JERRY WOLKOWITZ Manalapan’s Nick Manochio controls his opponent during a wrestleback at the state championships in Atlantic City on Saturday.
Although state championships were not in the cards for Howell’s Zac Cunliffe and Manalapan’s duo of Dan Hilt and Nick Manochio at the NJSIAA State Wrestling Championships, they displayed the talent and inner drive that could make them state champions before their already outstanding careers conclude.
Cunliffe (119) and Hilt (112) placed third in their respective weight classes at Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Hall last weekend, and Manochio (103) was fourth.
It was a weekend of mixed emotions for the Rebels’ Cunliffe, who took the hardest route to duplicating his third-place finish of a year ago when he wrestled at 112.
Cunliffe had his sights set on a state title this year and had a perfect record (31-0) going into Saturday afternoon’s pre-quarterfinals. He was seeded third in his weight class but was picked off by Old Bridge’s Ian Gorham, 5-4, in his first match. The junior found himself not only out of the title picture, but also a long way from even winning a medal.
JERRY WOLKOWITZ Mike Gaeta of Manalapan controls a Phillipsburg wrestler during the state championships in Atlantic City.
Rebel coach John Gagliano watched with amazement as the talented Cunliffe picked himself up off the mat and won five straight matches to take third place and reaffirm that he is one of the finest wrestlers in the state.
"Zac wrestled very bad in that first match," said Gagliano. "He was down. I told him that it’s a long way back and to put that match behind him.
"It took a lot of heart for him to do what he did," he added. "He never gives up. He opened up and was dominant in those five matches."
Cunliffe bounced back from his shocking first-round loss to beat Anthony Messina of St. Mary’s (Rutherford), 18-4, in the first round of the wrestleback. In the second round, Stirling’s Desmond Wiggins lost by a decision, 5-1, to the Rebel.
Those wins got Cunliffe to Sunday and a chance to medal. He dominated the wrestleback quarterfinals and semifinals with pins of Phillpsburg’s Trevor Duddy and Paulsboro’s Ryan O’Hara (both were Region champions). In the third-place match, Cunliffe completed his comeback with a decision over Newton’s Trevor Braxton, 9-3.
"Zac was satisfied with his third place, but he told me, ‘I should have been in the final,’ " said Gagliano.
Despite not getting the prize he wanted, it was an historic weekend for Cunliffe, who ended his season with a 36-1 record. His pin of Duddy was the 100th victory of his career. He tacked on two more wins to run his career total to 102. He had already set the Howell career mark set by his head coach John Gagliano during the season and in winning his 100th match, he topped the District mark held by Howell assistant Joe DiMario, a state champion for Manalapan in 1989, who had 99 career wins. Cunliffe’s career mark is a remarkable 102-7 with another year to go.
Cunliffe is the only Rebel to place at the state championships three times. He was a fifth/sixth winning as a freshman at 103 and third last year at 112.
Hilt and Manochio formed a one-punch that was as good as anyone in the state, and they demonstrated it again by placing at the states.
"They had a very nice weekend," said Brave head coach John Verderosa. "I’m very proud of their accomplishments. They both looked forward to the weekend and wrestled well."
For junior Hilt, his third place finish was an improvement on his fifth/sixth last year at 103. Seeded sixth, Hilt made it through to the semifinals before losing his match. He decisioned Mike Gummerson of Kittatinny, 16-8, in the pre-quarterfinals and then knocked off third seed J.W. Bykowski of Pequannock, 8-5 in the quarterfinals.
In the semifinals, second-seeded Ian Wiggins of Stirling (who went on to win it) beat the Manalapan junior 4-1, throwing Hilt into the wrestleback for third place. Hilt scored a 15-0 technical fall win over Sal Irizarry of Don Bosco Tech in the wrestleback semifinals and then beat C. J. Mays of Oakcrest, who was top-seeded going into the tournament, 8-2, for third place.
Hilt finished his season at 34-2 and is just the fourth Brave to be a two-time state place-winner, joining Cary Broad, Steve Rivera and Indra Sulijoadikusumo, all of whom won state titles in their career. Is one awaiting Hilt in 2003?
"Dan knows where he stands and what he has to do next year," said Verderosa. "I think he was happy with what he did."
Manochio’s performance in AC was impressive because it was his debut there. The pressure and the atmosphere have been known to freeze wrestlers.
"It’s rare that you do something your first time," said Verderosa. "Nick was so outstanding. He’s confident that he can do much better next year."
Manochio was seeded fifth and was undefeated (31-0) heading into his first state championships. The sophomore got off to an impressive start, winning his debut over Jeff Zannetti, J.P. Stevens, 11-6. Manochio lost in the quarterfinals to Patrick Dattalo of Randolph, who was the fourth seed, 14-7.
In the wrestleback, Manochio came all the way back to wrestle for third place, where he lost by a fall to Washington Township’s Dave Tomasette, who was the No. 1 seed.
Manochio beat Vinny Santaite of St. Joseph (Montvale), 13-7; Derek Francavilla of Scotch Plains-Fanwood, 15-5; and Kyle Milanese of Delran, 2-1, en route to getting to the third-place match.
It was an incredible finish to an incredible season for sophomore Manochio, whose freshman season saw very limited action because Hilt was wrestling at 103. Manochio surfaced this year to finish 35-2.
As Region VI champions, Cunliffe, Manochio and Hilt automatically made it to AC for the pre-quarters. The rest of the field was decided on March 5 at the wrestle-in that used to be the Super Region. Region runners-up and third-place finishers wrestled in a single-elimination match to punch their ticket to AC. Manalapan’s Mike Gaeta (140) joined his teammates in Atlantic City for the first time. Gaeta wrestled his way there by winning his wrestle-in match in Regions V-VI at Brick Memorial.
In doing so he gained a measure of revenge over Kyle Brewer of Hunterdon Central. At the same point of the season last year, Brewer beat Gaeta, keeping him from AC. This year, it was the Brave junior returning the favor with a dramatic 6-4 overtime win.
Gaeta was seeded eighth in his weight class and lost in the pre-quarterfinals to Jim Miller of Sparta, 7-2. He won his first-round wrestle-back match over Phillipsburg’s Mike Frank, 9-5. But saw his season end just short of a medal with a loss in the second round, 11-6, to Pascack Valley’s Steve Hult (the second seed).
Gaeta was 29-5 on the season.