BY SHAWN LAYTON
Staff Writer
EDISON — History was made this weekend as two Bishop Ahr High School wrestlers captured regional titles in the same season.
Kody Hamrah, a NJSIAA District 19 champion from a week ago continued his winning ways, as he was crowned NJSIAA Region 5 champions at Hunterdon Central High School in Raritan Township alongside teammate Matt Pagan. The two Trojan grapplers will head to Atlantic City to compete for a state title when the opening round gets under way Friday.
For Hamrah, it is his second trip to the states in as many years, but this year he is looking to place higher than he did last season. A year ago, Hamrah returned from the boardwalk a second-place finisher in the 145-pound weight class. Wrestling is at the very competitive class of 152 pounds this season, the task will not be easy.
"I am proud of the way he wrestled," Bishop Ahr wrestling coach Nick Tonzola said. "We still have a lot to accomplish though. We want to win a state title and this is not an easy weight class."
Hamrah certainly can attest to the strength of this year’s class. In the regional final that pitted him against Pingry’s Zack Shanaman, Hamrah was down 5-2 with 40 seconds left in the match. Regardless of the outcome, Hamrah was guaranteed a trip to the state tournament, but pride and competitiveness would make for an interesting finish for the North Carolina-bound senior.
"We knew the guys in the weight class were tough, but we knew the toughest competition would be in the finals," Tonzola said. "Going into the match with Shanaman, Kody was focusing on three things; protect legs, set up shots and get off bottom. Shanaman is so tough and he is quick to take advantage when the opportunity presents itself."
The two were no strangers heading into the regional final. Hamrah and Shanaman met in the regional semifinals two years ago, with Shanaman winning in overtime, and the two locked horns in the regional final last season with Shanaman on top in an 8-3 decision.
"When you lose to somebody twice it certainly adds something to the match," Tonzola said. "Shanaman was ranked eighth in the nation last season and we knew we had to be sharp."
In the closing seconds of the third period it appeared that Shanaman would go 3-0 against Hamrah in regional action, but Hamrah managed an escape and a takedown to tie the match and send it into overtime.
"It was a very exciting match," Tonzola said. "Kody picked up where he left off in the third period with a takedown at the beginning of overtime for his first region title."
Of course the two grapplers could meet again in Atlantic City to settle the score for good. Although Shanaman won the region title last season, he finished fifth in the state tournament to Hamrah’s second. The two were ranked one and two in the region and certainly gave the crowd all they could handle.
In Hamrah’s earlier matches it was smooth sailing as he put together two consecutive pins before meeting Shanaman in the finals. In his quarterfinal matchup with Woodbridge’s Andrew Sloben, Hamrah needed just 1:03 to begin thinking about his semifinal match with Hillsborough’s John Newman. Newman made it to the second period before Hamrah put him on his back in 2:21.