8 Photos
Randy Cabrera of Westhampton Beach works on pinning Newfield's Ramazan Karaaslan.
Hurricane Sal Francapane lost a close 6-5 decision to Newfield's Christian Vaquiz.
Finn McIntyre of Westhampton Beach works on top of Newfield's Mike Mejia.
East Hampton's Juan Roque faces off against Patchogue-Meford's Francis Ruf.
Bonacker Caleb Peralta pinned Patchogue-Medford's Joel Duchimaza in 2:57.
East Hampton's Josue Elias and Esteban Montoya of Hampton Bays battle it out.
Bonacker Juan Roque gets set to take down Kevin Saa Pacheco of Hampton Bays.
Bonacker Juan Roque pins Bayman Kevin Saa Pacheco.
About a week after one of his best friends, Cory Hubbard, died after getting struck by a car, Westhampton Beach wrestling head coach Pete DeTore said he had a weird dream.
DeTore described being in the wrestling room at Westhampton Beach High School with Hubbard, who was not only his best friend growing up but also wrestling partner since their wrestling days as kids, and the two would be practicing and wrestling each other. He said it’s certainly a weird dream for him, one that still pops up now and then, but something that he appreciates.
“The feeling and the energy I get from it, it makes me feel very close to him in a very good and positive way. It gives me a connection to him.” DeTore explained, as he fought back tears. “Cory really taught me what happiness was and I really think that was how he was able to connect with so many people.”
DeTore also fought back tears talking about his friend just prior to the start of the Cory Hubbard Duals, the annual dual-meet tournament the Hurricanes hosted this past Saturday. Hubbard, a multi-sport athlete during his time at Westhampton Beach High School, was a 22-year-old senior at the University of Maryland-College Park when he was crossing a road near the campus and struck by a car in the early morning hours of January 17, 2014.
The loss of Hubbard hit the entire Westhampton Beach community hard, which is why DeTore took speaking about Hubbard and his family, which includes his parents, Ralph and Holly, and older brother Kyle, very seriously, before any wrestlers took to the mats on Saturday morning.
“The tournament was great, but first and foremost, it truly was an honor to speak on behalf of Cory and his mom and dad and brother Kyle,” he said. “It was an honor to talk about him, but the weekend, in a wrestling sense, went great.”
And it seemed as though the Hurricane wrestlers took their head coach’s words to heart, as they had one of their best outings of the season, even though some of the final results may not bear that out, DeTore said. The tournament included Miller Place, one of the top-ranked teams in Suffolk County and Bellport, the 11th-ranked team in the county, in addition to strong teams in Sayville and Patchogue-Medford, along with Newfield, East Hampton and Hampton Bays.
Although the ’Canes lost, 58-3, to Miller Place, which wound up taking first place in the tournament, many of the bouts within the match went a full six minutes and were only separated by mere points. Additionally, Westhampton Beach lost a close match, 36-33, to Bellport, and defeated Newfield, 48-21.
Dom Jurgel (172 pounds) was named Westhampton’s Most Outstanding Wrestler of the tournament. He lost a close 7-4 match to Miller Place’s John Hucke, but pinned Bellport’s Colin Orsino and won via forfeit against Newfield.
“He hadn’t been on the mat all that much, earlier in the season, but he’s been making great strides lately, both as a young man and as a wrestler,” DeTore said. “He had been getting gassed out and was getting into his head a little bit, but this past weekend he gave it his all for all six minutes, didn’t quit, he was fast, explosive, and honestly, I haven’t seen anyone wrestle that good in a long time and that’s what led to him being our team OW and I’m proud of him for that.”
DeTore also mentioned Aidan McKeon (160), Luke Citarelli (126) and Max Orr (102) as all having a strong tournament too. He said he thinks his wrestlers may have taken the words he said about Hubbard to heart and it may have fueled them.
“’Live Your Cor’ is a saying we have about Cory, it means ‘Live Your Heart’ because that’s how Cory lived his life, and I think that’s how our kids wrestled,” DeTore explained. “They all wrestled their full six minutes, and they didn’t just do it in one match, they did it in all of their matches.”
DeTore continued to say it was good to see how hard his team wrestled after a down match to Comsewogue earlier in the week on January 5, in which the ’Canes lost, 48-12. DeTore said with it being the first match out of the holiday break, and a few wrestlers missing due to COVID or other illnesses, he had a feeling it was going to be a tough one. Jurgel and Randy Cabrera (138) were the only two to walk away with contested victories.
DeTore thanked the parents who volunteered their time on Saturday to make the tournament go as smoothly as it did.
“I’m very thankful to be a part of this community and thankful to have this position of head coach bestowed upon me. This past weekend really showed how great and special it is to be a part of this wrestling community we have here in Westhampton,” he explained. “Paul Bass always talked about what it was like to have all the parents help but to see what it’s actually like, it was just great. There were teams at our tournament who didn’t have any parents there even watching their kids wrestle, meanwhile we have parents running around, doing a bunch of things. Ms. Henke basically ran the entire lunch counter by herself. Without her and all of the other volunteers taking time off from their Saturdays, many getting to the school at 5:30 a.m. to help set up, there aren’t too many school districts out there who can say they have that.”
The East Hampton/Pierson/Bridgehampton/Ross and Hampton Bays wrestling teams took part in the Cory Hubbard Duals even though they were both missing a good chunk of their teams due to COVID-19 protocols and various other ailments and issues.
The Bonackers were without their head coach, Ethan Mitchell, a Westhampton Beach graduate who would have liked to have been a part of the Cory Hubbard Duals. He was replaced by former head coach and now volunteer coach Jim Stewart. East Hampton was also without its top wrestler Santi Maya, among others. But Stewart said the wrestlers who competed on Saturday did well, particularly Caleb Peralta, who won all three of his matches, two of which were pins against strong Sayville and Patchogue-Medford opponents.
Stewart said he expects Mitchell and more wrestlers to make their return at some point this week.
Hampton Bays, meanwhile, was hit hard by COVID over the holiday break, head coach Mike Lloyd said. He had wrestlers either test positive or had to quarantine because of close contact, while others had other illnesses. There were only five Baymen competing on Saturday, which mathematically counted them out from winning any of their dual meets before they even took the mats, but for a young and inexperienced team, all Lloyd cared about was getting mat time for those who were willing and able.
“It was a rough day but what it really came down to was getting kids out on the mat. Even with the reduction from 15 to 13 weight classes, head to head with only five kids there really isn’t much chance of winning a match,” he said. “While it’s difficult going in, it becomes a necessary part of the process to grow and learn. Between COVID, the recent snow and a few other things we were particularly down on the roster, but I expect several to be back through this week.”
