After an outstanding season that saw the Old Bridge High School wrestling team continually find ways to win matches, the Knights have their sights set on the District 20 team title.
Coach Ken Scott’s team gritted its way to a perfect 15-0 mark, winning the Greater Middlesex Conference’s Red Division and the Central Jersey Group IV championships before finally losing to powerful Absegami, 45-25, in the NJSIAA Group IV team tournament.
"We were happy to get this far," Scott said. "At the beginning of the season, we didn’t have the team to beat, but our guys moved around the lineup and everyone did a great job."
While Scott rightly credited his athletes, the veteran coach earned high marks for juggling his lineup and making the right calls time after time. Along the way, Old Bridge squeezed past Ocean, Woodbridge, South Brunswick (twice) and Southern Regional, in addition to downing Hunterdon Central, 33-22, in the CJ Group IV finals.
In the CJ Group IV semifinals, 145-pound senior Wilhelm Kienhofer scored a huge pin, with 47 seconds remaining in his match to give Old Bridge the 34-32 victory.
But that’s the way it’s been all year for Old Bridge. Nick Vander Valk, who was 8-10 at 135 pounds, won every time he needed to. Vander Valk’s win against Southern Regional put the Knights in the victory column; he also came up big against both South Brunswick and Hunterdon Central.
Alejandro Batlle, was struggling along at 7-7 out of the 140-pound slot, when he put together a 9-4 run to end the season, including important wins against South Brunswick and South Plainfield.
"After 25 varsity seasons, I have to say that this has been the most satisfying," Scott said. "This truly was a team effort by a great group of kids; everyone of them had a hand in it. And they had a good time."
Five Old Bridge wrestlers won 20 or more times, led by Ian Gorham (112) and Mike Wojcik (171), who are 24-1 and 24-2, respectively. Vinny Iodaci (130) is 23-2; Keinhofer is 24-5, with 20 pins, just one shy of Pete Esposito’s team record; and heavyweight Matt Lamela is 20-6.
The Knights are particularly solid in the lower weight classes where John Pagnotta (103) owns a 16-4 record and Justin Obrusniak (112) is 19-6, leading into Gorham. Other members of the team include Mike Caruso (125), 5-18; Ken Loeffler (152), 7-10; Andrew Orak (160), four wins; Francis Barnett (189), 7-17; and Charlie Fradella (215), 9-16.
"If you look at our records, they’re not all that impressive," Scott said. "But they found a way to win the matches as a team. I’m very proud of them."
Heading into the District 20 competition it would appear that Gorham, Kienhofer and Iodaci, all District champs a year ago, have good chances of repeating. Wojcik, Pagnotta, Obrusniak, Vander Valk, Batlle and Lamela are likely to be heard from as well.
"With this team there’s no telling how many of them will come up big," Scott said. "The competition is always tough, but I’m hoping that at least four or five of them will become Region 5 champs. I really like our chances. These guys are at their best when the pressure is on."
— Warren Rappleyea