Above: South Brunswick High School’s Ali Yildiz (r) tangles with South Plainfield’s Mike Molinaro in their 171-pound quarterfinal match during the Greater Middlesex Conference Wrestling Tournament on Jan. 29 at Piscataway High School. Yildiz lost this match but went on to finish third. Below: South Brunswick’s Justin Lopez (l) tries to escape the hold of East Brunswick’s Mike Nicolaro in their 119-pound quarterfinal match. Lopez lost the match by a 5-3 decision. PHOTOS BY JEFF GRANIT staff The South Brunswick High School wrestling team edged out Sayreville by a half point on Saturday to take second place at the Greater Middlesex Conference (GMC) Tournament in Piscataway.
Powerful South Plainfield piled up 237 points and easily won the title, leaving the Vikings and Bombers to battle it out for second place. Entering the final round, South Brunswick was clinging to a 0.5-point lead.
Thanks to wins by juniors Tyler Jaramillo (152 pounds) and Jake Pietrefesa (160), the Vikes held on to their lead.
Jaramillo posted a convincing 10-2 decision over Old Bridge’s Shane Raymond, and Pietrefesa gave his team a much-needed pin in his 1:12 win over Chris Miehle of J.P. Stevens. Jaramillo improved his season record to 14-5 with five pins, while Pietrefesa is 19-3 with 11 pins.
Prior to the tourney, coach Joe Dougherty noted that his team was motivated to avenge its 37-34 dual-meet loss to Sayreville.
“South Plainfield is in a league of its own,” the Vikings mentor said. “But we think we have a pretty good team too, and we knew we could get second.”
In addition, Ali Yildiz (171) won his consolation match to take third place and Jordan Pagano (112), Justin Lopez (119), Tommy Dorsay (125) and Lucas DelPiano (189) all finished fourth for South Brunswick.
The Vikings, meanwhile, have compiled a 14-3 mark in dual meets, with their only losses coming against South Plainfield, Camden Catholic and Sayreville. Along the way, Dougherty’s team has picked up wins against solid teams such as Howell, Old Bridge, JFK and Perth Amboy.
“Almost all of our guys spent a lot of time working to improve over the summer, and it’s paying dividends now,” the coach said. “I can’t stress enough the importance of what you do over the summer translating into success in the winter.”
The coach also credited team parents for supporting and driving team members to their various summer workouts and events.
“It takes a community,” he said.
An infusion of youth has certainly helped as well. Pagano, who is 19-4, Dorsay, 17-6, and Lopez, 13-9, are all freshmen. Yildiz, 15- 3, and heavyweight Kevin Moses, 11-6, are sophomores. Not to be outdone, South Brunswick upperclassmen are also making significant contributions. DelPiano is 19-4, James Pagano (145) is 16-6, David Domingues (135) is 5-4, Fran White (130) is 9-9, and Dallas Siegel (215) is 12-9. White and Siegel are both juniors .
Senior Steven Mastro (130-135) and juniors Luke Rimmer (145), Ryan Dorsay (140) and Chad Capraro (119-125), who has four wins, provide depth. In addition, a pair of freshmen, Jake Daniel and Parth Patel, are gaining valuable experience at 103 pounds.
“We have a lot of flexibility in the lineup, and we don’t hesitate to move things around,” Dougherty said. “That has certainly made this a much stronger team overall. It’s a long season, and our guys started very strong, but we slipped a little bit. Now we just want to continue working hard and keep things going in the right direction. Our next goal is to win the District 20 tournament. It’s been a while.”
The Vikings finished fourth in the district event a year ago and last won it in 2002.
However, before the Vikes go after the district title, there is the matter of the NJSIAA’s state sectional championships.
In the most recent Power Points rankings, South Brunswick was No. 2 in Central Jersey Group IV with 31.41, behind only Jackson Memorial (32.50) and ahead of No. 3 Howell (31.06).
The NJSIAA was to officially announce its final ranking and playoff match-ups on Feb. 2. It is anticipated that the Vikes will hold onto their No. 2 seed and if so, would have a first-round bye.
The first round is scheduled for Feb. 7, with the semifinals on Feb. 9 and the sectional final on Feb. 11. All matches are at the home gym of the highest-seeded team.
If Howell were to win its first-round match, it would set up a rematch between South Brunswick and Howell in the semifinals on Feb. 9 in South Brunswick. The Vikes defeated the Rebels, 39-22, in that early-December meeting in South Brunswick.
Howell, 16-3 and the Shore ConferenceA North Division champions, has improved since that first meeting, setting up a potentially exciting semifinal.
The Central Jersey Group IV champion will advance to the NJSIAA State Group Championship that will be held at the Poland Springs Center in Toms River on Dec. 13.