Tourneys serve as early tests for local grapplers

BY DOUG McKENZIE
Staff Writer

PHOTOS BY CHRIS KELLY staff Above, Long Branch’s Sean Sims earns back points by tilting Howell’s Tommy Russo during their 140-pound quarterfinal bout at the Neptune Classic on Saturday. At left, Monmouth Regional’s Kyle Christensen works Manalapan’s Brandon Cohen for back points during a 125-pound quarterfinal bout. The season’s first weekend of wrestling was a busy one for local grapplers, as high school teams traveled throughout the Shore to participate in a variety of tournaments.

In Lincroft, the CBA Colts played host to six teams in the annual Colt Classic, and posted an impressive win with 253 points, well ahead of second-place Sacred Heart (190).

The Colts had six individual winners, starting with James Beshada, who won his 112-pound final via a pin of Red Bank’s Sean Koch at the 5:36 mark. John Menafra made it two in a row, winning the 119-pound final with a 10-1 decision over Red Bank’s Richie Masella.

Dave Chirichello won the 130-pound final with a 3-2 decision, while Charles Favia was the 135-pound winner after posting a major decision (11-3) in the final. Next up was Chris Finely, who awarded the 140-pound final via forfeit, while Anthony DeLeo won the 145-pound final with a 12-8 decision.

The Colts also got a pair of second-place finishes from Ollie Ferraro at 171 pounds, and Brian Delledonne at 215, in what was a solid opening day of action for a CBA team that has its work cut out for it this year, competing in what is once again a loaded Class A North division.

The team picked by many to emerge as the top team in A North, Ocean Township, traveled to Jackson on Saturday to participate in the Jackson Invitational. Although no team scoring is kept in this tournament, the Spartans had a strong showing, leaving Jackson with four individual champions, and a host of other top finishes.

Nick Menditto was the first champ for Ocean, as he won the 112-pound final by pinning teammate Frank Gnassi at the 1:59 mark. Mike Fantini won the 152-pound title with a pin of Northern Burlington’s Al Wonech at the 3:18 mark, before Kyle Kiss made it two Ocean wins in a row with his 4-2 win over Jackson’s Ken Carney at 160 pounds.

Jeff Siciliano then completed the Ocean three-peat with a pin of High Point’s Derrick Orr at the 3:13 mark.

Among the other top finishers for the third-ranked Spartans was Dan Lopes, who lost the day’s most anticipated match to Lakewood’s Matt Rizzo, 9-6, in a 130-pound final, which pitted last year’s Region IV 125-pound champ (Rizzo) against the 112-pound champ (Lopes). Joey Falco took second at 140 pounds, while Mile Colalio was second at 215. Winning his third-place consolation matches for Ocean was Nunes Vias (135).

One of the other teams expected to challenge for the A North title this year is the Howell Rebels, and their performance at the prestigious Neptune Classic did nothing to quell those expectations.

The Rebels won their first team title at the Classic since 1971, crowning a pair of individual champions, and posting a number of top finishes to top second-place Manalapan 128.5-111.5.

Howell freshman Cody Fobes made quite a high school debut, winning the 103-pound title with a 13-5 decision in the finals. Senior Billy Woodward won the other individual title for Howell, registering a pin at the 3:19 mark of the 145-pound final.

Howell also registered a second-place win, two thirds and two fourths to hold off a Manalapan team that entered Saturday’s action with the team lead, but could not sustain its success on Saturday. However, the Braves officially staked their claim as one of the teams to beat in A North.

Middletown North is a team with talented wrestlers up and down the lineup, and one that left Neptune with a solid fifth-place finish (101 points). The Lions were paced by three individual championships, the first coming at 112 pounds where freshman Matt Fusco won via an 8-2 decision in the final. North’s Ben Hockin was the second individual champ at 152 pounds, where he beat Central’s Nick Tenpenny, 3-2, in a tough bout, while senior Garret Marron was the 215-pound champ following his pin at the 5:55 mark of the final.

The Long Branch Green Wave seemed poised to make a run at the team title, sending four wrestlers into the finals. But the Wave wrestlers — Nick Groeger (119), Brian Sims (140), Martin Porter (171) and John Jasio (189) — all lost hard-fought final bouts, leaving the Green Wave in a very respectable fourth place (106.5 points).

With their showing in the Classic, the Wave proved itself to be a certain contender in the Class B North division, alongside Wall Township, which had a strong showing at the Robin Leff Invitational at Southern Regional on Saturday, and Red Bank Regional.

Red Bank finished fifth (167 points) at the Colt Classic on Saturday, led by senior Lamar Brown’s win at 189 pounds, where he won via pinfall in just 23 seconds in the final, and senior Joe Malkowski’s win at 189, where he won via major decision (20-11).

Few people question who is the team to beat in the A Central race this season, as the Raritan Rockets return a plethora of talented grapplers this year.

And the Rockets made their debut an impressive one on Saturday, running away with the Ice Breaker Invitational at Matawan High School on Saturday with 197 team points, well ahead of second-place Freehold Township (147) and third-place Old Bridge (135).

Finishing ahead of Freehold Township, yet another talented team from the A North division, and Old Bridge speaks volumes about the Rockets’ potential this year. Old Bridge is a perennial challenger for the Greater Middlesex Conference championship, and the Central Jersey Group IV favorite most years.

T.J. Mitchell got things started for Raritan on Saturday with his 7-2 win over Manasquan’s Tom Farese in the 103-pound final. Phil O’Hara won at 119, posting a major decision 14-2 win over Colts Neck’s Jeremy Gaines, while Dave Seidenberg beat Freehold Township’s John Post, 6-5 in overtime, for the 125-pound title.

Shawn Putnam was the 140-pound champ following his 4-3 win over Old Bridge’s Mike Vander Valk, a district champion last season, while Jason Sagos picked up where he left off last year with a win at 145, 9-2 over Shore Regional’s Jake Case.

Jeff King was the final individual winner for Raritan, as he beat Matawan’s Tyrone Curry, 3-2, in the heavyweight final, and earned the outstanding wrestler award in the upper weights for his efforts.

Host Matawan, who finished in sixth place with 83.5 points, had Curry’s second-place finish along with three third-place finishes from Rocco Bucco (130), James O’Donnell (160) and Dru Avery (171).

As for Shore Regional, the Blue Devils finished in fourth place (96 points), and crowned an individual champion at 215 pounds — Adam Chiarella pinned Keyport’s Derrick Maldonado at the 4:30 mark.

Keyport finished in sixth place (66), led by Tim Vollmuth’s win at 189 pounds; he beat RBC’s Dave Matthews, 10-8.

Rumson-Fair Haven’s J.C. Clark also had a strong tournament, winning the 135-pound title with his 2-1 win over Raritan’s Kevin Whalen in the final.