Mangini, Detsis take second; Jastrzebski third
By: Rudy Brandl
FLEMINGTON Phil Lavoie wasn’t about to let all those years of hard work result in a second-place finish. That’s what motivated the Hillsborough High wrestler in the closing seconds of Saturday afternoon’s Region 5 Tournament 189-pound final at the Hunterdon Central Fieldhouse in Flemington.
Lavoie, arguably the most improved wrestler in Central Jersey, completed a remarkable turnaround from a 13-16 junior season to win his first Region 5 title. The senior 189-pounder accomplished his great feat in dramatic fashion.
The second-seeded Lavoie had controlled Piscataway’s Chris Jones for the first five minutes of their championship bout, using a reversal and takedown in the second period to take a 4-1 lead. Jones rallied with a pair of escapes to cut the lead to 4-3 and threatened to ruin Lavoie’s day with a takedown in the final 20 seconds of the third period.
Lavoie (28-3) countered quickly with an amazing reversal to regain his one-point lead, but he wasn’t satisfied. The HHS senior finished the job and flattened Jones at the center of the mat. The official slapped the mat at 5:55 and Lavoie became Hillsborough’s sixth Region 5 champion.
"It just ran through my mind being second on that podium and I didn’t want to lose," Lavoie said while being mobbed by family and friends afterward. "I worked hard all year and this is my biggest year. I wasn’t going to lose."
Lavoie nearly gave it away in the last 20 seconds. After successfully countering Jones’ shots the entire bout, he couldn’t stop the Piscataway wrestler from taking him down. Jones wasn’t on top long, however. Lavoie turned the tables almost immediately and thrilled the Raider fans with a spectacular reversal and pin.
"He got two (points) and everything just flashed through my head all the hard work since grade school, all the work in the weight room," Lavoie said. "I didn’t want to be second."
After a scoreless first period that saw Lavoie use incredible balance to fight off a Jones shot, Lavoie reversed off the bottom for a 2-0 lead with 1:41 to go in the second. Jones escaped and went for a double-leg takedown midway through the period. Lavoie countered and scored a takedown of his own for a huge 4-1 lead.
"I’ve been working on countering shots," Lavoie said. "I never wrestled him before but he’s a pretty strong kid."
Lavoie rode Jones for nearly a minute of the third period before the Piscataway wrestler escaped to cut the lead to 4-3. Jones eventually took the lead but Lavoie responded with a championship move.
The second-ranked Lavoie entered the tournament with a chip on his shoulder. He was seeded behind Franklin’s Ed Rios despite beating him convincingly in the District 18 finals. Lavoie proved worthy of a higher billing last weekend, when he dismantled South Brunswick’s Derek Shelcusky in a 16-1 technical fall at 5:13 and Tom Wilkinson of J.P. Stevens in a 14-5 major.
"It gave me more energy to wrestle," Lavoie said. "I knew I was better than him (Rios)."
Lavoie expected a dogfight in his Friday night quarterfinal against Shelcusky after narrowly defeating him by a 6-5 score in a January dual meet. This time, it was all Lavoie.
"I was really prepared and really nervous," Lavoie said. "The emotions just flew and I got things the way I wanted."
Mangini, Detsis take second
Lavoie’s gold medal victory capped an otherwise disappointing championship round for the Raiders, who saw freshman star 112-pounder John Mangini (30-1) and senior standout 140-pounder Mike Detsis (27-3) lose in the finals.
Mangini was seeded second but considered the favorite, while Detsis was the No. 1 seed in his weight class. Both HHS wrestlers started slowly in the finals and couldn’t come all the way back.
The 112-pound final was a rematch of the previous week’s district championship, so Mangini knew he’d be in for a dogfight against Pingry freshman Max Shanaman. Mangini had posted an 8-7 victory in his toughest match of the season and wasn’t surprised to see Shanaman again in the Region 5 finals.
Shanaman obviously learned something from his loss at the districts. He was better on his feet and more prepared to defend Mangini’s shots. Shanaman scored the first takedown and never trailed in an 11-7 decision.
"He seemed to know what I did pretty well and countered it," Mangini said.
"The kid took his barrel roll away from him," HHS head coach Steve Molinaro added. "He was patient and took advantage of certain situations."
Mangini trailed 5-1 entering the third period but mounted a comeback. He reversed off the bottom but Shanaman got away and made it 8-3 with another takedown. Mangini escaped and scored a takedown to make it 8-6 with 36 seconds remaining. The second stalling call on Shanaman gave Mangini another point, cutting the deficit to 8-7. Mangini decided to let Shanaman escape and go for a tying takedown, but Shanaman countered and added two points to his score as the buzzer sounded.
"John rallied to come back," Molinaro said. "He’s never hurting for fire. It was just a little too late."
Mangini stormed into the finals by pinning Woodbridge’s Gary Griffin in 1:09 and rolling to a 7-2 decision over Del Val’s Kris Sigafoos.
Detsis lost his chance at a region title in the second period against Danny Collins of Woodbridge. After a scoreless first period, Collins went up 5-0 with an escape and decisive four-point move. Collins countered a Detsis shot and scored a takedown and two near-fall points with 50 seconds to go in the second period. That cushion held up in the 8-3 decision.
"That was huge," Detsis said. "I was going for my two (points) and I had both his legs wrapped up. He reached over and they gave him two and two and that was pretty much all he hit the whole match."
Detsis fought back with an escape and takedown to cut the deficit to 5-3 midway through the third period. Detsis appeared very close to takedowns a few times, including once on that critical exchange in the second period.
"He would just get me in a front headlock and hold me there," Detsis said. "I couldn’t run my stuff."
Detsis made things look easy in his quarterfinal and semifinal bouts, both of which ended in majors. He posted an 18-7 win over Justin Papa of Voorhees in the quarters and dismantled Metuchen’s Jack Barrett by a 10-1 margin in the semis.
Jastrzebski places third
Senior 160-pounder Pat Jastrzebski (26-6) will join Lavoie, Mangini and Detsis in Atlantic City after winning in the consolation finals to finish third in his weight class. Jastrzebski had to overcome another tough loss to Hunterdon Central rival Jeff Harrington in Saturday morning’s semifinal round and fight back through the consolation bracket.
Jastrzebski finished a strong third with a convincing 14-4 major over East Brunswick’s Nicola Marrone in the consolation finals. All three of Jastrzebski’s region victories were lopsided. His only close one was the 5-3 loss to Harrington in the semis, but Jastrzebski roared back from that one with a pin and a major to secure a third place finish.
"I just turned it up one more time," Jastrzebski said. "I was kind of disappointed after I lost to Harrington. I wanted to beat him really bad to get a shot at (Del Val champ Rick) Kurtz. It’s always close with us and anything can happen in those matches. It’s tough to come back."
Jastrzebski bolted to an 8-0 lead with an early takedown and two sets of bonus points against Marrone. The HHS senior was never in trouble and added another takedown in each of the final two periods to win by 10.
"I was good on my feet and it gives me more confidence when I take him down that quickly," said Jastrzebski, who got on the board just 13 seconds into the bout.
Jastrzebski started his surge back to region placement by pinning Tom Dean of Bishop Ahr at 5:54. He was occasionally sloppy in this match, a high-scoring affair that saw Jastrzebski take a 17-10 lead before notching the fall with six seconds left.
"I knew I couldn’t wrestle like that again," said Jastrzebski, who started the tournament with a 16-3 major over Edison’s Matt Merritt in Friday night’s quarterfinals.
Solid seasons end
Fellow senior John Newman settled for fourth place after a disappointing 7-2 loss to Hunterdon Central’s Dave Quinn in the consolation finals. It was the fourth meeting between the two 152-pounders and second of the weekend.
Newman (24-8) won Friday night’s quarterfinal bout with a solid 6-2 decision after splitting two dual meet bouts with Quinn. The HHS senior lost to eventual champ Kody Hamrah of Bishop Ahr by fall at 2:21 in the semifinals but posted a convincing 9-3 decision over West Windsor Plainsboro North’s Alex Ragucci to earn a shot at third place.
Quinn was up to the task in the consolation finals, scoring the first takedown with 11 seconds left in the first period. Newman could only escape to start the second before Quinn added two more takedowns to pad his lead.
Three other Raiders were stopped one bout short of getting the chance to wrestle for third place seniors Tye Wagner (119) and Mark Amerman (215) and junior Kevin Lynch (135). For Wagner and Amerman, Saturday’s action marked the end of fine scholastic careers.
Wagner (27-6) found himself in a loaded weight class again in Region 5. The HHS senior probably lost his chance to advance to Atlantic City in Friday night’s riveting quarterfinal bout against Somerville’s Kyle Sutphen. Wagner had to pin Corey Ritchings of East Brunswick in the preliminary round just to get there.
The final seconds of the first two periods proved costly to Wagner in Friday’s quarters. After scoring the first takedown, Wagner allowed a deadly four-point move near the end of the opening period and Sutphen took a 5-2 lead. Wagner went back ahead on a great double-leg takedown with five seconds remaining in the second period but allowed a controversial reversal after a restart with only two seconds showing on the clock.
Wagner kept shooting for the go-ahead takedown in the final period but never got it and suffered a tough 9-8 loss. He regrouped by pinning Del Val’s Brian Costello at 4:49 Saturday morning but ran into Bernards nemesis Greg Hart in the consolation semifinals. Hart defeated Wagner for the fourth time this year, this time by an 8-4 decision in another fantastic match.
Amerman (22-5) began his personal vengeance tour through the 215-pound bracket with a 5-3 decision over Central’s Matt McWhorter in the preliminary round. McWhorter had posted a very controversial 3-1 overtime win over Amerman in the Central Jersey Group 4 playoffs at Jackson. Amerman was suffering from a shoulder injury that still hasn’t completely healed, but the Raider senior was healthy enough to advance to the quarterfinals.
That’s where Amerman met another rival in Bridgewater-Raritan’s Roy Dragon III. Amerman pinned Dragon en route to the Somerset County title and decked him again in a January dual meet, but Dragon got some revenge with a fall over Amerman in the district finals.
Dragon evened the score at 2-2 with another pin over Amerman, this time at 2:23. Dragon went on to win the Region 5 title.
Amerman began Saturday in the consolation bracket and won his first match, decking Woodbridge’s Dean Takacs at 5:32. The run to a possible third place finish ended in the consolation semifinals against Perth Amboy’s Oscar Rodriguez, who posted a 9-3 decision.
Lynch (25-7) successfully reached Saturday’s semifinals with wins in the prelims and quarters but couldn’t advance any further. His season ended in the consolation semifinals with a tough 11-8 loss to eventual third-place finisher Carmen Corona of East Brunswick.
This was a hotly-contested bout that saw Lynch score the first takedown and take a 4-2 lead into the third period. Corona rallied with an escape, takedown and two bonus points. Lynch fought back after two apparent slams with two reversals in the final minute but came up a few points short.
Lynch, the second seed, rolled into the semifinals with a 15-0 tech fall at 4:14 over George Goldsmith of WWPN and a 12-3 major against Pete Simon of JFK. However, Central’s Nick Alparone dominated on his feet for a 15-6 major in the semifinals leaving Lynch to fight for third place.
Four ousted in prelims
The remaining four HHS wrestlers who placed in District 18 were eliminated in the Region 5 preliminary round.
Sophomore 103-pounder Adam Kull (20-8) rallied with a takedown in the third period but fell short in a 6-4 decision against Matt Friedeborn of Lawrence. Senior 125-pounder Griff Campbell (18-12) scored the first takedown but dropped his third bout of the year to Central’s Mark Bistis, who advanced with an 11-5 decision.
Junior 145-pounder Joe Ambrose (10-13) fell behind Perth Amboy’s Pedro Rodriguez by a 10-2 count but stuck around until the third period before being pinned at 4:56. Junior 171-pounder Chris Monticchio (11-13) escaped for the first point against Ewing’s Brett Linebarger, who responded with a decisive takedown en route to a 3-1 decision.
Overall, the Raiders posted a 19-15 bout record in Flemington. They sent eight wrestlers to the quarterfinals, winning six of eight bouts there. HHS went 3-3 in the semifinals, 1-1 in the consolation finals and moved a school-record four wrestlers to the NJSIAA Championships in Atlantic City.
"I can’t be anything but pleased to see these guys perform like this at this level," said Molinaro, who was named Region 5 Coach of the Year for the first time in his 13-year career. "Things like this are gravy. This group never ceases to amaze. I’m extremely proud."