By Rich Fisher, Sports Editor
In over 20 years of coaching, Joe Dougherty has had all kinds of wacky ideas to get his point across.
And still, he never seems to run out.
This year, in order to illustrate to his South Brunswick High School wrestling team the importance of being a team, Dougherty has handed out Carabiner key chains to his varsity performers. Prior to dual meets, they use those chains to link themselves together in a large circle.
”Every one of them is a link to a chain,” Dougherty said. “We clamp them together to form what we call the ‘circle of trust.’ If you’re in the circle, for it to work everyone has to do their job. If one person doesn’t do their job, then the link is broken and the entire circle breaks apart.
”The whole goal is to have them understand the purpose of unity and team chemistry. You can’t be 14 individuals competing in a team sport. That’s hard to get across in our sport because it’s an individual sport. It’s not like set plays where one guy has to stay at home, like on a football field.”
It is that team chemistry that will be necessary for the Vikings to reach their goal of being District 20 champions this year.
”There are still a lot of kids on the team that are not on the same page in terms of what they need to do to help us achieve our single goal of the season,” Dougherty said. “The only way to do that is by counting on one another. Fourteen of them have to win that title. But there are not enough right now working the way you’re supposed to work.”
Fortunately, there is still some time for that to come around. And judging by early reviews, the talent is certainly there as the Vikes took a 5-2 record into Wednesday’s match with Perth Amboy. South won three of four matches in the season-opening Brunswick Brawl and took two of three wins in last weekend’s quad meet.
”We’ve looked both ways — sometimes we look good and sometimes we’re not looking as good as I would like to hope,” Dougherty said. “I don’t put much stock in the opening season brawl. They’re just getting their feet wet, they’re not in the greatest shape.
”It’s the first time they get weighed, they’re wrestling three matches right out of the chute. It’s good for preparing for the season. It is what it is, I’m not looking for much right there.”
After competing in the Brick Holiday Tournament, South returned to dual meet action Saturday, but even that wasn’t considered a true indicator by the coach.
”We’ve been on break, the kids have obligations with families, which is understandable,” Dougherty said. “It’s hard, even just getting to practice, parents are working. So really, now is when the season starts. We’re back at school, we’re full fledged. We’re starting to go hard.”
One guy who has come out of the gate hard is junior Brendan Vercammen, who is the Vikes 171-pounder but has wrestled as high as 215. He is used to it, having wrestled up at 189 pounds last year. After a three-pin day on Saturday, Vercammen is 8-3 with seven pins this season.
”Now that he’s a junior in high school, he’s taking his work ethic in the practice room seriously,” Dougherty said. “His evolution, so to speak, has impressed us all.
”We’re always looking for role models for kids to look up to, and Brendan would be one of those kids. He does the work part and shows it when he’s out on the mat, how he approaches the match. He executes what we drill in practice and what we’re learning. That’s why he’s been successful.”
Vercammen is one facet away from what Dougherty looks for in a team captain, a title the coach does not take lightly. He does not award captainships just on the basis of wrestlers being seniors, or quality performers. It comes with true leadership.
”The hardest thing for me to do is get a leader in the room, in both word and deed,” he said. “Captain, by definition, is what it is. I’m hoping Brendan can get that vocal part of it down soon. You have to have a little rah-rah in there.”
Also performing well for the Vikes have been 140-pounder Kevin Wadiak (7-3, five pins) and 160-pounder Cody Shelcusky (6-2, four pins).
”They’re doing a nice job of approaching their business in the practice room every day, and then translating it onto the mat during matches,” Dougherty said.
Another strong performer has been 145-pounder Colin Preacher (5-3, two pins), who still has plenty of untapped potential.
”He needs to have a little more belief in himself,” Dougherty said. “He works hard in the practice room, he’s just still a little too cautious when he gets on the mat. He’s afraid to make mistakes.
”As a senior, we’re hoping to have instilled the attitude that we’re not overly concerned with them making mistakes, providing the mistakes they made are from doing what we worked on in the practice room. He’s getting closer but he’s not there yet.”
Another positive for the Vikings, has been the performance of their freshmen and first-year wrestlers.
During last weekend’s quad meet, the JV did not compete as teams, but were paired against each other by weight classes. The Vikings went 34-4 in their match-ups. They also took second in a holiday JV tournament, beating Delaware Valley and Raritan before losing by three to Old Bridge.
Dougherty said that is a direct result of the work being done by assistants Bobby Januska, Dan Gavin and newcomer Brian Voliva.
”They’re doing a phenomenal job,” he said. “I work with the varsity kids, and their chore is to work strictly with the new kids when we’re doing technical drills and new skill development. It’s already paying dividends and it will continue to multiply.”
BACKPOINTS: The Vikes have a tri-meet at Old Bridge with the hosts and Montgomery on Saturday. After the SBHS-Old Bridge meet, all of Old Bridge’s five state champions will be honored, including Dougherty and his brother Mike, who won titles when the school was Madison Central.
