Tyler Fraley’s season-long quest to win a state wrestling championship came down to a third period takedown. Only this time, the Colts Neck High School junior was on the receiving end of the move.
Colts Neck High School’s Tyler Fraley (white headgear) grapples with South Plainfield’s Anthony Ashnault during the 103-pound final at the NJSIAA state wrestling tournament on March 7 at Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City. Ashnault defeated Fraley, 6-5, to win the title. PHOTOS BY JEFF GRANIT staff The expected 103-pound final between No. 1 seed Anthony Ashnault of South Plainfield High School and No. 2 seed Fraley was everything it was expected to be at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City on March 7 at the NJSIAA individual state wrestling championships.
The match featured an undefeated freshman, Ashnault, against the veteran Fraley, whose only loss in the 2009-10 season came in a bout at 112 pounds.
Ashnault and Fraley put on a show for the fans.
Randolph’s Kevin Collins (top) controls Freehold Township’s Ken Brophy during a 135- pound bout at the NJSIAA state wrestling tournament in Atlantic City. Brophy decisioned Collins, 3-2, and went on to finish eighth in his weight class. Ashnault struck first with a takedown in the first period for a 2-0 lead. Fraley responded with an escape and a takedown to forge a 3-2 lead after one period.
The second period was scoreless as Ashnault chose to start in the neutral position and neither wrestler could score.
Fraley chose to start the third period in the bottom position and quickly escaped to push his lead to 4-2. Ashnault fought back and tied the match 4-4 with a single-leg takedown. Ashnault, however, was unable to control Fraley and the Cougars’ matman escaped again to lead 5-4.
With less than 1:00 remaining in the match, Ashnault found an opening. Getting a hold of Fraley’s ankle, he turned the shot into a single leg takedown to take a 6-5 lead.
There was :40 left, which seemed like plenty of time for Fraley to tie the match with an escape. Ashnault, though, was able to summon up enough strength to turn back Fraley’s determined attempts to escape and sealed his state championship.
Colts Neck coach Bob Seidel said Fraley was in peak form in Atlantic City.
“He was at the top of his game this weekend,” Seidel said. “It’s a flip of the coin between the two (Ashnault and Fraley). They are very similar. If they wrestled 10 times, each would win five. He (Fraley) was on the wrong side of the coin this time. I thought that for five minutes Tyler had control of the match. Give Ashnault credit. He’s a goer. He kept going and got a couple of takedowns.”
Ashnault completed an impressive freshman season with a 44-0 record. Could this be the start of a legendary New Jersey high school wrestling career?
Fraley, who surpassed 100 career wins earlier in the season, finished his campaign at 36-2. He became the first two-time state place-winner in Colts Neck history.
About the only solace for Fraley was his improvement over last season when he finished fifth at the state tournament.
As devastating as the loss was, Seidel expects Fraley to recover and come back next season more determined than ever to win a state title.
“He is very disciplined,” said Seidel. “This (loss) will push him to work hard.”
For the second time in four years, Freehold Township High School had a state place-winner as Ken Brophy finished eighth at 135 pounds.
As a Region VI third place finisher, Brophy had to wrestle in the win-or-go-home state tournament preliminary round on March 5. He survived that with a 3-2 decision over Randolph’s Kevin Collins.
Brophy, who also surpassed 100 career wins during the 2009-10 season, lost the seventh-place match to Elmwood Park’s Vin Fava, 7-3.