Greyhound wrestlers still among the elite

By: Sean Moylan
   It wrestled one of the toughest schedules in all of New Jersey. It made the state playoffs as a team and it even won a team playoff match. It placed second as a team in the District 25 Wrestling Tournament behind Rancocas Valley. And two of its wrestlers, Geoff Bauma and Phil Bowen, won individual District 25 titles. Bauma even made it all the way to the state tournament in Atlantic City where he took 7th place overall in the state in the 160-pound division.
   The Northern Burlington County Regional High varsity wrestling team did all of these things and yet it was an off year for the Greyhounds.
   "This was a tough year for us. Most schools would consider the year that we had a good one, not for us. Being competitive and having close meets with a couple of teams just isn’t good enough. Give our boys (and girl) credit, we were tough. Look at Humble, that kid wrestled three quarters of the year with a messed up shoulder that he needs surgery on. I’ll give that kid the shirt off my back any day he needs it," said NBC head coach Jule Dolci.
   Bauma, NBC’s career wins leader, will graduate this spring along with fellow stars Johnny Humble (heavyweight) and Kristian Morris (189), Brandy Price (112), Bart Townsend (125), Kendrick Shea (130), Greg Bauma (140) and Brian VanSciver (20 plus wins at 145) and Ben Case (189).
   "I was proud of Geoff (Bauma). He worked his tail off this year. We pushed him harder than anyone that has ever gone through our program. He was always targeted in our room, a day didn’t go by that we didn’t try to get him better. How many kids from any school can say they wrestled two state champs, a runner-up, and four other placers in the same year? It was good to see it all pay off in the end. Great kid, great brother (Greg), and a great family," said Dolci.
   "R.J. Melton was probably the most pleasant surprise. He really took our schedule and ran with it (to 30 plus wins). We are going to look to him to really step for next year. We’re going to take the target off of Geoff’s back and put it on R.J.. The boy is a tank, we’ve got a lot of faith in him."
   This season, Melton, a 215-pound junior, made it to Regions but he definitely has the talent to go to states next year.
   Brian Matey, a junior 152 pounder, is a tough wrestler with a huge upside. And when Morris went down to an injury, Ben Case wrestled extremely well at 189 pounds. Unfortunately, he will graduate.
   Just a junior, Bowen (135) has unlimited potential. Cool and calm under pressure, Bowen wins matches with his quickness and unbelievable energy. Dolci loves the way he never stops moving in his matches. He will be one of the keys to the team’s potential success next season.
   NBC will also count on sophomore Richie Grove (16 wins at 103), freshman Josh Jones (119), sophomore Jeff Townsend (171) and others to get better and better.