Baymen Wrestling Pulls Out Victory Over Southampton; Panetta Places Second At Cougar Pride Invitational

The Hampton Bays wrestling team competed against some of the top teams from across Long Island at the Cougar Pride Invitational at St. John The Baptist Diocesan High School in West Islip on Saturday.Joey Panetta (120 pounds) was the lone Bayman to reach the finals. After a first-round bye, Panetta won a 10-3 decision over Copaigue’s David Hararah, then pinned Brett Roizman of Elwood/Glenn in 3:06 in the semifinals. He then lost a 13-0 major decision to Glenn’s Jordan Nancoo to settle for second place.Lucas Kraus (113) and Ralph Oswald (152) both placed third while Johnny Nolan (170) finished fourth. Kraus lost an 11-2 major decision to eventual champion Drew English of St. John The Baptist in the semifinals. He defeated Glenn’s Ryan Hallahan, 8-4, to reach the consolation match, which he won by forfeit.Oswald also lost to the eventual champion in his weight class in the semifinals, dropping a 5-1 decision to Copaigue’s A.J. Batista. He won his first wrestleback match, 5-2, over Copaigue’s Randy Aristy, though, then pinned Roslyn’s Darrell Bibicheff in 1:36 to take third.A number of Baymen suffered injuries during the tournament, although they don’t appear to be too serious. Nolan, who was battling through a neck injury throughout much of the day, decided not to wrestle his consolation match and settled for fourth place. Travis Flynn, who has been one of the top wrestlers this season for Hampton Bays, suffered an injury during his first match, which he won, and decided to sit the rest of the day out. Hampton Bays head coach Paul Hoshyla said Flynn probably would have won his weight class, but with the county tournament three weeks away, it was best he sit out. Calvin Patruska sprained his ankle and wound up bowing out early too.Hampton Bays placed seventh out of 10 teams, just seven points ahead of Southampton. Copaigue won the tournament with 320.5 points. The Baymen have been going to St. John The Baptist for the past four years but Hoshyla is starting to think that it may be time for a change. Hampton Bays got to West Islip for 7 a.m. weigh-ins and consolation matches were still going on as of 8 p.m. Saturday night. The team didn’t get home till about 10 p.m., and Hoshyla said while he respects everyone who runs the tournament, it’s too long of a day.“You don’t get the best out of your wrestlers by the end of the night,” he said. “They don’t have their best stuff, and when they can’t give their all, that’s when injuries happen, when they’re getting tired. It’s a recipe for disaster.”Hampton Bays split its dual meets last week. After defeating Southampton, 48-36, at home on January 14, the Baymen lost, 61-6, at first-place Mattituck on Friday. The Baymen are 3-2 in League VII dual meets.Against Southampton, Mariner Reagan Soledad surprisingly pinned Bayman Tom O’Shea in 4:30 at 182 pounds to tie the match at 36-36. O’Shea was leading 9-1 before putting himself in a bad spot. Soledad’s win kept Southampton in the match, but in the following bout, Aydan Muhs pinned his opponent, Sam Osbourne, in 1:23 at 195 pounds to give Hampton Bays a six-point lead. The last contested bout of the night, at 220 pounds between Bayman Andres Martinez and Mariner James O’Brien, wound up deciding the match. Martinez pinned O’Brien in 1:53. Had O’Brien pinned Martinez it would have tied the match.Five weight classes were forfeited throughout the match. Mariners Bill Bockhaus (99 pounds) and Colby Gil (106) won by forfeits followed by Kraus and Panetta winning by forfeit. Both teams forfeited at 285 pounds. Each contested bout was decided by pin and only two of them went into the third period, creating a quick match that was decided in less than 45 minutes.“We knew that they matched up well with us,” Hoshyla said of Southampton. “It made it a balanced match. We didn’t win because of their forfeits and they didn’t lose because of theirs. It was exciting and enjoyable for us because we won. We had some great matches.”Mattituck is one of the top ranked teams in all of New York State and has been having its way with fellow League VII/Division II teams this season. Panetta and Patruska won consecutive decisions at 120 and 126 pounds for the Baymen. Panetta topped Johnny Lisowy 9-3 while Patruska edged T.J. Beebe 6-4. Beebe was ranked third in the county at 120 pounds as of January 4.The Baymen were scheduled to wrestle Smithtown Christian on Wednesday and will host Stony Brook on Friday at 4 p.m.