BY MIKE WHITE
Staff Writer
PHOTOS BY CHRIS KELLY staff Jackson’s Preston Brown and Southern’s Tom Henry sprawl for control during the Shore Conference Tournament final at Southern Regional High School on Saturday. STAFFORD — For the past three seasons, the seniors of the Jackson High School wrestling team suffered through three devastating losses in the finals of the Shore Conference Tournament.
Bad luck and last minute heroics by opponents left the Jaguars as runner-up three consecutive times. Finishing second was getting old to team members and coach Scott Goodale.
"It’s something we’ve struggled with," Goodale said. "This group has worked hard and had been close a couple of times. We wanted this win badly."
Sparked by pins from three experienced seniors and an upset by a promising young sophomore, Jackson managed to escape with a dramatic 28-27 victory over Southern Regional last Saturday to claim the conference title.
Jackson’s Nick Keshecki works Ocean Township’s Frank Gnazzi for a 3:35 pinfall during their 103-pound semifinal bout at Saturday’s SCT.
Seniors Preston Brown (140 pounds), Kevin Shelly (152 pounds) and Pat Richards (215 pounds) all shouldered their opponents, and sophomore Glen Booth upset Ryan Karp at 130 pounds to lead the Jags to the one-point triumph.
"We’re pretty excited about winning the tournament," Goodale said. "I think this program really needed to win this title this season. These guys who have been on the team the past three seasons have dealt with a couple of tough losses in the finals. It was important for our senior guys to win this title. It has been a while in the making for them."
Goodale cited Booth’s performance as a key to the win.
"He did a great job against a very tough opponent," Goodale said. "There is no question that was a huge upset. He jumped out to an early lead and then handled himself well in the overtime."
Members of the Jackson High School Wrestling team celebrate their Shore Conference Championship on Saturday.
Booth darted to a 2-0 lead against Karp, a former district champion. But Karp knotted the score with a pair of escapes that forced the bout to overtime.
After a scoreless first extra session, Booth was declared the winner when Karp was called for a one-point penalty for clasping both hands around Booth.
Booth started the third period in the neutral position, a strategy many felt could have backfired on the sophomore. But Goodale felt it gave Booth his best chance of winning.
"Our strategy is wrestle on our feet," Goodale said. "He is best in that position. We figured that he was going to have to take him down anyway to win."
Goodale knew entering the finals his squad might not capture the majority of the bouts. In fact, Southern won eight of the 14 matches.
Surprisingly, Jeff Pascarella (119 pounds) Alex Ginsberg (160 pounds) and Adam Berking (189 pounds) all lost tough matches.
"We didn’t expect that," Goodale said. "We were shocked. If you had told me that coming in all three of those guys would lose and we’d still come out on top I wouldn’t have believed you. But the bonus points and the big win from Booth at a spot we didn’t figure to win was the key."
Nick Keshecki easily outdistanced Vinny Ramos 10-0 to give Jackson a 28-21 lead with one bout remaining.
With the win, Jackson improves to 12-0 overall. The Jags are scheduled for the Group IV sectional tournament this week. A win there would send the Jags to compete in the all around Group IV state championship at Sovereign Bank Arena in Trenton.
"We still have a lot of wrestling in front of us," Goodale said. "This was a key win for us because it should provide the kids with momentum going into this week. But we can’t get ahead of ourselves. We need to take one match as it comes."