projected starters
Rams overcome late start for seven
projected starters
By richard jerome
Staff Writer
In his first year as head coach of the South River High School wrestling team, Ron Bussey has seen his Rams compile a 5-4 record, and believes the squad is on the rise.
"We started slow, but we’re coming along now," said Bussey, a star South River grappler of the ‘70s who has coached on and off for the past 15 years.
South River, who won the Central Jersey Group I title last year, had to overcome practicing without seven projected starters who were still playing with the football team. The team was anxiously awaiting the CJ Group I final, which was rescheduled several times due to bad weather, and was finally played on Dec. 14.
As a result, the seven gridiron players couldn’t begin practicing until just one week before the start of the season. Now over a month later, the Rams are finally in position to feature the starting lineup they envisioned entering the season.
The Rams have some new faces mixed in with the more experienced wrestlers. At 103, second-year sophomore Chip Perkins is coming off a good weekend against North Brunswick and John F. Kennedy of Iselin.
Another soph, 112-pounder Kevin Perini, is in his first year of wrestling.
"He’s learning and getting better," said Bussey.
The third 10th-grader at the lower weights, second-year varsity 119-pounder Andrew O’Hara, is settling in after a late start because of football.
"Alvin Medina, our fourth-year senior at 125, is 7-3 and one of the top three or four in the county at his weight," said Bussey." And at 130, senior Rodney Thomas is our ringer. He went to the regions last year and he’s undefeated this season. He can go as far as he wants; he has a ton of talent."
Binney Aroneo, a senior at 135, is a solid 8-3 in his fourth varsity campaign, while sophomore Tommy Lefever is at .500 in the 140-pound class.
A newcomer from Pennsylvania, junior Serge Tulmach, shows fine talent at 145, and senior Mike Lipman, a four-year vet, has won eight of 10 matches in the 152-pound division.
At 160, the Rams have senior Dan Bilowitz, with junior Paul Stewart at 171, junior Scott Retewski at 189, freshman Eric Gerstein in the 215-pound slot and sophomore Tommy Scanlon at heavyweight.
The Rams faced Highland Park and Cardinal McCarrick yesterday and look to Spotswood next week.
"I think we’re turning it on as we head toward the end of the year," said Bussey, who is assisted by Bobby Young and his brother, Jimmy Bussey, both also ex-Ram mat stars. "We should qualify for the states and hopefully make some noise."
Notes…The Old Bridge Knights were a bit of a mystery heading into the season, as head coach Ken Scott admitted that the Knights’ success this year would depend largely on the development of some of his younger wrestlers.
Apparently, things are ahead of schedule. With a 39-28 win over South Plainfield on Friday, the Knights returned to a familiar spot atop the Greater Middlesex Conference’s rankings with a 5-0 start.
Old Bridge got wins from Mike Mazur (112), Mike Vander Valk (125), Mike Caruso (130), and Charlie Fradella (215), while Justin Obrusniak (119), Vin Iodaci (140) and Matt Lamela (HWT) all won by forfeit. The Lamela win was key, as the Knights held just a 33-28 lead heading into the night’s final bout. South Plainfield’s heavyweight, Ryan Elliot, who had decisioned Lamela when they met at the Red Devil Classic in December, was not available due to a death in the family. Old Bridge followed up the big win over the Tigers with a solid 28-25 win over No. 9 Piscataway on Tuesday. Old Bridge won eight of the 14 bouts, and got just enough bonus points to knock off the Chiefs, one of the GMC’s up-and-coming teams, and get to 6-0.
The Knights will face another of the conference’s top young teams in East Brunswick tonight, at East Brunswick. The Bears are coming off a hard-fought 33-27 loss to South Plainfield on Tuesday, and are 6-1 on the year. The Bears won six of the 14 bouts against the Tigers, and fell short on bonus points in an attempt to improve on the No. 4 ranking.
Tonight’s match with Old Bridge is particularly important because it will likely decide the Red Division title, while also providing the Bears with an indication of just how far they have progressed this year. In order to be the best, you have to beat the best. East Brunswick has that chance tonight.
— Doug McKenzie contributed to this story