Grapplers meet with success over break
Local teams flourish in variety of tournaments
BY DOUG McKENZIE
Staff Writer

With the Greater Middlesex Conference Wrestling Tournament just a couple of weeks away, more and more teams are emerging as potential forces in what is being viewed as one of the more balanced fields in recent years.

While South Plainfield remains the heavy favorite to defend the team title (as they should following a solid 3-3 showing at The Clash National Duals in Rochester Minn. last weekend - one of the most competitive high school tournaments in the nation), there are several other talented teams in the conference that are looking strong following the holiday break's action.

The host East Brunswick Bears continued to show progress with a solid second-place finish at their tournament, held on Dec. 29. Head coach Glen Pazinko's squad finished with 167 points, behind only Matawan's 218, led by Sergio Garcia's individual title at 189 pounds.

Garcia, who has made the jump from 160 pounds to 189 this winter, is apparently adapting well, as evidenced by his technical fall (18-3) win over Metuchen's Marek Szwast in the final. Coming off a strong 17-6 campaign, Garcia looks to be one of the GMC's top 189-pounders early on.

East Brunswick also got top finishes from senior Bryan Pedreiro, who lost to Governor Livingston's Matt Fullowan in the 171-pound final, junior Brandt Shine, who took third at 112 with a 16-6 major decision win over Governor Livingston's Andy Reichard, junior Matt Ackerman, who took third at 119 with a 15-0 major decision win over Spotswood's Matt Salge, and junior Nick Paribello, who took third at 125 with a 11-7 win over West Windsor-Plainsboro North's Brian Gallagher.

Bishop Ahr also had a strong showing at the East Brunswick Tournament, taking third in the team competition (151.5) despite missing four of its strongest grapplers. The Trojans then took on state power Seton Hall Prep on Sunday, dropping a 48-28 match to fall to 5-1 on the season. However, the Trojans have served notice that they are once again a strong team.

South River took home a solid seventh-place finish from the East Brunswick Tournament, led by Adam Mongelli's win at 112 pounds. Mongelli, who is 8-0 after winning a district title last year, beat Bishop Ahr's Derek Delaruz with a pin at the 3:16 mark of the 112 final, and is looking like one of the GMC's most improved wrestlers early on.

Also wrestling well for South River was junior Ray Fodor, who took second at 215 with a hard-fought 5-1 loss to Matawan's Stephen Turner, while his brother Brian, also junior, took third at 189 with a 10-0 win over Red Bank's Eli Goodman.

Spotswood's Drew Mackay continued his dominance of the heavyweight division by pinning three opponents en route to the title at the EB tournament. Mackay, the returning Region V champ who went 35-4 last year as a junior, pinned RBR's Anthony Fabbri in the final in just 1:01, keeping alive his streak of not having a match last longer than three minutes yet this year.

Obviously, Mackay is one of the top local grapplers to watch as the season progresses towards the postseason tournaments.

Spotswood senior Josh Castillo also wrestled well in East Brunswick, taking second at 145 pounds, to help lead the Chargers to a ninth-place finish with 97 points.

The Monroe Falcons traveled to Pennsylvania last week and put forth a strong showing in the Penn-Jersey Duals, held at Henry S. Truman High School in Levittown, Pa., finishing third after going 3-1 on the day in the dual-meet format.

Monroe lost to the host school, 39-25, but not after winning impressively in its first three matches.

Head coach Allen Rushing's squad first knocked off his alma mater and former team from Bensalem, 34-28, before beating Conwell Egan (Pa.), 56-13, and Hightstown, 31-29, in the final round of pool play.

The Falcons were led by junior heavyweight Frank Olexson and freshman 103-pounder Sam Emburgia, who each went 4-0 on the day, while junior Jake Nale won three matches on the day, including a key 13-8 bout at 215 that sealed the win over Hightstown.

The Old Bridge Knights, who put forth a strong showing at the Hunterdon Central Invitational Wrestling Tournament last week (team standings are not kept, though Old Bridge would have finished second behind the host school), won an important dual match on Wednesday when they beat Edison, 37-31, to improve to 2-0. The match-up between the GMC's second- and third-ranked teams was going Edison's way early, as the Eagles jumped out to a 12-point lead by the time the 160-pound bout began (the match started at 103 pounds).

But that's where the Knights' strength kicked in, as Old Bridge reeled off four straight pins to take over the match. Chris Suozo started the string with a pin of Travis Urban in 4:43, followed by pins from Eddie Ebewo at 171 (2:28), Chris Orzechowski at 189 (3:59) and Travis Gerdon at 215 (1:51).

By the time Edison's Dan Walker pinned Old Bridge's Troy DeCuester in the heavyweight bout, the damage had been done, and the Knights emerged with a key Red Division victory.

Another of the GMC's top teams, the Sayreville Bombers, strengthened their growing reputation with a strong showing at the Brearley Duals last week. Sayreville, beat West Orange, 38-24, and Cedar Grove, 63-15, en route to reaching the finals on Dec. 27, before dropping a tough match to the host school, 39-22. The loss ended the Bombers' nine-match winning streak to open the year.