Wrestling often commands the spotlight during the high school winter sports season in Brick.
And both high school teams might make it the state’s hotbed for wrestling after they both cracked the top 25 in the rankings last year. Practice begins on Nov. 27.
Brick Memorial, the two-time defending NJSIAA Group IV champion with a 26-4 record and No. 4 state ranking last season, has 130-pound state champion Mike Morales, who was an astounding 40-2, and two-time District 23 champion D.J. Santos, who was 29-8 at 119 pounds. Both are juniors on a roster laden with 14 seniors. The team’s biggest loss is Steve Santos, off to a college career at Columbia University. Now wrestling at 149 pounds, Steve recently took second in a tournament at the University of Binghamton.
Bill Miller also is ready for big things for the Mustangs this season after going 33-9 at 215 pounds while finishing third in the district and in Region 6 as a state championships qualifier, where he finished 12th. He’ll be out late for the team after playing football.
Brick Township also has hopes for a season like last year, when it was 16-5 and won its first-ever section title in NJSIAA Group III Central en route to a No. 21 state ranking. The Green Dragons were third in the district, one of their best finishes ever. Senior Ricky Bandejas, a district champ and fourth-place finisher in a 30-3 season, is back, along with Connor Brennan, a junior who was 22-5 and finished third in the district.
“Of course we have the potential to win states three years in a row,” D.J. Santos said. “That’s what training’s for, and that’s what’s on our minds. Our team is different from a lot of teams. We’re really close as a team, not just when the season starts, but we’re always together, hanging out as friends, and we’ve been wrestling together since middle school.”
“I think we have a good opportunity to be the first three-time state champs,” Morales said. “I’ll give this my best because it’s my last year. I have 111 [career] wins and I want to pass Steve’s school record.”
Morales, who had 21 pins, will move up either one weight class to 135 or to 140, which he said is a “pretty stacked” weight class.
“I’m very happy with the way I wrestled last year, although I wish
didn’t lose those two bouts. I’m just perfecting my moves,” said Morales, who felt he learned some lessons from winning the state title. “I have to work harder and be more aggressive if I want to keep the title.”
Santos finished in fifth place in the district in March. But coach Dan O’Cone said he “has the ability to be a state place winner.”
Santos moves up from a weight class to 125 pounds.
“This year I’m going to be smarter with my weight, keep it down and be healthy,” he said. “Coach has been drilling it [state championships] in my head, how that can be possible. We both want it the same.”
Santos said he is working more on his footwork “to take better shots more effectively.”
O’Cone said his wrestlers have worked hard during the offseason, like seniors and district runners-up Jake Vescovi, who was 26-8 at 125 pounds, and Anthony Guzzi, who was 18-16 at 112, along with Alex Guarino, who was 20-14 at 145 pounds. Morales said some of the wrestlers who were .500 last year are pointing toward stronger seasons, such as senior Noel Reyes, who was 16- 18 at 140.
O’Cone appeared satisfied with the team’s offseason work commitment.
“Some wrestlers that we believe can achieve their personal best this season would be Noel Reyes, Alex Guarino, Dale Powell, Mike Caccicatore and Brian McCrossan,” he said.
Jordan Loiodice, who was 13-13 at 130, and Miller will be out late for the team because they are playing on the football team that last weekend competed in the second round of the NJSIAA playoffs and takes on Brick Township in the Thanksgiving Day rivalry. Loiodice is the kicker and a running back on the football team. Miller is a hard-hitting nose tackle.
“Wrestling is an individual sport as much as it is a team,” O’Cone said. “Those with the desire to excel and achieve their personal goals put a tremendous amount of time into their offseason.”
The 14 seniors who have been with him for his three years as head coach now fully grasp the system and what is expected of them, he said.
“Those people who worked hard will show during the season,” Morales said.
Shore Conference A South remains one of the most keenly competitive in the country. And the big test for Brick Memorial there comes against Jackson Memorial. Jackson beat the Mustangs last year. They open their season for the third year in a row on Dec. 15 at the Beast of the East showcase in Delaware, which features some of the top teams in the country.
Jackson Memorial is determined to leave behind the bitter taste of finishing short of the District 21 title for the first time in nine years to Howell, and semifinal losses in the Shore Conference Tournament the last two years.
“I feel that Jackson Memorial will be the team to beat,” O’Cone said. “Our goal, our single purpose, is to improve every day. If we can do that, then I believe we as a team and coaching staff can be proud of whatever we accomplish.”
What will feel different is that Long Branch was moved out of the NJSIAA district this year. It nosed out Brick Memorial for the district title last year in what was a highly touted rivalry.
Just like with Brick Memorial, Brick Township coach Matt Opacity is looking for some of his wrestlers to step up to even bigger roles this season, including Dan Brennan, who was 18-14 and in third place in the district at 160. He will join the team late after football season. He is a running back and one of the top defensive players at linebacker.
There also are seniors Kevin Decker, who was 16-12 at 125 pounds, and Corey Rackliffe, who was 16-13 at 119, along with sophomore Joe Patton, who won 18 of 30 bouts at 103 and had a team-leading 10 pins, an unusually high number in the lightest weight class.