Liberty Lions look to experienced wrestlers as leaders

JACKSON LIBERTY

By WAYNE WITKOWSKI
Correspondent

Jackson Liberty High School wrestling coach Mike Eddy is not looking back, which is hard to do with the graduation of the Russo brothers — Mike and Matt, who each reached the 40-win plateau, with Mike finishing sixth in the state at 126 pounds.

Both were District 21 and Region VI champions.

Also graduated are 20-bout winners Nick McConell, Brian Mathieu and Brendan Busacca.

But Eddy believes he can live for the present with the talent he has back from last season and young talent coming up for the Liberty Lions to make a bid to repeat as Shore Conference B South Division champions. Last year was their first division title since 2012 and their winningest season ever at 21-7.

That will be put to the test as early as Dec. 23 with a home match against Manchester Regional High School, as well as Jan. 13 in a bout at Point Pleasant Borough High School that could be another winnertake all in B South. The Lions wrestle Jackson Memorial High School Jan. 15.

“We have a bunch of guys who have been on the team the last three or four years, and they’ve really improved,” Eddy said. “They went to camps, wrestled in the summer and belong to clubs. Guys with experience like that can help in the long run.”

The closest thing to success in that weight area dominated by the Russos was senior Niles Jackson, who was 16-12 wrestling at 132 pounds last year. Gurpreet Singh will fill in at 138 pounds, where Matt Russo wrestled last year.

Shawn Praza, a sophomore, wrestles at 126.

Josh Bollard, who was 7-5 at 106 pounds as a freshman last season, should get 20 wins, according to Eddy. Older brother Jeremy Bollard, a senior, looks to surpass last year’s 24-8 season and thirdpalace finish in the districts at 152 pounds. He’ll wrestle at 160.

Nick Pellegrino, a senior, was 23-12 at 113 pounds last season. Jair Hatch, who won three bouts last year and has shown improvement, can wrestle at either 113 or 120.

Freshman Kevin Devenney at 145 pounds was the top wrestler at Christa McAuliffe Middle School. Marc Palmieri, a .500 wrestler who was 15 pounds below the 170-pound weight class he competed in, will drop to 160. Eddy said Tyler Kalmowitz can make some noise at 170 pounds after finishing 25-6 last year competing at 152 and 160 pounds.

Jerald Goodman, a senior who was 25- 12 at 182 pounds, moved up to 195. Chris Pondish, a senior, sat out last year with an injury and will wrestle at 220 pounds. He was 13-9 as a sophomore at 182.

Jared Dizenzo, who was 28-7 at 220 last year, moves up to heavyweight for his senior season.

Eddy believes his team is consistently good up and down the lineup, but how those wrestlers continue to progress will determine whether Jackson Liberty can fulfill the tall order of finishing better than the fourthplace showing it had in District 21 last year.