HAMPTON BAYS WRESTLING ALUMNI
Ben Hill- 1980 NCAA All American
In 1971, when Ben Hill entered his eighth grade year at Hampton Bays Junior-Senior High, the school did not have a wrestling team. Ben, an all-around athlete, played football and baseball. It was not until 1972, his freshman year, that Bill Germain started the Hampton Bays wrestling club and Ben joined it. The first official year for the Baymen wrestling team was 1973, Hill's sophomore year. They wrestled a JV schedule that year and Ben had a respectable 8-5 record at 132 & 138 lbs.
1974-75, Hill's junior year, is considered the first varsity season of the program with a full varsity schedule. Ben grew during his sophomore & junior year and wrestled up at 155 lbs. In only his second year of organized wrestling Ben compiled an amazing 22-1 record and won the League 7 championship at 155 lbs. In addition, he was the first seed in the Suffolk County Wrestling Championships. Ben lost a tough 5-2 decision in the county quarter-finals to Duncan Burns of Bay Shore. Burns went on to place second.
In 1975-76, his senior year, Hill dominated the 155 lb weight class during the dual meet season going 23-0. In the Gardner Tournament, earlier in the season, Ben won the Championship at 155 lbs and the Most Outstanding Wrestler Award. Prior to the season, the Suffolk County league tournaments were reorganized into four conference tournaments. Ben won the 155 lb Conference IV Championship. Again he was seeded first at 155 lbs in the Suffolk County Wrestling Championships. Ben won his first three matches by the combined scores of 24-2. In the finals, Ben faced the #3 seed from Huntington, John Karcher. In a very controversial match, Ben lost a tough 8-5 decision.
Ben was recruited by the legendary Tennessee coach Gray Simons and attended University of Tennessee. As a freshman in 1976-77 Ben complied a 24-9 overall record which includes a 5th place tournament finish in the Southern Open. Hill went 13-6 at 177 lbs and 2-0 at 190 lbs his freshman year. As a sophomore Ben was named team captain. He compiled a 9-3 SEC record and placed 4th in the SEC Tournament. His 24 points in a match against Georgia were the highest by a Tennessee wrestler in an individual match. As a junior in 1980 Ben placed 3rd in the SEC Tournament at 177 lbs and qualified for the NCAA Division 1 National Tournament.
The 1980 NCAA Wrestling Championships took place on March 13-15, 1980 at Oregon State. Ben beat Larry Deal of Wyoming 4-3 in the preliminary round. There was a huge upset in the preliminary round of the 177 lbs weight class, Gary Chadwick, Air Force, beat the number 1 seed, Rick Worel of Cal Poly, 7-3. Instead of facing the #1 seed in round 2, Ben beat Chadwick 12-9. In the quarter-final round Ben beat the #8th seed Dave Severn, Arizona State, 8-5. Ben lost to Dave Allen of Iowa State, the #4 seed in the semi-finals. Allen placed 2nd losing to Ed Banach of Iowa, 16-5. Ben wrestled back to place 6th.
1980 NCAA Championship 177 lb weight class results
1st: Ed Banach of Iowa
2nd: Dave Allen of Iowa State
3rd: Colin Kilrain, Lehigh
4th: Charlie Heller, Clarion
5th: Steve Fraser, Michigan
6th: Ben Hill, Tennessee
7th: Gary Germundson, Oklahoma State
8th: Dave Severn, Arizona State
1976 Long Island vs West German Cultural Exchange Wrestling Team
In the summer after his senior year in high school, Ben Hill wrestled for the Long Island team that competed against Germany in 1976. Ben went 2-0 which included a 25-2 win over a much older and more seasoned West German opponent.
