BY DOUG McKENZIE
Staff Writer
RARITAN TOWNSHIP — In what was one of the wildest Region V tournaments in recent memory, a total of 11 local wrestlers earned Top 3 finishes in their respective weight classes on Saturday at Hunterdon Central.
As a result, all 10 grapplers will be back in action tomorrow at the start of the NJSIAA state championship tournament at the Atlantic City Convention Center.
Of the locals making the trip down the parkway this weekend, only Monroe’s Mike Goff will be bringing a Region V championship with him. The Falcon senior earned his title Saturday with a 5-4 win over Perth Amboy’s Angel Ramirez in the final.
With top seeds falling throughout Saturday’s action, Goff continued what has been a brilliant season, improving his record to 30-1 on the year with his hard-fought win over Ramirez, who had shocked top-seeded Roy Dragon of Bridgewater-Raritan with a pin in the semifinals.
Dragon (32-1) nonetheless is the favorite in the 275-pound weight class this weekend, while both Goff and Ramirez (27-3) are title contenders.
Among the top seeds to get knocked off on Saturday was East Brunswick’s Corey Ritchings, who lost a 7-4 decision to Bound Brook’s Nick Murray in the 130-pound final. Ritchings fell behind 6-0 in this bout, and was never able to recover, but will look for a strong showing nonetheless this weekend.
He will face Cedar Grove’s Bob Rose in his first match on Friday, with the winner to get Region VI champ Matt Rizzo of Lakewood in the next round.
Defending state champion Darrion Caldwell of Rahway (30-1) is the favorite at 130 pounds.
Old Bridge’s Steve Fallon dropped his 103-pound Region V title match, 9-5, to Delaware Valley’s Dan Kelly, but remains a threat in this weekend’s tournament. Kelly was awarded the top seed at 103 this weekend, with Fallon second, although there are a number of solid wrestlers in the class, including Region VI champ Ryan Wilson of Wall Township.
Fallon’s teammate, Mike VanderValk, took third at 140 pounds this past Saturday, bouncing back from a 5-2 semifinal loss to Woodbridge’s Joe Bubenheimer to win his consolation bout, 4-2, over Hillsborough’s Kevin Lynch.
Bubenheimer went on to lose in the 140-pound final to Bound Brook’s Jesse Harrington, 9-4, in what was the shock of the Region V tournament. As a result, the Barron senior, who was third in the state last year and second as a sophomore, now enters this weekend’s tournament as a dark horse in what is simply a loaded field.
Jefferson’s Dan Valimont (35-0), the state champ at 135 a year ago, is the man to beat here.
VanderValk will open with a match against Camden Catholic’s Bill Platt (30-4) tomorrow.
Sayreville’s Vincent Otero took second at 189 pounds at Region VI, falling in the final to Piscataway’s Chris Jones, 9-7. This weekend, he has his work cut out for him in what is another tough weight class, starting with tomorrow’s opening round match with New Egypt’s Lee Hopkins (33-4), the Region VII champ.
Defending state champion Vince Jones (33-2) of Winslow leads the list of contenders at 189. However, Otero (27-3) remains a dangerous opponent for anyone at this point.
J.C. Bandiero of the Edison High School wrestling team heads down to Atlantic City with a 29-1 record after suffering his only loss to Kyle Sutphen, of Somerville, in the 125-pound regional final. Sutphen won the match 4-3.
Bandiero will take on Region VI champ Dave Seidenberg, of, Raritan in his first match tomorrow. With a win over Seidenberg, Bandiero will likely get Holy Cross’ Chris Notte (32-2) in the next round. Notte is the second seed in the bracket, behind Parsippany Hills’ Paul Gallipeau (24-2).
Just a sophomore, Bandiero is off to the states for the first time after competing in his first regional final.
Other area wrestlers advancing to the states are Bishop Ahr’s Matt Pagan, Metuchen’s Jack Barrett, South Brunswick’s Matt Clancy, and Pavel Stuchinsky of J.P. Stevens.
Pagan, a fourth-place finisher at last year’s state tournament, took second at Region 5, losing to Hunterdon Central’s Pat Stizki 3-1 in the finals. Pagan advanced to the 112-pound finals via an 11-1 major decision in the semifinals.
Barrett was also a second-place finisher in Region 5. Like Pagan and Bubenheimer, Barrett was a top seed in the regions, but lost 8-2 to Delaware Valley’s C.J. Inglin in the 145-pound finals
Clancy won his 189-pound consolation bout over Bound Brooks’ Michael Roberts, 11-5, to earn his trip down the parkway.
Stuchinsky was the consolation match winner in the 215-pound class. To secure the final invitation to Atlantic City, Stuchinsky topped Perth Amboy’s Alex Sanchez, 3-2.
All local wrestlers will see action tomorrow with the hopes of advancing to the winners bracket and a trip back to Convention Hall for Saturday. Action gets under way Saturday at 10 a.m., with the finals beginning the same time Sunday.