DISTRICT 18 WRESTLING NOTEBOOK
By: Rudy Brandl
As usual, the District 18 Wrestling Championships were a pleasure to cover. The folks at Hillsborough High did another stellar job running the tournament.
Kudos to the tournament organizers for moving up the starting times of the Saturday session. Instead of getting in my car at 10 p.m. after a nine-hour marathon, I was home in plenty of time to have dinner with my family.
The only slowdown during the entire day came during the morning semifinals, where the session lasted longer than two hours because the open mat was held until each weight class was finished. I’m not complaining about this it’s better for the fans and keeps things more organized. It’s only a problem when one match ends in a first-period pin and the other goes the distance or needs overtime to be decided.
There were plenty of exciting matches over the weekend. Some of the most electrifying action took place in the semifinals, the round most coaches agree is the pivotal part of the tournament.
Hillsborough went 9-4 in the semifinals to almost mathematically clinch the team title. As soon as Bound Brook 103-pounder Jose Abarca lost in the first bout of the finals, the Raiders had it locked up.
Exciting action
Fans had to wonder where to look during the 135-pound semifinals. These two bouts matched four excellent wrestlers in a loaded weight class. The action went back-and-forth simultaneously on the two mats.
While Hillsborough’s Kevin Lynch was posting a 5-4 upset win over top-seeded Rusty Hunt of Franklin, Bound Brook’s Jaime Martinez notched an exciting 6-5 triumph over Pat Riley of Bernards. Riley later eliminated Hunt with a 2-1 double overtime victory in the consolation finals. There certainly wasn’t much separating these four combatants.
One of the most heated bouts of the day also took place in the semifinal round. Hillsborough senior Tye Wagner scored two takedowns in the first period and a reversal in the second for a 6-2 lead against second-ranked Greg Hart of Bernards, who had beaten him twice in tournaments back in December.
Just as Wagner was about to avenge those losses, Hart turned the tables on him with time running down in the second period. Hart caught Wagner with a home run throw move and pinned him at 3:55. The folks from Bernards got a little too fired-up after this one, and the Hillsborough fans a sometimes rowdy but always supportive bunch let them know it.
Some of my other favorite bouts of the day include Hillsborough sophomore Adam Kull’s 10-8 win over Ridge’s Evan Kahn in the 103-pound consolation final, Hillsborough freshman John Mangini’s 8-7 triumph over Pingry’s Max Shanaman in the 112-pound final, Hart’s 7-6 upset win over Somerville’s Kyle Sutphen in the 119 final, Bound Brook’s Jesse Harrington’s 5-3 overtime triumph in the 130 final and Hillsborough junior Chris Monticchio’s 3-2 decision over Franklin’s Randy Jackson in the 171 consolation final.
Jastrzebski tops dad
Wrestling has always been a family affair. You see many familiar names when looking at a bracket sheet. It makes you think that fathers, uncles and brothers have likely appeared in this tournament before.
One that escaped me, especially since I was only in elementary school when it happened, was the connection between Pat Jastrzebski and his father, Frank, who wrestled at Manville back in the 1970s. Moments after Pat won his first district crown with a 15-0 technical fall over Somerville’s Craig McGuinness in the 160-pound final, he noted that he had just surpassed his father’s performance in 1974.
"I always wanted to beat my dad," Jastrzebski said. "Last year as a junior, I took second so I tied him. This year I won, so I beat him."
Frank Jastrzebski finished second in the district in 1974 while wrestling for the Mustangs, who were then coached by Dale Miller. Thirty years later, his son captured a district title.
Team breakdown
Hillsborough dominated the tournament, but the Raiders didn’t even have the most individual champions. The Raiders crowned four winners, but Bound Brook boasted five champions.
Bernards prevailed in two of the first three weight classes, while Pingry, Bridgewater-Raritan and Somerville each had one winner. Ridge, Franklin and Manville didn’t win any weight classes. As expected, Pingry won with stud 152-pounder Zach Shanaman, but B-R and Somerville needed some late heroics to get on the board.
Bridgewater’s Roy Dragon III avenged two prior losses to Hillsborough senior Mark Amerman in the 215-pound final, while Somerville’s Jesse Miller pinned Franklin’s Jason Acquaye in a matchup of standout heavyweights.
The Raiders entered 13 wrestlers and sent all of them to the semifinal round. Only one, freshman 130-pounder Frank McLaughlin, didn’t qualify for the regions. You can bet McLaughlin, a battle-tested wrestler who faced some of the state’s best competition this winter, will be among the region entries next year.
Hillsborough sent a district-leading 12 wrestlers to this week’s Region 5 Tournament. Bound Brook was next with nine, while Somerville advanced eight and Bridgewater sent five to the regions. The top four finishers in the team standings accounted for 34 of the 42 advancing positions.
Bernards had two champs but only sent three to tie Pingry. Franklin qualified two runners-up, while Ridge and Manville were shut out without a region representative. Ridge, however, had three fourth place finishers.