Dan Rackliffe at 77 pounds and Nick Zbranak at 171 pounds pinned their respective opponents in the championship finals while Dean Sherry, at 97 pounds, Brian Matthews, at 112, and seventh-grader Dom Spampanato, at 134, also were weight-class champions as Lake Riviera Middle School finished second in the Brawl at the Beach Tournament in Point Pleasant.
Sherry and Matthews dramatically won their weight classes in overtime. Spampanato pulled out a 4-3 decision in his final.
Southern won the tournament with 152 points, and Lake Riviera had 132. Lake Riviera won last year’s tournament.
“The kids wrestled very well,” said Lake Riviera head coach Mike Elmendorf, who was assisted by Dennis Hill. “We wrestled great as a team and came out ready. Spampanato and Zbranak beat the first- and second seeded kids, and both beat the No. 2 seeds in their finals.”
Finishing in second place for Lake Riviera were Kyle Marino (72 pounds), Dante Vega (140) and Eric Tober (187), while Connor Mulligan (102), Ryan Jachim (107), Ray Fattaruso (122) and heavyweight Nick Rivera, a sixth-grader, finished in third place.
Fourth-place finishers included Chris Lopez (87), Kyle Wojtazek (90), Brian DeAlmedia (128) and Mike Muratore (160) for Lake Riviera.
The team was slated to swing back into action on Jan. 6, against McAuliffe and then travel to Central on Jan. 11.