Bombers hope to make run at District 20 title
Old Bridge once again the team to beat
BY WARREN RAPPLEYEA
Staff Writer

The Sayreville High School wrestling team heads into the NJSIAA District 20 tournament this weekend with the eight 20-match winners and a team record 23 wins.

Nevertheless, it's been an extremely difficult year for coach John Denuto's team. Curtis Knight, the father of Mike Knight, and John Randall Boulton, the father of twins Nick and John Boulton, passed away during the season.

"Our kids have been through a lot and they were there for each other," Denuto said. "We've become a very close-knit team. Our guys were there to support Mike [Knight] and the Boultons. Those guys, in turn, have served as role models for the rest of the guys by battling through this."

Knight owns a 30-2 mark and despite weighing about 158 pounds has competed at 189 for most of the year. He made it all the way to the finals of his weight class in the Greater Middlesex Conference tourney. John Boulton (130 pounds) has compiled a 20-13 record, while Nick Boulton (119) owns a 17-8 mark, both are juniors.

Their efforts helped lead the Bombers to the team's first GMC White Division title. Sayreville is 23-7 overall, six wins better than last year. As a team, Sayreville finished fourth in the GMC tourney. Although Denuto's team was 19-3 at the cut-off, the Bombers missed qualifying for the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group IV Tournament by 0.6 of a point.

"That was a little hard to swallow because we've just missed getting in for two straight years now," the coach said. "It's not something we can really worry about though. I look at what we've done and I'm proud of the boys. Getting to the states was one of our goals, but we achieved 20 wins and we won our division - those were important goals, too."

In addition to Knight, both Eric Tsang (125) and Mike DeLuco (145) have reached the 30-win mark. Tsang won his 100th career match on Feb. 3 against JFK and he holds the team record with 103 wins. He also reached the GMC finals. DeLuco, a junior, is 30-3, including a third-place finish at the GMC.

Scott Poore is right behind with a 29-5 mark, and he also took third in the GMC. Poore has 100 career victories to his credit. He's also tied with Tsang for the team lead with 17 pins, which ties the team record set last year by Herb Nieves. Tsang and Poore are also defending District 20 champs. Sophomore Ramon Santiago (135) is also at 29 wins against just four losses. Santiago, who finished second in the GMC, has 16 pins.

Junior Robert Borzerelli (215), who caught fire late last season and finished third in the district, has continued improving and is 23-7. He played a key role in Sayreville's victories over Edison and South Brunswick. Heavyweight Bryan Miksiewicz, another junior, is 22-5, and sophomore Dan Bergfeldt (112) is 20-12.

In addition, Joe LaRocca (140) has won 16 matches in his first varsity campaign, Rhett Fischer (171) has 10 victories and Jared Christensen (171) has nine wins. All three are juniors.

Sayreville could be even better next winter, as Tsang and Poore are the only senior mainstays. The Bombers junior varsity contingent is coming off a strong season and a third-place finish in the GMC JV Tournament. Freshman Gino Schifano won his weight class, while Pat Ronan, a sophomore, and Chris Pearson, a freshman, had second-place showings.

Mat notes... When the District 20 tournament is held this weekend at South Brunswick High School, the Old Bridge Knights will be the favorite to capture the team title once again.

In addition, three Old Bridge seniors enter the tournament as the top seeds, including Eddie Ebewo (25-1) at 171, Chris Orzechowski (28-0) at 189 and Travis Gerdon (28-1) at 215. Add to the mix the Knights' six-second seeds - freshman Conor Hayes (19-9) at 103, senior Matt Valentino (18-13) at 119, junior John Giusti (22-9) at 125, senior Brenton Mack (18-13) at 145, junior Justin Kitchen (8-13) at 152, junior Chris Suozzo (22-7) at 160 and senior Troy DeCeuster (20-9) at 285 - and it's easy to see why the Knights are the team to beat.

Sayreville has its share of top seeds themselves in Tsang (125), Poore (145), DeLuco (152) and Knight (160), while John Boulton (130), Santiago (135) and LaRocca (140) are seeded second in their respective weight classes.

Monore has been one of the most improved teams in the GMC this year, and Falcon freshmen Sam Emburgia (30-4) and David Saley (19-11) got the top seeds at 103 and 130 pounds respectively. In addition, Junior Brendan Hodel is seeded second behind South River sophomore Adam Mongelli (25-1) at 112, and junior Jake Nale (29-3) got the second seed at 215 behind Gerdon.

The other top seeds went to North Brunswick junior Billy Belfi (20-2) at 119, West Windsor-Plainsboro North senior Jeff Rotella (25-2) at 135, South Brunswick's junior Ryan Smith (29-2) at 140, and Spotswood's Drew Mackay (29-3) at heavyweight.

Mackay is looking for redemption after having a rough GMC Tournament, where the senior took fifth after coming in as the top seed.

Mackay is the defending district and region champion, and has looked like his old self since struggling in the GMCT.

And you can be sure Mackay is hoping for rematches with Old Bridge's DeCuester and Monroe's Frank Olexson, both of whom beat him at the conference tournament.