Campbell advances by taking third place
By: Rudy Brandl
FLEMINGTON Randy Van Cleef saw an opportunity at last week’s Region 5 Tournament and made the most of it.
For the second straight weekend, the Hillsborough High junior 112-pound wrestler wasn’t expected to win. And for the second consecutive time, Van Cleef won three bouts and captured a tournament title.
Last week’s march through the Region 5 bracket was more impressive, especially since Van Cleef entered the tourney as the fifth seed. Van Cleef (22-5) became Hillsborough’s fourth region champ in school history by pinning Edison’s Anthony Iazzetta at 3:44 in the finals.
"I’ve been picking it up in the practice room a little," Van Cleef said as several teammates and fans came over to congratulate him. "Coach (Steve) Molinaro has been on me to keep working hard."
Van Cleef admitted that he didn’t take things as seriously early in the season. Now that it’s time for the big events, he’s taken his game to a higher level.
"I was fooling around at the beginning of the season and I had to pick it up," Van Cleef said. "The coaches have been telling me that I have to pick it up if I want to go somewhere this year."
Thanks to Saturday’s performance, Van Cleef will be going somewhere to the Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford for this weekend’s NJSIAA Tournament. Van Cleef needed a win at last night’s SuperRegions in Red Bank to advance to the state quarterfinals, while a loss would keep him alive in the consolation bracket.
The championship bout vs. Iazzetta ended rather abruptly. After a rather uneventful first period and slow start to the second, Van Cleef pinned Iazzetta with his first real threatening move, a cradle late in the second period.
"I was trying to get him on his back and get a quick fall," said Van Cleef, who started his title run with the quickest pin of the tournament, a 22-second fall over North Brunswick’s Chris Bellavia. "I couldn’t really get anything going on my feet. He was blocking all my shots."
Van Cleef continued riding Iazzetta after a scoreless first period. The Edison wrestler never escaped Van Cleef’s hold, which became a cradle with 27 seconds showing on the clock. Van Cleef quickly locked his move and needed only 11 seconds to hear the official’s hand slap the mat.
"I watched him wrestle before and I thought I might be able to take him on top," Van Cleef said. "I thought he was weak on bottom and I thought I could turn him."
Van Cleef advanced to the finals with an impressive 5-2 decision over Somerville rival Jimmy Gattone, who was elevated to top seed when Old Bridge’s Ian Gorham broke his hand late last week. Gattone received a bye into the semifinals, so he hadn’t wrestled since suffering his first loss of the season to Van Cleef in the district finals.
"He was tough, but not like the first two times," said Van Cleef, referring to his two losses to Gattone in December and January. "I just had to stay low and try to counter. Coach Molinaro and Coach Schindler worked with me on my stance."
Van Cleef controlled the match and didn’t allow a takedown. He did most of his damage in the final seconds of periods, getting a takedown in the final four seconds of the first and second to grab a 5-0 lead.
"I got a good call from the ref when they couldn’t decide if it was a takedown at the end of the second period," Van Cleef said. "He kept warning me for stalling, so I had to take a shot. I was a little tired, but I got the two takedowns late in the period and that helped me."
Gattone only managed an escape and added a penalty point to cut the lead to 5-2. Van Cleef didn’t allow the Somerville freshman to work any of his moves and advanced to the finals.
Van Cleef’s quarterfinal match was over in a hurry. Fans that took a glance at action on another mat probably missed his quick pin.
"He was a big kid and when he shot, I just went for a pinning move," Van Cleef said. "I went for the cradle and got it. I wanted to get it done quick. I was cutting weight all day and I wanted to take him early."
Van Cleef, who has won six straight and 13 of 14 with the only loss coming on a controversial slam call vs. Piscataway, is clearly on a roll.
"I just want to try to stay in it," he said. "It’s my first time in the states and it’ll be a great experience."
"It’s that time of year when whoever steps it up the most will win," Molinaro added. "Things seem to be falling in place for him. The confidence level is high and he’s going after it."
Senior 152-pounder Matt Campbell (25-5) joined Van Cleef at the Supers after taking third in a brutal weight class. Campbell survived the consolation finals with a 10-7 decision over Voorhees’ Matt Brienza, who took third in the state last winter.
Campbell controlled most of the action and only trailed once early in the second period. He broke a 4-4 tie with an escape and takedown at the edge of the mat with 1:15 left in the third period. Brienza managed to reverse with a minute left but couldn’t turn Campbell, who clinched the bout with a takedown in the closing seconds.
"I’m just happy to come away with the win and advance," Campbell said. "He got hurt in his previous match, but he came out strong. My stamina is one of the biggest things. Working with Kris (Molloy), my other teammates and the coach really paid off today."
Campbell felt the turning point of his season came in a 9-4 loss to Livingston’s Matt Kirspel. He was upset with his performance that day and worked hard to correct those mistakes.
"Ever since that Livingston match when I got embarrassed on my feet, I’ve been making a conscious effort to improve on my feet," Campbell said. "That’s helped me, especially in this tournament."
Campbell scored three takedowns against Brienza, who scored all of his points on reversals and escapes.
The semifinal match against top-seeded eventual champ Mike Savino of Lawrence went down to the wire. Savino caught a few breaks but earned his 6-4 decision.
Savino built a 5-1 lead with a two-point near-fall early in the third period and had to fight off a furious Campbell rally in the closing seconds.
"He got the edges (of the mat) in that match," Campbell said. "I can’t complain. Sometimes, that’s all it takes."
"He wrestled a hell of a match," Molinaro added. "Savino is a top-notch wrestler. Matt did a real fine job. A couple of things on the line could’ve changed the whole match. Overall, he did a great job against a great kid."
Campbell opened the tournament with a commanding 7-0 shutout of Woodbridge’s Jason Szymanick. That bout featured two takedowns, a reversal and lots of dominant riding.
Aside from a 14-0 major over Kevin Quinlan of Old Bridge in the consolation semifinals, Saturday’s three-bout journey was much more demanding.
"I knew my matches weren’t going to be easy," Campbell said. "This weight class was stacked and it definitely feels good to advance past the region."
Molloy (23-4) found himself in another deep, powerful weight division at 145. The highlight of Molloy’s region run came in Friday night’s quarterfinals when he flattened Somerville rival Nick Sutphen for the third time this season.
Sutphen controlled the first two period and mounted an 8-0 lead, but Molloy displayed the knockout punch that made him a big hit as a freshman in this tournament. The HHS junior reversed Sutphen early in the third period and packed him to the mat at 4:51.
"I still knew I could pin him," said Molloy, who also decked Sutphen in a dramatic dual meet and a district final massacre. "I kind of stood up halfway and his hips were kind of sloppy, so I hipped him over. He wasn’t really in control and he got sloppy in the third period."
Molloy ran into unbeaten top seed Ricky Frondorf of North Hunterdon in the semis and couldn’t do much in an 11-2 setback. Frondorf scored his points on takedowns and stalling violations against Molloy.
"We were hoping to keep it close and capitalize at the end," Molinaro said. "Frondorf wrestled well on his feet and controlled him up top. He’s a quality kid."
Molloy entered the consolation bracket and captured a wild 14-12 decision over Old Bridge’s William Kienhofer. Molloy led throughout the bout but Kienhofer fought back from 5-0, 7-4 and 13-9 deficits. Molloy escaped with 18 seconds left and held off any potential tying takedowns.
Delaware Valley’s Dan Hutchins ended Molloy’s season with a 4-1 decision in the consolation finals. Hutchins, who defeated Molloy by a 3-1 score in the regular season, didn’t get a takedown until 45 seconds remained in the third period. Molloy finally escaped for his only point in the final 15 seconds but couldn’t come any closer.
Sophomore 103-pounder Andrew Gewain (25-3) avenged his only prior defeat of the season with a 4-2 decision over Perth Amboy’s Mike Rodriguez in the quarterfinals but didn’t win a Saturday match. Gewain ran into top-ranked defending champion Justin Smigelsky of Old Bridge in the semifinals and lost by technical fall. He then dropped a 6-3 decision to Hunterdon Central’s Rob Wilkinson, who wound up taking third.
Gewain dominated Friday’s match vs. Rodriguez, who had beaten him for the Mount Olive title in December. Gewain’s 23-bout win streak was ended by Smigelsky, who was impressive with seven takedowns.
In the consolation round, Gewain took a 2-1 lead with a takedown midway through the second period but Wilkinson took over with a five-point move with 30 seconds left. That 6-2 lead stood up the rest of the way.
Junior 125-pounder Jared Wagner (21-7) was the only other HHS wrestler to advance to Saturday’s action. Wagner opened the tourney with a 7-3 decision over Drew O’Brien of Voorhees in the preliminary round but lost his next two bouts. Wagner fell to eventual champ Keith Ritchings of East Brunwsick in a 9-4 quarterfinal decision and was eliminated by North Hunterdon’s Josh Prado at 5:07 in Saturday’s consolation semifinals.
Three other Raiders fell in the pre-quarterfinals. Junior 160-pounder Dan Miller (20-8) lost a tough 8-6 decision to Lawrence’s Dale Emde, junior 189-pounder Franklin Richardson (5-7) dropped a 5-2 bout to South Brunswick’s Pete Gibb and sophomore heavyweight Antonio D’Amelio (11-15) gave North Hunterdon’s Tim Jones all he could handle in a 3-2 barnburner.