Some weight-by-weight thoughts involving the state wrestling tournament, my picks, and how the Morris guys should fare.
106 —The two best in the weight at are Bergen Catholic’s Nick Suriano and Don Bosco’s Kyle Bierdumpfel. The rest are very, very close, which means Delbarton’s Ty Agaisse has a shot to make a run to the semis, where he’d run into Suriano. This might be the area’s best weight, with Agaisse, Mountain Lakes’ Requir van der Merwe and Roxbury’s Stephen Caserta all wrestling at a high level all season.
The pick: Nick Suriano (Bergen Catholic).
113—Jefferson’s Bryan Damon is a sleeper to go on a long run – all the way to the finals, although Woodbridge’s Bobby Jordan is a tough obstacle. We could be looking at a Nick Farro (Delbarton) vs. A.J. Vindici (Randolph) battle in the quarters.
The pick: Luis Gonzalez (Don Bosco).
120— Calas was OW at Region 3 last week, but my vote would have gone to South Plainfield’s Anthony Ashnault. Calas seems to know how to pull out close matches in clutch situations. I wouldn’t be stunned of Delbarton’s Christian Innarella goes a long way here. Remember, he beat Calas twice last year and is never intimidated by anyone. Here is a trivia question (I do NOT have the answer): When was the last time a kid has defeated five state champions in span of two years (Calas twice and Hanover’s Anthony Cefolo three times)? Innarella could have some sort of record.
The pick: Brenden Calas (Seton Hall Prep).
126— Hanover’s Gennaro Cuccolo has paid his dues and it would be terrific if he could go on a nice hot streak. He would draw a tough second-round foe in North Bergen’s Anthony Giraldo. This is probably the deepest weight and McFadden gets the nod.
The pick: David McFadden (DePaul).
132— Delbarton’s Nick Anderson has a tougher Friday night draw than Roxbury’s Jake Legotte. Anderson is a heavy favorite over Cherokee’s Joseph Lemerise and then would get Paulsboro’s Region 8 champion Ronald Gentile. If he wins those, will probably get Ocean’s Zach Hertling. Legotte has a shot to get out of Friday night in the winner’s bracket with Egg Harbor’s Shawn Bryant and Bordentown’s Justin McTamney.
The pick: Scott DelVecchio (South Plainfield).
138— Both locals get tough 5 p.m. opponents. West Morris’ Nick Matthews has Bishop Ahr’s Brian McChrystal. Hanover Park’s Christian Bassolino will face Jackson Memorial’s Brian Hamann.
By now, you have heard of a Bergen Record’s wrestling writer writing in a column that he doesn’t believe South Plainfield’s Anthony Ashnault is the best high school wrestler ever (provided he wins the state title on Sunday). Whether Ashnault is or is not makes for a great debate, but the column should have been written after the states, not before. People were commenting on Facebook and NJ.com that the writer was slandering Ashnault, but I found nothing wrong with the article other than the timing. He wasn’t saying Ashnault was a mass murderer or terrible person, just not the best wrestler in New Jersey history. Is that such a crime for a writer to say that?
The pick: Anthony Ashnault (South Plainfield).
145— Both local wrestlers – Delbarton’s Danny Reed and West Morris Brandon Carcuffe – have a shot to get to 7 p.m. on Friday night. Both would have solid prequarterfinal opponents, should they advance that far. Trenton’s Maaziah Bethea would probably be lurking for Reed. Carcuffe would get Clearview’s undefeated John Van Brill.
As Yoda would say, “A terrific weight class, this one is.”
The pick: Bryant Clagon (Toms River South).
152—Hanover Park’s Anthony Bassolino has performed brilliantly this year and acted even better after winning huge matches. Bassolino is truly thankful for his support staff. The kid gets it, and he has a shot to advance to the winner’s bracket after Friday night. He gets Northern Burlington’s Wayne Stinson in the first round, and Southern’s Christopher Serpico in the second.
The pick: Chad Walsh (Camden Catholic).
160— Round two could well pit Mendham’s Sam Button and Delbarton’s Josef Johnson, who has really picked it up lately. It has been written that Roxbury’s Dillon Artigliere was clearly the best wrestler at Region 1 last weekend. While he won't be the best wrestler in the building this weekend, he will clearly be the best 160-pounder by weekend’s end.
The pick: Dillon Artigliere (Roxbury).
170— A salute goes out to West Morris’ Adam Kratch, one of the area’s most improved wrestlers over the last 2-3 years, and Wolfpack coach Ken Rossi, who got Kratch out for the sport and motivated the kid to reach for great heights. A Parker Meytrott-Jadaen Bernstein quarterfinal would be an interesting one. Meytrott is wrestling with a lot of confidence – rightly so – right now.
The pick: Ethan Ramos (Hawthorne).
182— Look for Morris Knolls’ Michael Burns to push his way into the quarterfinals, if not further. Tip of the hat to Newton’s Josh Sibblies, who has overcome injuries over the last couple of years to draw a first-round bye as Region 1 champion.
The pick: Johnny Sebastian (Bergen Catholic).
195—I know Daily Record All-County is the furthest thing from anyone’s mind right now, but not my mind. Let’s see, at 195 there is West Morris’ MCT champion Jesse Windt, Roxbury’s Stephen Arthur III, Par Hills’ Nick D’Uva, and Madison’s Nick Haboj (who is a little late to the party, but he has arrived). Right now, the edge – a slim one – might have to go to Arthur, but there is a lot left this weekend. We shall see. I just beg one of you – I don’t care who! – separates himself from the pack.
By the way, did you know this Razohnn Gross kid from Don Bosco is reportedly from Franklin? And Gonzalez – the predicted 113-pound champion – is from North Bergen? I have accused a lot of public school coaches of sounding a bit whiny complaining about the Catholic schools in the past. But after seeing this, I am slowly drifting over to their side, at least as far as Bergen County is concerned. When coaches have to start making sure kids from their own school are staying, we got problems!
The pick: Razohnn Gross (Don Bosco).
220— Welcome to the state tournament, Mount Olive’s Pete Andrich, who was fourth at Region 1 but was able to qualify as a replacement. When he won the MCT on his home mat back in January, it was really cool to see just how happy – and astonished – he was. Bill Parcells used to comment about how many NFL guys are a Jag – Just Another Guy. Well, Andrich described himself in that fashion as a freshman wrestler – but that is long before he put his heart and soul into the sport.
Now, Andrich can say he went from being a Jag to a state qualifier. That’s quite a feat!
The pick: Bryan Dobzanski (Delsea).
285—This weight was fairly anonymous when the season began, but a bunch of kids have made a name for themselves as the season wore on. One of them is Haddon Heights’ Alex Thompson, who Hanover Park’s Nick LaShell might run into in the second round.
The pick: Alex Thompson (Haddon Heights).
