Bergida earns first SCT wrestling title
By Justin Feil, Assistant Sports Editor
David Bergida’s first trip to wrestling’s Tournament of Champions in Atlantic City last year was a huge boost of confidence, and it helped to motivate him to prepare for this season.
”I definitely have more confidence after what I did last year,” said Bergida, who finished third at regions to make the TOC. “I also did a lot more in the offseason. There was no offseason for me. I put a lot of effort into it. I really want to make it further than I did last year.”
Bergida is off to a good start to his senior season with Montgomery High School. Bergida was the lone Cougar to win gold at the Somerset County Tournament when he pinned Franklin’s Cory Goshkagarian in 1:39 of the 152-pound final Saturday at Hillsborough High. It’s the first county title for Bergida, who finished third last year.
”It feels really good,” Bergida said. “I’ve been working really hard for that county tournament for a long time and I finally got it. I’m a senior, so it was my last chance to win one.”
Bergida’s strong finish helped the Cougars take sixth in the team standings with 120½ points. Montgomery also had three third-place finishers in Anthony Cassar (at 160, Kevin Kolb at 170 and Mike Boyer at 220. It also had three fourth-place finishers in Leonard Bird at126, Lou Colona at 138 and Tyler Ajamian at 145.
”We were really happy how we finished,” Bergida said. “A lot of people could have done a little better and we could have finished a little higher, but we don’t have a 13 or 95 pounder, and without filling two weights we finished sixth, right behind some of those solid teams with full lineups. It’s a nice step for our program.”
Bergida was happy to lead the way. He’d finished third as a freshman, did not place as a sophomore, and then took bronze again last year. On Saturday, he won his first SCT title.
”I didn’t really have that many nerves,” Bergida said. “I wasn’t putting too much thought in it. I really wanted to the title. I wasn’t going to let anyone get in the way of it.”
David Bergida is the Princeton Packet Athlete of the Week.
”I think he’s wrestling more aggressively and with more confidence,” said first-year MHS head coach Kurt Franey, who has been an assistant for the Cougars for five years. “I think getting to states definitely gave him confidence that if he worked harder he could do even better this year.”
Bergida made sure that he put in the work over the offseason. It was a big change for him in his preparation before his senior season.
”I didn’t really take much of a break,” he said. “For a few years, I took a month or so, but not this year. I was lifting almost five days a week and wrestling twice a week and doing tournaments and going to camps.
”It also helps that we have a new assistant coach, Eric Brown. He’s able to wrestle with us and he helps a ton. He’s maybe 10 pounds more than me. He wrestles all of us and he makes us work hard.”
Bergida is a more polished wrestler than last year. It’s a result of the offseason work he did and the emphasis he kept during his training.
”I’m definitely a lot better on my feet and on bottom,” Bergida said. “On my feet the past couple years, I was just kind of diving at people’s feet. I finally got a good set-up and I’ve pretty much taken everyone I’ve wrestled down. And on bottom, I can’t be held down. I’ve reversed or escaped every kid I’ve wrestled.”
Bergida got a good test of his skills at the county tournament. He took on Emmanuel Soto of Bound Brook in the semifinals and won, 5-1, before pinning a familiar foe in Goshkagarian.
”In the semifinals, I had a tough match against the Bound Brook kid,” Bergida said. “I think he was either first or second in the district last year. That was a tough match. I was second seed.
”The kid I wrestled in the finals, I wrestled him three times last year. He’s the kid I beat to go to states last year. I just pinned him. Last year, I pinned him the first time, then he beat me in districts, then I beat him by a couple points to go to states.”
Bergida follows Tyler Bobal as a Montgomery champion at counties. Bobal was the lone Cougar to win last year. This time, it didn’t even take Bergida a full period to win by pin.
”He was able to get the kid in a half-nelson and able to get him on the back,” Franey said. “Once he was on his back, I think a lot of that work he did in the offseason with the strength training helped him finish it out.”
Said Bergida: “I was really eager to get a county tournament. I couldn’t get it last year. I found a way to lose. I got those small errors out and I was able to win.”
The win reiterates that he’s ahead of where he was last year. It bodes well for the future as Bergida and the Cougars return to action Saturday.
”It does help,” Bergida said. “It’s just one step in the process. It’s nice winning it, but that’s not my main goal. My main goal is to make region finals and advance on to states and see how I do there. But winning counties is a big deal.
”It’s important and something I can mark as an achievement. I won it and now I have to keep going on.”