Northern Burlington senior places 7th in state at 160 pounds with 113th win
By: Sean Moylan
Any discussion of who is the greatest wrestler in the history of Northern Burlington County Regional High School would have to start with Tony Arroyo and then one would have to throw names like Rob McMullen, Al Wonesh, Tyler Bunting, Chris McMullen, Niko Vrettos and a few others into the mix.
Yet the best wrestler that NBC ever produced may very well be the one who was wrestling at the state tournament in Atlantic City this past weekend Geoff "All Day" Bauma.
Bauma clobbered Wayne Valley’s Bobby Bishop 15-7 in the battle for 7th place at 160 pounds on Sunday morning. Bauma was looking to place at states and he did just that. But he has made a habit of reaching and sometimes surpassing his goals ever since he came to NBC.
Bauma started off the tournament with a an easy 14-7 decision over Mark Peck from Hasbrouk Heights/Woodridge in last Friday night’s preliminary round.
In the pre-quarterfinals, Raritan’s Dan Seitenberg beat Bauma to send the NBC star into the consolation rounds. However, Bauma stormed back with a victory over South Plainfield’s Mark Wagner in the first round of wrestlebacks. Then in the second round of wrestlebacks, Bauma creamed Warren Hills’ Chris Hrunka 9-3 to ensure himself of some hardware.
Bauma had a chance for a fifth-place medal, but unfortunately Watchung Hills’ Brendan Ard beat him 6-1 in the wrestleback semifinals late Saturday.
Bauma had reached the state tournament by placing second in Region VII. A week earlier he had won the District 25 160-pound title.
Bauma ended his senior season with a 37-7 record. And a month ago, he broke Rob McMullen’s school record for career wins. Bauma finished his career with a lifetime record of 113-7. It’s a record great Greyhound wrestlers will be shooting for in the years to come.
BRHS
Last Friday night, Josh Slezak became the first Bordentown Regional High boys’ varsity wrestler to compete in the NJSIAA state wrestling tournament in 17 years.
Slezak, a junior 171-pounder, took down Newark Academy’s Craig Helfer to grab an early 2-1 first-period lead in Friday night’s opening match. Unfortunately, Helfer used two third-period takedowns to defeat and eliminate Slezak, 8-4.
"We were both a little star struck," said Bordentown’s stellar head coach Joe Sprague. "He got a little lax at the end, but he wants to place at states next year."
Sprague and Slezak stayed and watched some of the matches the next day and both learned a lot from the experience which should help them next season.
According to Sprague, Slezak, who posted a remarkable 34-6 record this season, will stay at 171 while Thomas Lee, the Scotties other budding superstar, will stay at 189 pounds. Jason Cassidy (125) and Tyler Sheehan (140), who both qualified for regions, will also be back. The Scotties’ only region qualifier who will graduate is Wayne Pullen (160).
A few weeks ago Slezak won a District 26 171-pound title to become the Scotties’ first district champ since Joe Haluska accomplished the feat at the turn of the century. Slezak then lost in the Region VII finals to Camden Catholic’s Anthony Trongone, who went on to win the state title at 171 pounds. Slezak is now 75-28 and he has a good chance of reaching 100 wins if he stays healthy next year.
Moreover, the Scotties have good young wrestlers throughout their line-up, so next season they may even match or better this year’s 22-10 mark (which included a playoff win).
"I’ve got some good 8th graders coming up," added Sprague, who is very happy with the job "Little" Tony Arroyo is doing coaching the Scotties’ middle school wrestlers. And of course, "Big" Tony Arroyo and Sprague run a wrestling program for local kids as well. Moreover, Bordentown wrestlers will wrestle over the summer.
Sprague has just done a tremendous job since taking over the program a few years ago. He has already set the ground work for Bordentown to be a wrestling powerhouse for years to come.

