Shore Sports Networks 2016 NJSIAA Wrestling Champion

March 8, 2016 Volume-VIII Issue-5

VOLUME -V I I I / I S SUE - 5 / 3 / 8 / 1 62

S t e v e M E Y E RShore Sports NetworkDirector High School Divisionsteve.meyer@townsqua remedi a.com7 3 2 - 2 3 3 - 4 4 6 0

K e v i n W I L L I A M SShore Sports Network Directorkev in .w i l l i ams@townsqua remed ia.com

Sen ior Content Prov idersBobBadders // [email protected] // [email protected]

Shore Sports Network Journalis published by: T ownsquare Med ia8 Robbins Street Toms River, NJ 08753

Copyright 2016 Townsquare MediaAll rights reserved Reproduction in whole or in partwithout the permission of Shore Sports Network is prohibited

The first thing fans, players, coaches & parentswant to know after the big game is always,

Shore Sports Network has established itself as a leader in scholastic sports coverage in Monmouth and Oceancounties, providing more video highlight clips, in-depth reporting, feature

stories and regular updates than aNy OtHer Outlet in the area.

”Is this going to be on ?”

Shore Sports Network Website Featuresn Get Video Highlights of all the important games that Shore

Conference fans will be talking about.n Catch up on the action you might have missedn Watch video clips of everything from the action early in the event to the

big finish as well as video interviews with various athletes. n www.shoresportsnetwork.com is the most visited sports site in the Shore

Conference during the scholastic year n Follow us on Twitter (over 16,000 followers) & Facebook, we keep fans posted on

the latest scores and newsn Established leading portal for local high school coverage.

The ShoreSports Network

is proud to announcethat with the help ofthe U.S. Army they

will partner with theShore Basketball Coaches

Association to present theSenior All-Star Games on Wednesday,

March 23 at the Pine Belt Arena in Toms River.This is the first year the Boys and Girls games will be held in Toms

River as for the past few years Wall High School was generous enoughto host the games. The move was made to allow many of the Shore's topplayers put their talents on display in what has become the mecca of

basketball in New Jersey as the Pine Belt Arena is home to the NJSIAAGroup Finals and Tournament of Champions as well as many othertournaments and special events.

The girls game will tip off at 6 p.m. on March 23 with the boys game tofollow at 7:45. Admission for the doubleheader is $5 for Adults, $3 forStudents/Seniors and free for High School and College Coaches, AthleticDirectors and Children 12 and under. Both games will be broadcast live on1160/1310AM and shoresportsnetwork.com.

The U.S. Army will serve as the title sponsor of this year’s game through theShore Sports Network and have a presence on game night. A new feature thisyear will be the “I’m Possible Slam Dunk Contest” at halftime of the boysgame with details to be announced shortly. There will also be a “3 PointContest” held at halftime of the girls game.

Check our website for more information:www.shoresportsnetwork.com

Be part of a tradition at the Jersey Shore thatreaches a large and enthusiastic Basketballaudience from Monmouth and Ocean countiesby having your business featured in this year's2016 uS arMy Shore Basketball CoachesSenior all-Star Game official game dayprogram. the detailed game program put

together by the Shore SportsNetwork staff not onlyrecounts the past season andhighlights this year's group ofall-Stars, it also serves as akeepsake for all the players,coaches and fans involved. Notonly is the program a chancefor your business to reach awide and passionate audience, itis a chance to become apermanent part of a lastingmemory for many members ofthe Shore Conference Basketballcommunity.

CALL TODAY732-233-4460

US ARMY Shore Basketball CoachesAssociation Senior All-Star Game

3

ADVERTISING OPPORTUNITIESFOR THE 2016 ALL-STARGAME DAY PROGRAM

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The Manasquan and Rumson-Fair Havenboys basketball teams have developed one ofthe Shore Conference’s best rivalries over thepast four years as members of the Class ACentral division, but during those handful ofseasons, the two never met in a postseasonsetting.When they finally did Sunday at Brookdale

Community College in the Shore ConferenceTournament quarterfinals, they produced agame to remember.Manasquan beat Rumson 80-77 in triple

overtime Sunday, dethroning the defendingShore Conference Tournament championwhile advancing to the conference semifinalsfor the third time in five years – all worthy ofthis week’s Shore Sports Network ArmyStrong Team of the Week honors.In the three-overtime classic, senior Jack

Sheehan scored 35 points, nearly matching

reigning Player of theYear Brendan Barry(36) and throwing theteam on his backduring the finalminutes of regulationas well as the secondovertime. Sheehanconverted twomomentous three-point plays to helpManasquan pull evenlate in regulation andhit a game-tying 19-footer with a hand inhis face with sixseconds in the secondovertime.

Senior Ryan Jensen contributed 20 pointsand 27 rebounds and also hit two game-tyingfree throws with 2.2 seconds left in regulationthat sent the game to overtime. Junior BrianPaturzo also stepped up for Manasquan withall six of his points in the third overtime,including the go-ahead drive that put theWarriors ahead 79-77.Manasquan also beat Southern Regional

earlier in the week to reach the SCTquarterfinals for the fifth straight year andseventh time in eight years. In that game,Jensen recorded his 1,000th career rebound togo with the 1,000-plus points he has scored.The Warriors (21-3) fell to Christian

Brothers Academy, 53-41, in the SCTsemifinals on Tuesday and will be the No. 2seed in the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group IIsectional playoffs, which they won last year.

the US Army continues the Honor ofpresenting the Basketball Teams of the Week

Week EightManasquan

Week 1Ranney

Week 2RFH

Week 3TR North

Week 4Manchester

Week 5Colts Neck

Week 6Mater Dei

Prep

Week 7Lakewood

Coach Andrew Bilodeau and his team pose withCapt. Carl P. Hartman (right) and Sgt. First Class

Carlos Ramos Pacheco (left)

A victory of any kind in Saturday’s ShoreConference Tournament championship gameagainst Christian Brothers Academy wouldhave been a landmark accomplishment for theprogram, but the Mater Dei boys basketballteam made sure to win their first ever SCTtitle in an improbable fashion befitting of theirstory.Trailing by 18 points with a little more than

nine minutes left, Mater Dei rallied to stunCBA, 50-43, to capture the program’s firstever Shore Conference Tournament title andcap an improbable rise from near-extinction.The triumph earns the Seraphs their secondShore Sports Network Army Strong Team ofthe Week honor of the season – the first ofwhich came after the Seraphs clinched theirfirst division title in 11 years.A year ago, Mater Dei’s community was

engaged in a furious fund-raising effort tochange the course of events after St. Mary’sParish announced the school would be closingits doors following the 2014-15 season. The“Save Our Seraphs” movement raised wellover $1 million and the school reopened thisyear independent of the Parish.The basketball team also changed direction

upon the guarantee of the school’s survivaland the closing of another – CardinalMcCarrick. Former Eagles coach and St.Anthony assistant Ben Gamble was hired toreplace 19-year Mater Dei coach Bob Klatt

and four Cardinal McCarrick players – seniorsNyQuan McCombs, Bryan Harris and JoshGreen, as well as junior Elijah Mitchell –followed their coach to Mater Dei. With fivemore transfers joining the mix, the Seraphshad transformed into a Shore Conferencecontender.For most of the game on Saturday, Mater

Dei looked like the Shore Conference runner-up to the Colts, but just as the “Save OurSeraphs” movement changed the school’s fate,the final nine minutes did so for the basketballteam on Saturday. Harris and McCombs ledthe furious comeback, with McCombs leadingthe defensive effort and Harris scoring a team-high 14 points to earn the I’m Possible GameMVP Award.Mater Dei will look to follow up its first

Shore Conference title by doing damage inarguably the most talented section in theNJSIAA Tournament. The Seraphs opened upthe South Jersey Non-Public B Tournament asa No. 6 seed Tuesday with an 82-48 win overDoane Academy and will next travel to playNo. 3 Trenton Catholic in the sectionalquarterfinals on Thursday.While the section contains two of the top-

five ranked teams in the state in the PatrickSchool and Roselle Catholic, both of thoseteams are on the opposite side of the bracketfrom Mater Dei and would not face theSeraphs until the championship game.

Week NineMater Dei Prep

Staff Sgt. Ethan O. Newago poses with coach Ben Gamble and theMater Dei boys basketball team

During the boys basketball season, Shore Sports Network willbe selecting an Army Strong Team of the Week, sponsored bythe U.S. Army. The feature team will be selected based onperformance from the prior week of action.

SHORESPORTSNETWORK.COM 5


The Middletown Southcaptured its third straightNJSIAA Central JerseyGroup III title on Mondaynight with a 55-40 win overNeptune in front of a sold-out home crowd.

Stephanie Karcz, Shore Sports Network’s GirlsBasketball Player of the Year, slammed the door shutfor Neptune on consecutive possessions with underthree minutes to play that took the life out of the

Neptune comeback bid.

When the excitement filled the Southgymnasium, Coach Tom Brennan was quickto reflect on his teams success when headded, “This group of young ladies has andwill always have a special place in my heartafter everything they have done this seasonfollowing my bypass surgery. It would havebeen easy for them to lose focus but CoachJess Chalmers and the players kept to theplan coming into the season and tonightwas a culmination of everyone’s dedicationto each other.”

The game opened very sloppy forboth teams who combined for seventurnovers after South’s Isla Brennanhit her first field goal of the nightenroute to 16 points for thefreshman. The next three minutes ofplay were a turnover fest followedby cheap fouls for both teams. Oncethe game settled down, bothMiddletown South and Neptuneshowed why they were last twoteams standing in Central JerseyGroup III.

The Eagles would jump out to a13-6 first quarter lead behind thescoring from Brennan with 4 points, juniorAlexandra Balasamo with 2 points, Karczwith 4 points and Julia Valkos with 3.

Neptune would climb back into the gamequickly in the second quarter behind a freethrow from Brianna Love, a coast-to-coastlayup from Desiree Allen and a 3-pointer fromLove to cut the lead 16-14 with just under 5minutes to play in the half.

The game would find its legs from this pointwith teams trading baskets, great ballmovement and crucial rebounding on bothends. After the Scarlet Fliers pulled to withintwo points, Middletown South would lean onthe second 3-pointer of the quarter fromsenior Julia Valkos who pushed the Eagleslead to 21-17. Karcz would finish the secondquarter scoring with a steal and layup for twoto send the Eagles to a 23-20 first half lead.

Afterwards Karcz added “when we went into thehalf we weren’t really playing our best and Neptunestarted to make a run at us so we changed up ourdefense to take away their inside game and rely onthree point shots.”

The second half opened with Neptune's RahmenaHenderson and Love hitting on a layup and threepointer respectively to pull the Fliers to within onepoint at 26-25. The Eagles got on the board in thethird quarter when Emily McCarthy hit her firstbasket of the evening and pushed the lead to 28-25.Allen would drive coast-to-coast to cut the lead againto one at 28-27 but that would be the closest Neptunewould get to Middletown South again for the game.

The Eagles offense struggled to find consistencyand was hurt at the foul line that could have put thegame away earlier. Middletown South opened thegame going 0-for-8 from the line before finishing thegame 10-for-22. Most importantly Karcz and Brennan

Karcz, Brennan Lead Midd. South to 3rd Straight CJ III TitleB y E r i c B r a u n – S S N S t a f f W r i t e r

Middletown South senior Stephanie Karcz

Middletown South freshman Isla Brennan

FOR SSN ADVERTISING INFORMATIONContact : Steven Meyer 732-233 -4460 steve.meyer@townsquaremedia .com


put the game out of reach in the closing minutesgoing a combined 8-for-8 from the line. Isla was ableto give coach/dad the game of her life on the biggeststage finishing with 16 points and 8 rebounds.

In the end though it was the back-to-back playsfrom senior Karcz that sealed the win for the Eagles.With just under three minutes to play and Southholding to a 43-38 lead, Neptune’s Allen took theball coast-to-coast and thought she had a clear laneuntil Karcz stepped in and came up with a massiveblock that was rebounded by Alex Balsamo, whofound an open McCarthy for the layup and a 45-38lead. On the very next trip for Neptune it was Karczagain coming up with another crucial block this timeon Love and again rebounded by Balsamo who wentcoast-to-coast for the bucket to increase the Eagleslead to 49-38 and take the life right out of theNeptune comeback.

Karcz would finish with a game high 20 points togo along with 4 steals, 8 rebounds and 2 blocks. Incelebration mode, Karcz added “tonight was a specialnight for us to give back to coach Tom and as asenior to win our final home game as State Champsis an awesome feeling…we have unfinished businessfrom last year and if we stay focused we can obtainour goals.”

Balsamo finished with 6 points, 10 rebounds and 2steals. Senior Jula Valkos who missed some timeduring her season due to injury came back in a big

way against Neptune with aggressive defense thatresulted in 4 Fliers turnovers to go along with her 9points and 3 rebounds.

With the win, Middletown South (24-3 overall and12-0 A-North) will travel to Deptford High School on

Thursday at 7pm to take on Ocean City (25-4 overalland 10-0 conference).

Middletown South Celebrates CJGII I Ti t le

P h o t o s b y :Eric Braun:

ericbraunphotography.smugmug.com


Most leading scorers arereluctant to give up the ballwith the game on the line, butnot only did Colts Neck seniorLloyd Daniels give up the ballwith his team's season on theline Monday night and theFreehold Township defensehounding him, but he did soconfident that the program'sfirst ever sectional title wason the other end of that pass -in the hands of the only non-senior on the court for theCougars.

Junior Brendan Clarke lofted a contested 10-foot shotas the clock expired and it hit nothing but net as thebuzzer sounded, giving Colts Neck a 45-44 win overFreehold Township to capture the NJSIAA CentralJersey Group IV championship, the first boys basketballsectional championship in the school's history.

"I can't even put it into words," Clarke said. "Bigplayers come through in big moments and our team isfull of big players."

"This is our fourth trip at a very young school," saidColts Neck coach Lou Piccola, who guided the Cougarsto three previous trips to a sectional final. "I'm justhappy for all the players over the years that camethrough here, for the community and for everyone that ispart of Colts Neck. I'm numb right now. The ball went intonight. Sometimes the ball doesn't go in. We were luckytonight."

The Cougars trailed for a majority of the game on Monday, but twice responded to go-ahead baskets by Freehold Township in the final three minutes to set up the dramatic finalminute. Daniels knocked down a game-tying floater to even the score at 41, followed by ashot by Freehold Township junior Ryan Zyskowski to give the Patriots lead back at 43-41.

Before hitting the winning shot, Clarke foundsenior Kyle Gordon for the game-tying layup witha shade over a minute to go. Freehold Townshipsenior Nick Facendo came back and earned a tripto the free-throw line with 25.6 seconds left. Aftermissing the first and sitting through a Colts Necktimeout, Facendo gave the Patriots the lead byhitting the second free throw.

The Cougars came back and earned a trip to theline of their own, with senior Tom O'Reilly drawingcontact with 16.1 seconds left. O'Reilly missed bothshots, but senior Khaled Mostafa - inserted into thegame after O'Reilly's first miss - secured therebound and Freehold Township gave its sixth andfinal foul before reaching the bonus.

"The call of the game was by (assistant) SteveJannarone," Piccola said, referring to his longtimetop assistant. "After the first miss, he said, "We'vegot to get the big guy on the floor to get therebound. Khaled goes into the game, fights for therebound, they use up their last foul and we get torun a play. Now, they can't grab us and we canactually run something. That was the biggest call ofthe game."

Trailing 44-43, Colts Neck burned a timeout todraw up a play and Daniels took the inbounds passand fired a pass to Clarke on his left after dribblinginto a double-team near the right elbow.

"They were denying me so hard," Daniels said. "Iwas trying to push off, and nothing was there, so Igot it to Clarke. I saw him drive baseline and he gotup the craziest shot I've ever seen in my life."

Clarke took one dribble to his left, hung in the airand hit the shot that gave Colts Neck its firstsectional title.

"It was designed to go to Lloyd because he's beenmaking plays for us all season," Clarke said of the last play. "It kind of broke down and hefound me. I was looking for Tommy (O'Reilly) at the block but a guy came to help, so I justput up the shot and I felt comfortable with it. I knew I didn't have much time, so I decidedthe make a play."

Brendan Clarke’s Buzzer-BeaterGives Colts Neck 1st Sectional TitleB y M a t t M a n l e y – S e n i o r S t a f f E d i t o r

Senior Lloyd Daniels

See Colts Neck page 10


10 VOLUME -V I I I / I S SUE - 5 / 3 / 8 / 1 6

"I'm holding my breath, I'm like, 'Please go in, please goin,'" Daniels said. "And it went in."

In addition to coming up big down the stretch, Clarke andDaniels delivered on the statsheet as well. Clarke scored 11points and Daniels scored 16 of his game-high 18 points inthe first half while his lone basket of the second half tiedthe game at 41.

"All season, my teammates knew I had their back,"Daniels said. "In the championship game, in the finalseconds, they had my back and that's the best feeling."

Clarke hit a go-ahead three-pointer to start the thirdquarter, but Freehold Township quickly responded with ajump hook from junior Steve Staklinski and a jumper off thedribble by Facendo to put the Patriots back up, 35-32.

Senior Jordan deGroot drew Colts Neck even with a threefrom the right corner, before Facendo scored six straightFreehold Township points to give the Patriots a 41-37 lead.

DeGroot came up with a steal and took the ball all the wayto the rim for a lay-in to cut Freehold Township's lead to 41-39. Daniels delivered his shot to tie the game twopossessions later, setting up the final sequence.

"Shots like that, moments like in an environment like thatare what make high school basketball special," FreeholdTownship coach Brian Golub said. "That kid will never hita bigger shot in his life and he will remember that for therest of his life. I'm happy for him, but I'm also sick to mystomach for my guys."

At one point from the early part of the second quarter tothe end of the half, Daniels scored 11 straight Colts Neckpoints - the only stretch of success that Colts Neck hadagainst Freehold Township's 2-3 zone before the Cougarsstarted to make headway late in the fourth quarter.

"We prepared to face the zone, but we had to changeour plays late in the game because nothing was reallyworking in the second half," Clarke said. "We startedgetting the ball to the block a little more, made the extrapass and started to get some looks out of it."

Colts Neck ended a recent history of sectional finalheartbreak by beating another team that knows thatheartbreak all too well. Colts Neck reached threeconsecutive sectional finals from 2010 to 2012, but lost

each game.

"We have seven seniors on this team who all wanted to goout with a championship," Daniels said. "Coach put thegoals on the board at the beginning of the year: win (Class)B North, win two games at Rumson (at the BulldawgClassic), win Shore Conference and a state title. We didn'tget the Shore Conference, but we won three out of four. It'sa good way to go out."

Freehold Township, meanwhile, lost in the Central JerseyGroup IV final for the second straight season, following uplast year's home loss to No. 13 seed Hillsborough withanother devastating defeat on Monday. Golub has taken histeam to five sectional finals in his 21 seasons, but thePatriots have come up empty each time. In program history,Freehold Township is 0-6 in sectional finals.

Despite graduating four senior starters and returning justtwo players from its regular rotation, this year's FreeholdTownship team reached the 20-win mark for the fourth timein school history and knocked off a one-loss HunterdonCentral team to reach Monday's sectional final.

"These guys represented their school, their families, theircoaches and in my eyes, everybody should be proud withwhat this team has done," Golub said. "What I told them inthe locker room, 'You'll look back on this twenty years fromnow and the pain will still be there.' I've been coaching along time and I can go back and remember specificsituations, specific games that still hurt. This one will hurtforever."

Colts Neck will now move on to face South Jersey GroupIV Atlantic City in the Group IV semifinals on Wednesdayat a neutral site to be announced.

"There are 99 things that happen in a game," Piccola said."Today, the ball went in. It's as simple as that. A kid made abig shot and we're state champions."

by:

Matt Manleywww.shoresportsnetwork.com

Colts neck Continued from page 18

SHORESPORTSNETWORK.COM 1 1


PUT TO HIS BACKEARLY IN THE

MATCH, SEBASTIANRIVERA WASGOING TO HAVE TOCLIMB OUT FROMAN EARLY HOLEIF HE WANTEDTO WIN A STATECHAMPIONSHIP.The Christian Brothers Academy

senior did exactly that with an epic winon Sunday night inside Boardwalk Hall.

Trailing by four entering the third period to Delbartonsophomore Patrick Glory, Rivera rallied to tie the boutbefore turning Glory for two back points, then pinning himwith one second left to capture the 2016 NJSIAA 113-poundstate championship in thrilling fashion.

As he put Glory to his back for the clinching points, Riveralooked up to the crowd and smiled, creating one of the lastingimages of the entire state tournament.

“IT HASN’T HIT ME YET,” RIVERASAID. “I LOOKED UP TO SEE MYDAD AND MY COACHES, AND TOSEE THEM JUMPING UP ANDDOWN AND THE PLACE GOINGCRAZY; IT WAS ONE OF THE BESTMOMENTS OF MY LIFE. I’LL NEVER

FORGET IT.”

Rivera ended a 46-year drought between state champions for CBA,becoming the Colts’ first state champ since Pete Black won the 141-poundtitle in 1969. He was also the only state champion for the ShoreConference, which had a total of 12 state medalists.

“I wasn’t going to give up down 4-0,” Rivera said. “I messed up on thatoutside single and didn’t pick it up off the mat. I was able to come backlike Frankie Edgar always comes back. He’s the comeback kid. Nevercount him out, and never count me out.”

The most important match of his life didn’t start the way he hoped.When he went for a single-leg takedown against Glory and didn’t getthe leg lifted high enough, Glory reached underneath and grabbedRivera’s leg, putting him to his back for a four-point move 45seconds into the match.

“IT WAS DEFINITELYTOUGH,” RIVERA SAID.“BUT I LOOKED AT MYCOACHES AND THEYWERE STILL CALM, ANDI LOOKED UP AT MY DADAND (COACH) VINNIE(DELLEFAVE) AND THEYWERE STILL CALM. IWAS LIKE, “OK, I CANPULL THIS OUT.”

Glory chose defense in the second period, butRivera never let him extend his lead by ridinghim out for the full two minutes. That wouldprove especially crucial.

Rivera started the third on defense and escaped tomake it 4-1. The comeback had begun.

He took Glory down with 1:12 left in the third

By Bob Badders – Senior Staff Writer

See Champion page 14

12

13SHORESPORTSNETWORK.COM

period, popping his head free after grabbing hold of Glory’s left leg. Hethen let Glory to his feet to make it 5-3. He was halfway there.

Rivera drove forward with a double-leg takedown attempt that looked likeit was going to tie the bout, 5-5, but Glory was able to scramble out ofharm’s way, and the two rolled out of bounds with 42 seconds remaining.Rivera, however, knew he had him where he wanted him.

“I felt him start to break,” Rivera said. “After I took that double and hescrambled out of bounds I was like, ‘wow, he doesn’t have much left’.”

Immediately after the ensuing restart, Rivera picked up Glory and drove

him to the mat, tying the bout at five. But he wasn’t done yet. Instead ofjust being content with holding Glory down and going to overtime, he baitedhim into making a move that would give Rivera the opportunity to win inregulation.

“I had a really deep tight waist and I knew the only way he could get outwas if he jumped over,” Rivera said. “If he jumped over I was going to hipright into his back, and he fell right for it. It was a beautiful way to end it.”

Rivera turned Glory for a two-count, giving him two back points for a 7-5 lead. Glory basically gave up at the end, and Rivera finished off the pinwith one second left to cap an incredible comeback to re-write the CBAwrestling history book.

It was a long road back for Rivera after losing in the state semifinals lastseason and finishing fifth, but he was able to get back on the road to a

championship and finish the job.

“I WOULD GO TO TWOPRACTICES A DAY, SOMETIMES,TO GET READY FOR THIS,”RIVERA SAID. “LAST YEARWAS DISAPPOINTING TO GETFIFTH, BUT I GOT IT DONE IN

MY FOUR YEARS ANDTHAT’S ALL THAT

MATTERS TOME.”

14 VOLUME -V I I I / I S SUE - 5 / 3 / 8 / 1 6

C hamp i on Continued from page 12

P h o t o s b y :

R a y R i c h P h o t o g r a p h y :r a y r i c h p h o t o g r a p h y . s m u g m u g . c o m


FOR INFORMATIONON H I -RES COLOR PR INTS OF ANY PAGES& IMAGES IN ANY OF OUR PUBL ICAT IONSCONTACT: Steven Meyer 732-233-4460 s [email protected]


Brett Donner wascrushed aftersuffering a stunningloss on Friday nightin the NJSIAA statetournament pre-quarterfinals. His statetitle dreams weredashed, and there aretwo ways he could'vegone following thedefeat.

It was a long Friday night andSaturday morning for Donner, butthere was no way the Wall seniorwas going to pack it in and end hiscareer without a fight. He wasgoing to come back with avengeance.

Donner won six straight boutsin the 170-pound consolationbracket, ultimately defeating

Bound Brook junior GeorgeWalton, 5-3, to finish third and

conclude his sterling career on a highnote during the NJSIAA Individual

Tournament on Sunday at Boardwalk Hall.

“I’m pretty happy I finished that way, andmore happy I left it all on the mat and finished

my high school career with a win,” Donner said.

A Rutgers recruit, Donner was picked by many toreach the state final and take home the title. Heentered the tournament with a 35-0 record, but was

shocked in his first bout by Carteret’s Elias Vega, 12-8. Up 4-1 inthe first period, Donner admitted he got a bit overconfident on hisfeet, and Vega made him pay by throwing him to his back for afour-point move. Donner was shook mentally, and Vega, whoultimately finished eighth, ended up earning the biggest win in hisprogram’s history.

There’s nothing you can do about it now, but I believe I’m twicethe wrestler that kid is,” Donner said. “I got frustrated when I gotput to my back and couldn’t get my mind straight after that. Icould have controlled the match more. It’s not a dual meet, so Ishouldn’t be taking guys down like that. I took him down twice inthe first period and was grinding him on top with a bar and almosthad a turn. I let him up and got a little too cocky there on my feet.I have no excuses. One bad mistake and that’s what thistournament does. It will eat you up.”

New Jersey’s state tournament, considered among the very bestin the country, has chewed up and spit out countless greatwrestlers over the years, and will do it again in the years to come.Wrestlers that are upset early often never recover. Donner wasdetermined not to let that happen to him.

“It took me all night and halfway through the morning, but whenI started warming up (Saturday morning) I was able to get mymind off it a little bit,” Donner said.

He received some text messages from his future college coachesoffering words of support, and those really helped him get backhis mental edge.

“Coach (Scott) Goodale said, ‘you have to battle back, it’s thatsimple’,” Donner said. “(Assistant coach Donny) Pritzlaff said Ihave all year to be disappointed, but I have to go to worktomorrow. That was a big one for me. To know they were behindme was pretty awesome.”

Donner started his run to his second career state third-placemedal with a 13-5 win over Ocean’s T.J. Saldutti. He then toppedCollingswood’s Michael Taulane, 10-4, before defeating Delsea’s

Heart of a ChampionWall’s Brett DonnerBy Bob Badders – Senior Staff Writer

16


Brad Dobzanski, 5-2, to clinch a top-eightfinish.

In the wrestleback quarterfinals he beatDePaul’s Spencer Carey, 10-3, beforegetting a rematch he had waited a year for.During Donner’s injury-plagued juniorseason he returned to win a second Region6 title and reach the state quarterfinals, butit was there he was pinned by Wayne Hills’Dan Kilroy. He was hoping to see Kilroy inthe state semifinals since both were seededin the bottom bracket, but it didn’t work outfor either. Instead they squared off in thewrestleback quarterfinals with a spot in thethird-place bout on the line.

Tied 1-1 in the third period, Kilroy scoreda takedown for a 3-1 lead with under aminute remaining. Donner responded witha reversal to tie the bout at three and forceovertime, and in sudden victory he securedthe winning takedown for a triumphant 5-3win.

“That one was eating at me for a year, soit was huge for me,” Donner said. “Thatwas the one marked on my calendar allyear.”

The championship bracket showcases awrestler’s skill, but the consolation bracketis where much is learned about their mental

toughness. It’s a war of attrition where only thestrong survive.

“He really showed some amazing character tocome back from that,” said Wall head coachBrian Fischer. “He obviously didn’t reach hisultimate goal, but he let people know what hewas made of by reacting the way he did.Champions we judge by how they deal withlosses and things like that. It’s huge, especiallyin this sport.”

“I knew I had it in me,” Donner said. “I justhad to prove it to myself.”

Donner’s future Rutgers teammate, BergenCatholic senior Joe Grello, ended up winningthe 170-pound state title for the second straightseason. While all parties, including Goodale andhis staff, would have loved to see Donner reachthe state final, they are no doubt happy with theway he responded to adversity.

“From day one that we had Brett we saw aDivision 1 brawling college wrestler,” Fischersaid. “Whether we got a state title or not I knowhis best stuff is yet to come. He’s going to shinein college.”

Photos by:

Ray Rich Photography:rayrichphotography.smugmug.com


When Anthony Vetranowas a freshman atMiddletown North hecouldn’t even picturehimself wrestling on themats of Boardwalk Hall inthe state tournament. Yetafter the final bout of hishigh school career he hadaccomplished somethingno Lions wrestler haddone in 16 years.

Vetrano defeated Ridgewood’s KyleInlander, 4-3, on Sunday afternoon atBoardwalk Hall to finish third at 182 poundsin the NJSIAA Individual Tournament.Vetrano became Middletown North’s firststate medalist since 2010 and the Lions’highest finisher since 2000. In reaching thestate semifinals on Saturday evening, Vetrano alsobecame the first Middletown North wrestler to advancethat far in the championship bracket since 1974.

“Freshman year I never thought about this at all, so thisis very amazing,” Vetrano said. “It’s an excitingmoment.”

Vetrano was making his first appearance at the statetournament after capturing the Region 6 title at 182pounds. With no prior state criteria he had a tough draw,getting returning state medalist Dominick Maniero ofQueen of Peace, the Region 4 champion, as his firstmatch. He started his tournament with a bang by pinningManiero in 5:28 to reach the quarterfinals.

He became Middletown North’s first state semifinalistsince both Ken Hopfsensperger and Bill Albert did so in

1974 by defeatingDelbarton’s L.J.Castellano in an overtimethriller. Tied 3-3 headinginto double overtime,Castellano looked like hehad grabbed a victorywhen he scored a reversalin the first tiebreakerperiod. Undeterred,Vetrano scored a reversalof his own to knot thescore again, 5-5, and getto the second tiebreakerperiod with a chance totake the lead. On defenseto start the next 30-second period, Vetranoreversed Castellano to hisback for a four-pointmove and a 9-5 victory.

He was defeated in the semifinals by eventual statechampion Brandon Kui of DePaul, 10-4, but reboundedto take third by winning his final two bouts. In thewrestleback semifinals Vetrano defeated Bergen Catholicfreshman Josh McKenzie, 4-3 in double overtime, to getto the third-place bout. In the consolation final he edgedInlander 4-3 with a takedown in the third period.

“Coming into the season I saw some of the kids at theweight, and having wrestled some of them during thesummer and losing like 2-0, 2-1 I figured I could get atleast fifth place,” Vetrano said. “When I came here andsaw how good I was wrestling I felt confident I could getthird, second and even first.”

Vetrano led Inlander 2-1 heading to the third period, butInlander escaped to tie the bout 2-2. Vetrano was able to

counter a shot and score to go up 4-2, and held on througha scramble in the closing seconds to claim bronze in hisfinal high school match.

“He got in on a front head, and I’m pretty good there,”Vetrano said. “I dragged by and I got him right on theedge. It was an exciting moment to see that two go up.”

Vetrano helped the Lions to their best season in over adecade as they clinched a share of the Class A Northdivision title by beating Shore Conference Tournamentchampion CBA during the regular season. MiddletownNorth also reached the North Jersey 2, Group IV finalagainst eventual Group IV champion Phillipsburg, andmade the quarterfinals of the Shore ConferenceTournament.

“‘We got to show Middletown North is a successfulprogram, and maybe this will stop some kids in our townfrom trying to go to other schools,” Vetrano said. “We’rea good program and we can hang with everyone.”

Wall junior Matt McKenzie earned his second statemedal by battling back to finish third at 195 pounds.McKenzie joined teammate Brett Donner, who was third

Middletown North seniorAnthony Vetrano

State Medalists from the ShoreConferenceBy Bob Badders – Senior Staff Writer

Wall junior Matt McKenzie


at 170 pounds, on the medal stand.

McKenzie was fifth at 195 last season and reached the semifinals against MorrisKnolls’ senior Dean Drugac. The bout was settled in ultimate tiebreaker where Drugacescaped to earn a 5-4 win and reach the semifinals.

“At first it really bothered me, but I shook it off to come back strong and take third,”McKenzie said.

In the wrestleback semifinals he defeated DePaul’s Joseph Soreco, 5-0, to advanceto the third place bout. After wrestling in three straight one-point bouts in thechampionship bracket, McKenzie enjoyed some breathing room in his final two. Afterthe shutout of Soreco, he took apart Pequannock’s Patrick Daly with a 13-2 majordecision to secure third place. He got his top game working with a pair of tilts in thefirst period to open up a big lead.

“I really went after it like I had nothing to lose,” McKenzie said.

“Matt impressed me more in this tournament than I’ve ever seen him wrestlethroughout my career with him,” said Wall head coach Brian Fischer. “He continuedto get better and better as the matches got harder and harder. He actually improved inevery aspect with each match he advanced.”

Reaching the state final at 152 pounds was Toms River East junior A.J. Meyers. Adark horse in the bracket even as the Region 6 champion, Meyers started histournament with an 8-3 win over Roxbury’s Tommy Miller, the Region 1 champ. Hefollowed that with a 7-4 decision over Queen of Peace’s Garrett Beam in thequarterfinals, and edged Holy Cross’s Avery DiNardi, 3-2, to reach the semifinals.

Meyers was Toms River East’s first state finalist since Vinnie DelleFave won hissecond straight state title in 2009. He will return next season as one of the ShoreConference’s top wrestlers and a state title contender.

See Medalists page 20


“My goal was to make it to the finals this year, so it feels good,” Meyers said after hissemifinal win. “I definitely surprised some people here, and myself too. I came in as a10th or 11th seed and made the finals.”

Brick Memorial junior GianniGhione finished fourth in a brutal120-pound bracket, falling toBergen Catholic’s GerardAngelo, 5-4 in double overtime,in the third-place bout. Ghionelost to Hanover Park freshmanNick Raimo, the state runner-up,

9-3 in the quarterfinals, but bounced back with twowins by fall and a 7-1 victory over West Morris’sShane Metzler to reach the consolation final.

Toms River South senior Owen McClave finishedfifth at 132 pounds, defeating St. Peter’s Prep’s AlecKelly, 7-4, in the fifth-place bout. McClave reachedthe semifinals before falling to Phillipsburg’sBrandon Paetzell, 2-1 in double overtime. McClavefinished his career as a three-time Region 6 championand four-time finalist, and secured two state fifth-place medals.

Point Beach senior John Finnerty concluded amagical postseason with a sixth-place finish at 145pounds. He made a Cinderella run to the statesemifinals by clipping Delran’s Phil Rogers, 7-5, inthe pre-quarterfinals and edging Lenape Valley’s NickPalumbo, 3-2, in the quarterfinals. He lost by fall inthe semifinals to Hasbrouck Heights sophomoreMickey O’Malley.

Finnerty is Point Beach’s first state medalist sinceMatt Rega in 2005 and the Garnet Gulls’ highestfinisher since Jon Butler took sixth in 2004. Finnertyis also Point Beach’s second state semifinalist inprogram history, joining 1998 state champion JakeCairns.

Toms River South sophomore ColeCorrigan finished seventh at 138 pounds bypinning Pascack Hills’ Benjamin Brismanin 2:15.

Finishing in eighth place were St. JohnVianney junior Luke Ecklof at 106 pounds,CBA senior Jack LaCorte at 195 poundsand Howell junior Eric Keosseian at 220pounds. Ecklof is the Lancers’ third statemedalist all-time and the first since 2004.

Brick Memorial junior Gianni Ghione

TR South seniorOwen McClave

Pt. Beach seniorJohn Finnerty

SJV junior Luke Ecklof

P h o t o s b y : Ray R ich Photography:

r a y r i c h p h o t o g r a p h y . s m u g m u g . c o m

Medalists Continued from page 19



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Longtime Toms River Easthead coach Warren Reid washonored with the Harry E.Lake Award for hiscontributions to wrestling,while Southern’s John Stoutand Dan Roy were selectedas New Jersey WrestlingCoaches AssociationCoaches of the Year duringthe NJSIAA Tournament atBoardwalk Hall.

Reid just completed his 37th season as TomsRiver East’s only head coach, compiling a 385-297-7 record. He is the Shore Conference’s all-time winningest coach. During his tenure, theRaiders have won three Shore ConferenceTournament titles, and Reid has coached 33 regionchampions and six state champions.

Among Reid’s pupils were four-time Region 6and two-time state champion Vinnie DelleFave, aswell as two-time state medalist and UFCchampion Frankie Edgar. During his ownwrestling career Reid was a two-time NCAA All-American at the University of Oklahoma.

In his 15th season as Southern’s head coach,Stout was honored as the NJWCA Coach of theYear for guiding the Rams to the NJSIAA Group Vtitle with a 16-1 record. The Rams’ defeatedHowell, 27-24, in a classic match to capture their

second state title and first since 2005. The Ramsalso defeated Group IV champion Phillipsburg atthe Stateliners’ famed home gym, “The Pit”.Southern’s only defeat came to Group III finalistDelsea.

Roy, a longtime Southern assistant, was votedas the NJWCA Assistant Coach of the Year.

Southern had no region champions or statemedalists this season, but was defined by itstoughness in each weight class. No group thisseason epitomized the word ‘team’ as much asSouthern, a testament to its coaching staff.

Southern head coach John Stout

Southern assistant coach Dan Roy

New Jersey Wrestling CoachesAssociation Coaches of the Year By Bob Badders – Senior Staff Writer

P h o t o s b y : Ray R ich Photography:

r a y r i c h p h o t o g r a p h y . s m u g m u g . c o m



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