Jack Spahn's hard-fought win helps boost unbeaten Islip over Westhampton Beach
Islip's Jack Spahn wins the 160-pound weight class at the Suffolk Division I wrestling individual semifinals on Feb. 16, 2020, at Suffolk CCC-Brentwood. Credit: George A. Faella
Jack Spahn doesn’t lose in Suffolk. The senior wrestler at Islip won all 38 bouts in the county as a junior and finished third in the state tournament.He put his modest four-match win streak in this shortened wrestling season on the line against Westhampton Beach's highly-regarded Gavin McIntyre Tuesday night in Islip. McIntyre was also 4-0.
The 172-pound bout between two of Long Island’s top wrestlers lived up to the anticipation in a rugged all-out physical battle.
Spahn’s first period takedown and superior defense would propel him to a 4-0 win and key Islip’s 33-22 win in a battle of unbeatens in Suffolk League VI.
The win moves Islip one victory closer to a berth in the Suffolk dual meet championships that begin Friday at the higher seed. The winner of all seven leagues and a wild card from League VII will be seeded in the eight-team tournament. Islip needs to beat Mount Sinai Wednesday to claim the League VI crown.
"McIntyre is the strongest kid I’ve wrestled in the last two years," Spahn said. "It was my closest match this season by far. I give him all the respect in the world. I scored early with a dump to a high crotch and then rode him hard with a cross face to get him tired."
The two scrambled in an entertaining third period in which Spahn refused to give McIntyre anything in an upper-body move.
"I don’t like giving up points and letting people get in on my legs," Spahn said. "I kept him moving to avoid a big throw."
Said McIntyre, "He’s technically so good and doesn’t give you much room to score."
Islip (5-0) opened the dual meet with two straight pins. Juan Pantaleon got things started with a pin in 2:29 over Eric Schaumloffle at 285 pounds
And eighth-grader Jack Whitehouse (102) pinned Ryan Baynon in 5:36 for a 12-0 lead.
"We preach the brotherhood and picking each other up and not letting each other down and that was a key factor tonight," said Islip coach KC Beach. "Our coaching staff believes in the same core values and our guys really came through tonight in all the big bouts. This was a huge team win."
Beach pointed to key wins from Whitehouse and freshman Jared Spahn at 119 pounds. Jared Spahn used a late, third=period takedown with 17 seconds left for the 2-1 come-from-behind win over Jack Santora.
"He took a shot and I hit a cross face," said Spahn, who improved to 5-0. "Then I padlocked the leg and spun around and got the two."
Gregg Sarra is Newsday's high school sports editor and has been on the beat since the mid-1980s.
