SBHS youngsters won and gained experience

By: Ken Weingartner
   South Brunswick High wrestling coach "Irish" Joe Dougherty won’t have a lineup of grizzled veterans next season, but he also won’t have this word in his vocabulary: Young.
   The Vikings had only one senior in their lineup this year and compiled a 13-10 record, more than tripling their win total from 2006. They should welcome back an experienced group next season led by six returning upperclassmen and four juniors.
   "I’m not going to be able to say we’re young next year," Dougherty said. "It’s not that we’re going to be old, but it’s going to be time for them to deliver. If they put in time during the offseason, we’ll only move forward, which is all I can ask for."
   Rodney Dixon, a regional qualifier at 160 pounds who went 20-6, was the starting lineup’s only senior.
   Junior Ryan Smith, who qualified for the state tournament at 140 pounds and was 36-5, will lead the group next season. Malcolm McQueen, also a junior, was a regional qualifier at 171 and finished 26-10 while classmate Dave Amrhein was 20-8 at 189.
   Anthony DelPiano (152) was 17-13, Evan Nathanson (215) was 13-11 and Joe Biondo (125) was 9-21 to round out the accomplishments of the juniors in the lineup.
   Cody Shelcusky (145) led the sophomores by going 14-13 while Colin Preacher (119) was 10-15, Edmund Jasabe (135) was 7-19 and Manny Ortiz (130) was 6-12.
   Freshman Sarah Dorsay (112) was 13-13 and became the first female to reach the semifinals of the District 20 Tournament.
   "I think that we showed improvement over previous years," Dougherty said. "There are quite a few kids that improved during the year. I think they gained a lot of confidence in themselves. I’m hoping they take the amount they’ve grown during the year, and with putting in more in the offseason, next year can be even better. We’re not that far away."
   South Brunswick usually forfeited at least two weight classes per match this season, although Dougherty is hopeful that he can fill both those spots – 103 and heavyweight – on a regular basis next season.
   "Our new football coach, Rick Mantz, has told me not to worry about having a heavyweight next year," Dougherty said. "He’s going to encourage kids to wrestle."
   Despite the holes in the lineup, the Vikings finished fourth in the District 20 Tournament and gave 2006 champ Sayreville, which finished second this season to Old Bridge, a tough match in dual competition.
   "We beat a couple of state playoff teams and we were probably very close to qualifying ourselves," Dougherty said. "If you look at the Sayreville match, they missed states by a hundredth of a point, and we were right behind them.
   "We lost to them (in the dual) by three points. We didn’t even need to win another bout in that match; if we just don’t give up bonus points, we beat Sayreville and probably have enough power points to be the No. 6 team in the playoffs. We’re close."
   The experienced gained by Dougherty’s young – or, rather, no-longer-so young – wrestlers should pay dividends next season.
   "It’s not like we had five superstars putting up a lot of points for us," Dougherty said. "It was a lot of different kids on different days. We had balance and kids stepped up and performed. As a coach, that’s pleasing."