Brian Hamann of Jackson Memorial High School’s wrestling team gets a shot to surpass the fourth-place finishes he had in the NJSIAA wrestling championships in two of the last three years as he leads a brigade of four Jaguars into Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Hall from March 8-10.
Jackson Liberty High School will also be represented by three wrestlers, two of whom won district titles.
Hamann, a senior who missed the states in his sophomore year with a late-season injury, advanced as a runner-up at 138 pounds in Region 6 on March 2 at the Pine Belt Arena in Toms River. Hamann, the top seed, gave up a takedown early and played catchup from there, and he dropped a 4-3 decision to three-time region champion Rich Lewis of Toms River High School East, who is 31-0.
Hamann (31-4) advanced to the finals with a 4-0 semifinals victory after a pin in the quarterfinals. He was one of four Jaguars to qualify for the state finals, three of them as runners-up and the other as a consolation winner.
The other Jackson Memorial qualifiers are runners-up Spencer Young (28-8), a senior, at 126 pounds; senior Alec Huxford (11- 3), who was injured for part of the season, at 138 pounds and consolation winner Ken Bradley (30-5), a junior who won a major decision for third place at 195 pounds.
“We did OK. I don’t think any of them wrestled their best and I think they would all say that if you asked them that,” Jackson Memorial coach Aaron Gottesman said. “Sometimes it’s not about wrestling your best, but just moving up to the next level, and hopefully they’ll be better than they had been this (past) weekend. Now they’ll have to wrestle to the best of their abilities.”
Two top-seeded wrestlers at Jackson Liberty will continue. Senior Nick Zak, the top seed at 182 pounds who was the school’s first state place winner when he finished sixth last year at 170 pounds, remained unbeaten in a dominant weekend consisting of three bouts. Even his 4-2 decision over Brick Memorial High School’s Nick Costa, who came into the bout with only one loss, was never in danger, as Zak repeated as region champion after leading all the way. Zak got a takedown in the first period before Costa got an escape in the second period. Zak reversed Costa early in the third period before letting up an escape point late in the bout.
“I just wanted to control the match. I was just being cautious,” said Zak, who scored an 11-0 major decision in the semifinals and a technical fall (15-0) with seven seconds left in his quarterfinals to raise his record to 35-0 and run his career record to 216-19, surpassing the school mark held previously by his older brother — Chris.
“His goal is to be a state champion,” said Jackson Liberty coach Mike Eddy. “He’s in better shape than last year. He’s hard to score points on and takes control most of the time. The points he gives up are usually escape points.”
Zak said that the experience of past trips to the state tournament helps his preparation, as his strategy remains the same — working for points and only taking the pins as they come.
“I try not to be overly aggressive. I’ll take the minor (decision),” Zak said.
Jackson Liberty’s unbeaten sophomore, Mike Russo, at 106 pounds, was the only other region champion, scoring a 1-0 decision over Toms River High School South’s Owen McClave for his 35th victory in a showdown of top seeds. Matt Russo, Mike’s twin brother, also advanced at 120 pounds, winning an 8-3 consolation bout for his 30th victory. Like Zak, both also reached the state championships last year, with Mike ending up one win shy of earning a place.
“Matt put in a good effort in one of the tougher weight classes. It’s quite an accomplishment for all three guys, especially with two of them going back as only sophomores,” Eddy said.
The state association changed the format this year to a double-elimination process, which creates even more opportunities for a wrestler who has an “off” performance in a bout.
In their championship bouts, Jackson Memorial’s Young was pinned at 31 seconds and Huxford dropped a 5-3 decision while earning his second trip to Atlantic City.
“All four have the ability to place in the state. It’s who’s hot at the right time,” Gottesman said, as Jackson Memorial has had 15 state champions, including Dallas Winston last year as a senior, and 56 state place winners since the program began in 1966. “All four of these guys can place very high.” The best part, both Jackson coaches agreed, is that all of the wrestlers are relatively healthy for this point of the season and that it’s their mental approach from here and a sharp week in practice that will carry them.