The Old Bridge and Sayreville high school wrestling teams staged an epic battle for the NJSIAA District 20 team championship on Saturday. The title wasn’t decided until the very last match — with Old Bridge prevailing by just six points at South Brunswick High School.
The Knights ended up with 184 points to the Bombers’ 178. Three Old Bridge grapplers and two Sayreville wrestlers won individual titles, five Bombers and four Knights earned runner-up honors, and two wrestlers from both teams finished third in their respective weight classes.
As a result, each team will have an opportunity to make its mark in the Region V tournament as nine wrestlers from each squad qualified to move on.
Meanwhile, Connor Hayes (140) pounds, Jaime Bond (145) and Nick Orak (189) all won championships for the Knights. Hayes downed Sayreville’s Noel Santiago, 5-1, to win his second District crown. The junior won at 103 pounds as a freshman and finished second at 125 pounds last year.
Bond outpointed Monroe’s Mike Billitz, 6-1, and Orak shut out Julian Quintin of East Brunswick, 4-0, to earn their championships.
In addition, Gary Siriday (103) and Anthony Geiger (119) won titles for Sayreville. Siriday pinned Old Bridge’s Mike Nadera, and Geiger won in the same manner, pinning the Knights Joe Suozzo.
Others taking second in their weight classes included Sayreville’s Kyle Anderson (135), Gino Schiffano (160), Christopher Raub (215) and Tyler Carlock (HW), along with Sebastian Bea (160) and Steven Zafrani (171), a District 20 champion at 160 pounds last winter, from the Knights.
Michael Bohling (112) and Alex Yanuzello (171) of the Bombers all finished third in their weight classes, as did Old Bridge’s Phil Sanford (130) and Justin Harrison (HW). Harrison won his weight class a year ago.
The top three finishers in each weight class moved on to the Region V tournament, which was set to begin on Tuesday evening at Hunterdon Central High School.
“It was a tough tournament and both teams really battled,” said Old Bridge coach Bryan Garnett. “It all came down to the last match and fortunately it worked in our favor.”