and that's what I expect from these other guys."

At 125 pounds, junior tri-captain Cory Hubbard pinned his way to the finals before running in to Ward Melville's Nick Scotto, who finished fourth in Suffolk at 119 last year and is currently ranked third at 125.

The 'Canes also scored well at the middle weights. Scott Carey won his first three matches at 152, including the quarterfinal and semifinal showdowns by a combined five points. Brian Kobus tallied a pair of pins and a 15-3 major decision over Riverhead's Joe Menna to reach the 160-pound final, where he was pinned by defending tournament champ Ryan Rheaume of Riverhead. Matt Mazarakis looked impressive during his early matches, winning by tech fall, pin and an 11-0 decision. Hoping to bring another 171-pound title back home - his brother Alex won it last year - Mazarakis was stopped by Riverhead's Myle Buhner in the first round.

Other place-winners included Will Dodd (4th; 96 pounds), Ronan Seltenreich (5th; 103), Tim Daly (6th; 103), Vinny Garrafola (6th; 112), Russell Skinder (6th, 130) and Brian Lagoumis (4th; 140).

"I thought we wrestled very, very well," Bass said. "I thought our top kids were very good, and I thought we'd see a little bit more from the second-string guys, especially the older ones. They have to step it up now and get out of that JV mentality. They're certainly talented enough."

East Hampton's Seth Barrows tries to put the finishing touches on his wrestle-back match against St. John the Baptist's Jonathan Dolan.

A Fight To The Finals
In the 215-pound final, there stood Cody Ferraro, the fifth-ranked wrestler at that weight in the county and defending tournament champion. He was every bit of 215 pounds. Across from him stood East Hampton's Nick Jarboe, all of 183 pounds, albeit a robust 183 pounds. The Bonac junior was out to win the match like any other, but in reality, he knew he'd already had one heck of a tournament, and he knew Ferraro's credentials, including his 2-2 mark at last year's Suffolk County Tournament.

Bonac senior Andrew Foglia finished with a 3-2 mark on the day to finish fourth at
189 pounds.

Despite throwing up in his first match, Jarboe toppled Patrick Arnold of St. John the Baptist, 13-9, in the quarterfinals. Jarboe, who was an alternate for counties at 215 last year, scored a two-point takedown early and held on to defeat Bayport-Blue Point's Mike Lombardi, 2-1, in the semifinals. Squaring off against Ferraro, Jarboe kept the score down early, but finally Ferraro flipped him on his back with 1:27 gone to score six more points for Ward Melville.

"It was fine," Jarboe said. "That kid's real good. I felt that my ground game was pretty good, but when I was on the bottom it was much harder. They had so much weight on me."

"He's been working very hard with Andrew (Foglia), and it was great to see him make the finals," Head Coach Jim Stewart added.

By reaching the finals, Jarboe matched the plunge made by Jake Terando in last year's tournament. Terando, who has since moved to Oregon, fell 4-3 to Hampton Bays' Tim Jordan in the 125-pound championship. The last Bonacker champion was Conner Miller at 152 pounds in 2006. Overall, East Hampton placed eight wrestlers in the top six - an upgrade from five last winter. Its 91 points nearly doubled last year's output of 47.

East Hampton's Chris Gamble aims to keep Westhampton's Brian Kobus at bay during
their match at 160 pounds.

According to Stewart, Jarboe and senior Andrew Foglia will wrestle at both 189 and 215 throughout the season. At Sprig Gardner, Foglia was placed in a tough 189-pound draw. He blew through his first two matches - a pin of Bayport's Jim Alles in 1:29, and then a pin of Ward Melville's Ryan Sullivan in 1:35. The two weren't finished with each other either, as they ended up on opposite ends of the consolation bracket. Sullivan defeated Riverhead's Delon Richards, while Foglia beat Westhampton's Brian Moore by decision. In their rematch for third place, Sullivan held on for a 7-6 decision over East Hampton's captain.

"I was glad to see that he was wrestling well," Stewart said. "He just made a couple of small mistakes that are correctable. He's also working very hard in the practice room and it shows because he's not tired during the match."

Stewart also lauded the day put in by 145-pounder Steven Ward. The junior went 4-1, his only loss coming to eventual class champ C.J. Gevinski of Riverhead in the semifinals. Otherwise, Ward twice won by fall, and he beat teammates Kyle McGowin and Seth Barrows in wrestle-backs to claim third place. Barrows thus took fourth, and McGowin was fifth, although the team could only use Ward's points in the team standings.

At 160, the Bonackers' Chris Gamble took the hard way to fourth place in what was a loaded draw. Gamble stuck Ward Melville's Kevin Tumulty in 1:52 to start, and then lost to Westhampton's Kobus in the quarterfinals. Gamble won the next two matches by fall before losing to Riverhead's Joe Menna, who secured the Most Pins/Least Time Award for his fourth pin in a combined 5 minutes, 14 seconds. Cory Pawlukojc picked up a sixth-place finish at 160. East Hampton's Pat Brophy went 2-3 but took sixth at 152 pounds. Stewart was also pleased with 140-pounder Dane Riva, a new addition to the team from Sag Harbor who went 1-1 in his first career tournament.

"He's wrestling tough with the matches that he has at his level," Stewart said. "He's doing very well."

Steven Ward of East Hampton broke free from Jonathan Dolan's grasp and scored an easy 16-0 major decision in their 145-pound quarterfinal.

32nd Annual Sprig Gardner Tournament
at East Hampton
Team Scores: Ward Melville (WM) 280.5, Riverhead (R) 225, Westhampton Beach (WH) 219.5, Bayport-Blue Point (BBP) 113, East Hampton (EH) 91, St. John the Baptist (SJB) 89.5, Smithtown Christian (SC) 22
Most Outstanding Wrestler: Dan Gray (WM)
Most Pins, Least Time: Joe Menna (R), 4 in 5:14
Championship Finals
96: Jackson Hoppey (WM) dec. Andrew Capuano (WH), 11-5
103: Connor Bass (WH) pinned Rob Krause (WM), 3:47
112: Dan Gray (WM) dec. Pete DeTore (WH), 9-7
119: Zach Bass (WH) pinned Mike Purpura (WH), 5:55
125: Nick Scotto (WM) dec. Cory Hubbard (WH), 11-5
130: Chris Krumbiegal (R) dec. Andrew Raniolo (WM), 10-8
135: Gabe Rice (R) pinned Jack Jantzen (WM), 3:44
140: Edwin Perry (R) dec. Travis Baskin (R), 10-4
145: Chris Gevinski (R) dec. Charles Bartlett (R), 8-0
152: Frank Loicano (SJB) dec. Scott Carey (WH), 4-2
160: Ryan Rheaume (R) dec. Brian Kobus (WH), 15-3
171: Myles Buhner (R) pinned Matt Mazarakis (WH), 1:45
189: Chris Brown (WM) dec. Evan Chernoff (WM), 11-0
215: Cody Ferraro (WM) pinned Nick Jarboe (EH), 1:27
285: Kyle Folk-Freund (WM) pinned Brandon Goldberg (WM), 1:17
Consolation Finals 3rd/4th
96: Vinny Bracco (WM) dec. Will Dodd (WH), 11-4
103: Ryan Hake (BBP) dec. Andrew Levanti (WM), 7-3
112: Kyle Underwood (BBP) pinned Will Mazzone (WM), 0:22
119: Dan Treacy (WM) dec. Jeff Purdy (BBP), 4-2
125: Raul Hernandez (R) dec. Josiah Tyte (R), 11-7
130: Nick Demarzo (WM) dec. Jose Hernandez (R), 10-6
135: Nick Loiacono (SJB) dec. Sasha Schafer (R), 15-0
140: Dan Schneider (SC) by inj. Brian Lagoumis (WH), 2:59
145: Steven Ward (EH) dec. Seth Barrows (EH), 16-6
152: John Verderber (R) pinned Brandon Streb (WM), 3:24
160: Joe Menna (R) pinned Chris Gamble (EH), 2:05
171: Casten Carter (BBP) pinned Eric Tangen (WM), 3:50
189: Ryan Sullivan (WM) dec. Andrew Foglia (EH), 7-6
215: Alan Pierre-Lys (SJB) dec. Mike Cesare (BBP), 7-4
285: Rob Urrutia (WM) pinned Vinny Ruskowski (R), 2:08
Consolation Finals 5th/6th
96: Jimmy Gill (SJB) pinned Anthony Caratozzolo (SJB), 1:18
103: Ronan Seltenreich (WH) pinned Tim Daly (WH), 4:00
112: Patrick Thomas (R) pinned Vinny Garrafola (WH), 1:18
119: Tae Kim (WM) dec. Kim Rohena (SJB), 7-3
125: Jake Messina (R) dec. Zach Jacinto (WM), 12-9
130: Carlo Brucculeri (BBP) dec. Russell Skinder (WH), 7-6
135: Geoff Teague (BBP) pinned Sal Sciara (SJB), 4:36
140: Connor Beiere (WM) pinned Anthony Russollillo (WM), 0:50
145: Kyle McGowin (EH) by inj. Dan Murray (SJB), default
152: Mario Carrera (R) dec. Pat Brophy (EH), 9-7
160: Ryan Krumholz (BBP) pinned Cory Pawlukojc (EH), 0:40
171: John Mocada (R) pinned Gianmichael Parente (BBP), 1:29
189: Delon Richards (R) dec. Brian Moore (WH), 7-1
215: Tyler Normile (SJB) pinned Mike Lombardi (BBP), 0:43
285: Khari McGee (R) pinned Troy Petrignani (BBP), 2:16

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