Bears show GMCT was no fluke with District 20 title
Old Bridge crowns six champs, sends eight to Region V competition
By richard jerome
Staff Writer

FARRAH MAFFAI East Brunswick’s Brian Ackerman works on South Brunswick’s Sean Papp during the 135-pound final at the District 20 tournament at South Brunswick High School.

Balance has served the East Brunswick High School wrestling team well this season — never more than when the Bears defeated Old Bridge, 201.5 to 190.5, to capture the District 20 title.

East Brunswick only had one champion, 135-pound senior Brian Ackerman, but a total of 10 wrestlers advanced to this week’s Regions on the strength of second- and third-place showings.

Last weekend’s results came as no surprise to the Bears’ coach, whose team has officially established itself as one of the area’s top squads.

"They’ve been wrestling well all year," said coach Glen Pazinko, who was named District 20 Coach of the Year and also led the 13-4 Bears to the Greater Middlesex Conference Championship. "Nothing they do surprises me."

FARRAH MAFFAI Old Bridge’s Justin Obrusniak (r) and East Brunswick’s John Parke battle it out during a 119-pound match at the District 20 tournament.

Ackerman captured his District title with a 15-5 victory over Sean Papp of South Brunswick. Ackerman was dominant throughout the tournament, and received a bye in Tuesday’s Region V Tournament action as a result of his win.

In all, eight Bears notched second-place finishes in the tourney, including Corey Ritchings, the sophomore at 112 pounds; another sophomore, John Parke, who wrestles at 119; junior 125-pounder Carmen Corona; senior Jaimie Guido at 130; junior Tim Ackerman (140); senior Dmitry Kuzinets, the 160-pound entry; John Clay, a senior (171); and 275-pound heavyweight Ralph Danise, a sophomore.

Also placing was junior Nick Marrone, who came on strong to finish third in the 145-pound division.

Nine of the 10 EB wrestlers to advance were back in action on Tuesday in the Region V preliminaries.

The Bears got the team win, but the Old Bridge Knights were the most dominant team in the tournament’s final round, crowing six champions while placing two other grapplers.

The Knights got District titles from John Pagnotta (103), Mike Mazur (112), Justin Obrusniak (119), Vin Iodaci (140), Dan Rispoli (152) and Matt Lamela. It marked the third District title for Iodaci, while Obrusniak and Caruso collected their second gold medals.

Meanwhile, Charlie Fradella finished second at 215 for the Knights, while Mike Vander Valk took third at 130.

Sending eight wrestlers to the Region V competition is nothing new for the Knights, who seem to inundate Hunterdon Central with grapplers every year at this time. The Region V Tournament began Tuesday, when District 20 second- and third-place finishers met wrestlers from District 19. District champs receive first-round byes and will be back in action tomorrow.

The South River Rams had a strong showing as well, finishing in fourth place with 80.5 points, while sending four wrestlers on to the Regions. Rodney Thomas made his top seeding at 130 pounds stand up with a dominant performance en route to a District title. Thomas pinned EB’s Guido in the final in just 1:18, after recording another pin in the semifinals.

South River also got a second-place finish from Serge Tlumach at 145 pounds, and third-place finishes from Alvin Medina (125) and Mike Lipman (152).

The Sayreville Bombers finished in fifth place with 79 points, and advanced four wrestlers to Tuesday’s Region action following third-place showings at the Districts. They included Sean Sullivan (103), Mark Poore (171), Dan Lopez (189) and Ron Connors (HW).

Monroe advanced two grapplers, John Jensen and Mike Goff, who took third in the 135 and 215 weight classes.

— Doug McKenzie contributed to this story