FARRAH MAFFAI Old Bridge’s Mike Aaron tries to hold off Woodbridge’s Craig Batista during a 112-pound bout at the Old Bridge Wrestling Festival.
The Old Bridge Wrestling Festival wrapped up over the weekend, with a number of local grapplers taking part in a variety of individual competitions, while a familiar result emerged from last week’s Central Jersey Duals.
South Plainfield High School has dominated the team competition in recent years, and this year was no exception as the Tigers claimed their seventh straight Central Jersey Duals title. The Tigers topped Howell, 59-10, in the semifinal round, before knocking off Woodbridge, 48-18, in the finals at the Old Bridge Sports Arena on Thursday.
Woodbridge advanced to the final with a 36-30 win over Rahway in the semifinal round.
East Brunswick beat Sayreville, 42-37, on Wednesday night, but fell to Rahway, 60-36, in the quarterfinals. Old Bridge also went 1-1 on Wednesday, beating Belleville, 33-29, before falling to Perth Amboy, 33-30.
On Saturday, the individual portions of the festival resumed, starting with the Junior High Scholastic II. In the finals, (80 lbs.) Mikey Bandiero (Edison) beat Charlie Frankel (Marlboro), 11-1; (87 lbs.) Cody Fobes (Howell) pinned Mark Eggert (Berganfield), 3:00; (94 lbs.) Stephen Fallon (Old Bridge) pinned Charlie Croce (Middletown), 1:36; (137 lbs.) Kyle Harper (Spotswood) pinned Henry Gilbert (Beach Haven), 3:09; and (heavyweight) David Amrhein (South Brunswick) pinned Harry Turner (Howell), 0:27.
In the Open Collegiate finals, (140 lbs.) Rich Gebauer (Peak) decisioned Ian Gorham (Old Bridge), 11-5; (150 lbs.) Gene Zannetti (Edison) decisioned Kyle Nasdeo (Kendall Park), 10-4; (172 lbs.) B. Deniz (South River) major decisioned Brandan Scott (Red Bank), 15-4; and (210 lbs.) Ricky Romero (South Brunswick) pinned John Caprio (Lavallette), 2:09.
In the High School Scholastic II finals, (120 lbs.) J.C. Bandiero (Edison) major decisioned Garrett Nasdeo (Kendall Park), 9-1; (126 lbs.) Corey Ritchings (East Brunswick) decisioned Dave Schubick (Bound Brook), 5-3; (132 lbs.) Jeff Zannetti (Edison) pinned Joe Silva (Monmouth Regional) 3:48; (139 lbs.) Mark Savino (Lawrenceville) decisioned. Michael VanderValk (Old Bridge), 10-3; (178 lbs.) Mike Ferrara (Ebbort, Pa.) decisioned. John Clay (East Brunswick), 7-2; and (Heavyweight) Manny Kokas (North Plainfield) pinned Frank Lillis (Old Bridge), 4:00.
A total of 165 wrestled Saturday at the Old Bridge Wrestling Festival, bringing the 29-year total to 23,779. The festival concluded on Sunday with the final individual competitions, where a total of 124 wrestled, bringing the total for 2003 to 872, and the 29 year total to 23,803
In the Elementary School Scholastic II finals, (51 lbs.) Kurtis Hewitt (Somerset) pinned Tyler Hopman (Old Bridge), 1:28; (77 lbs.) Senator Sandford (Old Bridge) pinned Nicholas Baranello (Bogota), 0:31; (80 lbs.) Chris Villalonga (Little Falls) decisioned Mikey Bandiero (Edison), 7-2; (84 lbs.) Connor Hayes (Old Bridge) decisioned Derek DeLaCruz (Dunellen), 2-0; and (102 lbs.) Jamie Westwood (Little Falls) decisioned Chris Leva (Englishtown), 6-4.
In the High School Scholastic III finals, (133 lbs.) Joseph Leva (Englishtown) decisioned Billy Woodward (Howell), 5-2; (157 lbs.) Nick Marrone (East Brunswick) major decisioned Pat Bell (Freehold), 9-0; (165 lbs.) Robert Kaiser (Lodi) decisioned Dmitry Kuzinets (East Brunswick), 11-4; and (Heavyweight) Niko Kasapidis (Highland Park) decisioned Frank Lillis (Old Bridge), 6-2.