By: Ken Weingartner
Joe Dougherty has seen two sides to Kyle Wadiak.
Last week in the Monsignor Farrell Wrestling Tournament on Staten Island, he saw the Wadiak he prefers.
Seeded fifth, Wadiak battled to a pair of one-point decisions before coming up with a pin in the 160-pound final to earn the title.
"He wrestles in the (practice) room and goes like a banshee," Dougherty said. "When it comes time to show, he never pushes the pace; he’s not the aggressor. He starts matches like he’s trying to save himself for the last period. Going into the tournament, I told him to throw caution to the wind, just open it up.
"In the quarterfinals, he wrestled the fourth seed and won by a point. Often, the one-point matches are the ones he was losing; matches he was winning, and let slip away. Then he faced the top seed in the semifinals and was down a point going into the third period. He turned the kid over to take a one-point lead and then did what he had to do the rest of the way. In the final, he pinned the kid in the first period. It was really good. I hope this helps his confidence."
Wadiak was one of two champs crowned by South Brunswick. Matt Clancy continued his unbeaten run by winning the title at 189 pounds, his second championship of the campaign. Earlier this season, he won the Mustang Classic at Brick Memorial High School.
In addition, Justin DelPiano (145) and Derek Shelcusky (215) both had second-place finishes while freshmen Ryan Smith and David Amrhein were third. Vinnie Biondo finished fourth as the Vikings ended up fourth in a field of 24 teams.
"Clancy is just beating people up," Dougherty said. "He’s doing a good job. Derek is doing a really good job, but he’s undersized at that weight class. He weighs 190 and is giving up 25 pounds. He has two losses this year and both were to solid, legitimate 215-pounders. Ryan Smith was unseeded and had a really good tournament. Amrhein also had a good day.
"(Freshman) Anthony DelPiano was a very pleasant surprise. He went 2-1. He’s a jayvee wrestler, and he wrestled only one year in middle school. His technique is really good, and so is his whole approach and attitude. Anthony doesn’t hesitate out there. He pinned two varsity kids, so that was really good."
Wadiak, a regional qualifier last season, entered this year with a foot injury that slowed his progress.
"He couldn’t really do anything cardiovascular to condition himself," Dougherty said. "He’s been in matches and couldn’t finish them out because he was gassing a bit. It’s not that he doesn’t work hard, but the foot thing hurt him. Now, he has some matches under his belt."
Overall, Dougherty was pleased with the performance of his team on Staten Island. He said the top two squads from Long Island and the top team from Staten Island finished ahead of the Vikings. It was a long day, starting at 7 a.m. and ending around 15 hours later.
"I think the kids performed pretty well," Dougherty said. "It was a really long day. We were the only New Jersey team there and all the other teams wanted to do well against the Jersey kids. The kids we faced were tough; they were city kids. They had a toughness to them. Their technical prowess wasn’t anything you really needed to worry about, but their toughness was something our kids don’t come across as often as they should."
South Brunswick raised its record to 4-2 with a 48-38 win over John F. Kennedy on Tuesday. Clancy pinned in 2:42 while Darren White and Bobby Ayala also won by pin. The Vikings continue to face the bulk of their Greater Middlesex Conference schedule, this week, including Old Bridge and J.P. Stevens.
However, the injury bug bit South Brunswick, leaving Dougherty with 17 healthy wrestlers. Among those nursing injuries were Mike Powers (elbow), Chris Kardosh (finger), Amrhein (back), Shelcusky (ankle) and Malcolm McQueen (back).
"The injury thing is not good because I don’t have depth," Dougherty said. "I might have to forfeit six weight classes and save all my kids a match. We’ll have to wait and see how it plays out."
