Bam Bam smashes foes into pebbles

By: Ken Weingartner
   Bam Bam got his high school wrestling career started with a bang.
   Sam "Bam Bam" Emburgia, a freshman at Monroe Township High, won the 103-pound championship at the season-opening Ewing Tournament over the weekend. Also winning a title was Jake "The Snake" Nale at 215 as the Falcons finished third in the nine-team event.
   "I wasn’t really sure what to expect," Emburgia said. "I was hoping to win. It depended how well I did that day. It feels pretty good."
   Seeded third, Emburgia pinned his first two opponents in the second periods. In the final, he controlled the action, giving up points only on escapes, en route to a 6-4 victory over John Palsi of Point Pleasant Beach, which won the team tournament.
   "It’s funny because I’m not usually good from neutral," Emburgia said. "I’m not big into shooting, but once they mess up I can usually take them down. Usually, I can keep kids down, but [Palsi] was bigger and stronger than me. I did most of the scoring, but I couldn’t hold him down."
   Emburgia has been wrestling for about nine years. Last season, he won a couple tournaments, including a tri-county event for wrestlers from Middlesex, Monmouth and Ocean.
   "We knew Sam was pretty solid," Falcons co-head coach Allen Rushing said. "We took him to a team camp at The College of New Jersey over the summer and he beat some good kids. I was pretty impressed with him then. We knew he was probably the cream of the crop."
   Emburgia has set qualifying for the state tournament as his goal for this season.
   "I think it will go pretty well," he said about the campaign. "I know there are a few kids that may beat me, but I might catch up with them as the season goes on and beat a few of them."
   Nale, who finished second in last year’s Ewing Tournament, got a bye in the first round and pinned his next two foes to claim his title.
   "It’s a great start," said Nale, who was 25-12 last season. "It makes me feel this year will be a better season. This year, I have more offense; last year, I was more defensive. I feel confident. Last year, I was worried because it was my first year of varsity. On Saturday, I felt more relaxed and comfortable. I feel up to the challenge."
   Wally Seeman (135), Chris Boehm (171) and heavyweight Frank Olexson each picked up third-place finishes at Ewing. The Garibaldi brothers, Chris (145) and Nick (152), each were fourth.
   Monroe was without one of its top returnees, 112-pounder Brendan Hodel, because of a family trip.
   "We were happy with the performance," Rushing said. "We were pretty competitive. We weren’t too far out of second and we finished well ahead of fourth and fifth, so it was solid. We’ve been working real hard on conditioning, and we looked like we were in better shape than most of the teams we wrestled against."
   BACKPOINTS: Monroe was scheduled to dedicate a new wrestling mat prior to its match Thursday night against Freehold Township. The mat is in memory of Nick Profaci, the late son of co-head coach Sal Profaci, who died in July 2003 at the age of 5 after a 17-month battle against cancer.
   The mat is inscribed, "Never give up. Never quit. In memory of Nick Profaci." The "Never give up; Never quit" motto was coined during Nick’s battle and has become the Falcons’ mantra.