Hurricanes Tie School Record For Wins By Flattening Miller Place

By Brett Mauser | 1 Comment

Sophomore Alex Mazarakis made quick work of Jordan Kowalenko at 152 pounds, pinning him less than two minutes in. Photos by Brett Mauser

Westhampton Beach - The Westhampton Beach wrestling team ruined the element of surprise long ago. After victories over some of Suffolk County's stalwarts, the Hurricanes' days of blindsiding the opponent have long since passed. They've racked up victory after victory and deservedly drawn the attention and respect they've accrued to date.

No matter what the pre-season expectations were, they didn't include a school record for wins, a near clean run through League VI, and in the case of Thursday's dual meet, a thorough thrashing of their rival Miller Place. Westhampton closed the books on a 44-19 masterpiece by winning the evening's final five matches, and by collecting their 14th win, these 'Canes tied the record set by the undefeated 1977-1978 team for which their coach wrestled. They'll go for the record in their regular-season finale on Friday at Bayport-Blue Point, the third dual meets in as many days for Westhampton.

The Hurricanes' Brian Kobus tries to break free from the grasp of Miller
Place's Matt Mangelli during their match at 160 pounds.

"It shows you how important those intangible things that people in sports always talk about are," Head Coach Paul Bass said. "Character, accountability, team closeness, team chemistry, all those things that people throw out there and use too much in the media, this is a perfect example. These guys wrestle for each other."

That Westhampton defeated Miller Place, which also entered at 3-1 in League VI, stunned no one; that it won so handily stunned just about everyone, from the coaches to the wrestlers to the fans. Like the rest of the Hurricanes' meets, the match figured to be a toss-up. When the Panthers drew to within one point at 20-19 through the first seven matches, Coach Dom LoRe believed the victory was theirs. Westhampton's most experienced wrestlers, including its two county place-winners last year and three captains, had already gone. Little did Miller Place know that it was done scoring for the night. The 'Canes closed out the match with 24 unanswered points to win going away and lock-up second place in the League VI standings behind all-powerful John Glenn.

Scott Carey's pin of Chris Defichy at 145 pounds continued the Hurricanes'
surge in the middle weights against Miller Place.

Brian Higgins got the ball rolling by scoring a significant upset at 140 pounds. The junior held on for a 4-2 decision over the Panthers' Darren Serignese, and nearly pinned him in the second period. Bass said that set the tone for what transpired at the higher weights.

"That's the best match he's wrestled all year long," Bass said of Higgins. "That's the Brian we've been waiting for."

Scott Carey began a stretch of three straight pins for Westhampton, and in each of those matches, the Hurricanes had to come from behind. Carey gave away the first four points to Miller Place 145-pounder Chris Defichy before drawing even and eventually pinning him at the 3:10 mark. Like Carey, Matt Mazarakis was dropped in the opening moments of his match, yet rebounded in a big way, beating the first-period buzzer to stick Panthers' Jordan Kowalenko.

"I knew [LoRe] was thinking he could win that one, but Matt has gone to a whole new level just in two weeks," Bass said.

That made the result a formality; however, Westhampton wasn't finished. Brian Kobus was twice taken down in the first three minutes of his 160-pound bout with Matt Mangelli, yet turned a 4-1 deficit into a 6-4 lead in the second period with a reversal and near-fall. Kobus finished the job in the third, putting Mangelli in a cradle to record the pin at 4:56. Not to be outdone, Bobby Garone, who was one of seven juniors in the line-up Thursday, came from 3-1 down to beat Tyler Simon, 6-3.

Junior Brian Higgins hung on for a 4-2 decision over Darren Serignese, which started
a run of 24 straight points scored by Westhampton.

Westhampton surrendered the first 12 points of the match on Zach Buonaiuto's 100th career win, a pin of Bryan Moore at 189 pounds, and a forfeit at 215. The Hurricanes went to work from there, opening up a 20-12 lead by winning the next four matches. Conner Bass (103) blew open a once-close match and finally pinned his opponent, Cory Aschauer. At 112, Pete DeTore picked apart Jack Martocello, and with a pair of third-period takedowns notched a 19-4 tech fall. Westhampton 119-pounder Zach Bass put his team ahead for good with a 3-2 win over Chris Aschauer, and Cory Hubbard added insurance points with an impressive pin at 1:20 of the first period.

After the match, Bass honored the squad's only senior, Brian Lagoumis, as well as team manager Alexa Broccoli. He told the crowd on hand that Lagoumis, who wrestled on JV last year, earned his captain spot before the season, joining DeTore and Hubbard. He enters Friday's match against the Phantoms with a record of 19-17, including nine pins.

Lagoumis' contributions extend far beyond the win-loss column, said his coach.

"He's shown our freshmen what it's like to be a leader," Bass said. "He takes care of them. He makes sure they do the right thing and gives them rides everywhere. He wasn't part of the original plan, but he made himself a part just by quietly going about his business."

The team result was bittersweet for Lagoumis, who bowed to Miller Place's Rob Young, 7-1, in his final home match. However, he's proud to have played a vital role in a season that's already reserved a spot in the school record books.

"Coming into the year we thought it was going to have a rebuilding year," Lagoumis said. "Everybody was just hoping to work hard, but everyone's really stepping up where we need to.

Brian Lagoumis and Coach Paul Bass.

Everyone's doing great, coaches are excited and everybody's wrestling for the team. We've just been knocking people off out of nowhere. Little old Westhampton is going for 15-2."

WESTHAMPTON BEACH 44, MILLER PLACE 19
at Westhampton Beach
Forfeits: Westhampton Beach 215; Match started at 189 pounds
103: Conner Bass (WH) pinned Cory Aschauer, 4:40
112: Pete DeTore (WH) tech fall Jack Martocello, 19-4
119: Zach Bass (WH) dec. Chris Aschauer, 3-2
125: Cory Hubbard (WH) pinned Mike Fortounas, 1:20
130: Anthony Genovese (MP) maj. dec. Danny Maddock, 13-5
135: Rob Young (MP) dec. Brian Lagoumis, 7-1
140: Brian Higgins (WH) dec. Darren Serignese, 4-2
145: Scott Carey (WH) pinned Chris Defichy, 3:10
152: Matt Mazarakis (WH) pinned Jordan Kowalenko, 1:59
160: Brian Kobus (WH) pinned Matt Mangelli, 4:56
171: Bobby Garone (WH) dec. Tyler Simon, 6-3
189: Zach Buonaiuto (MP) pinned Bryan Moore, 0:54
Records: Miller Place 8-5, 3-2 League VI; Westhampton Beach 14-2, 4-1 League VI.