By Wayne Witkowski
Jackson Memorial High School wrestling team standouts Adante Davis and Chris Mondelo scored pivotal victories that sent the Jaguars on their way to a 40-21 victory over crosstown rival Jackson Liberty High School Jan. 15.
“I thought we wrestled well against Jackson Memorial,” Jackson Liberty coach Mike Eddy said after falling to the Jaguars. “We lost some close matches. It was a good showing.”
In Jackson Memorial’s victory, Davis pulled out a 2-1 decision on tiebreaker criterion at 195 pounds over Jerald Goodman. Davis is 13-3 and Goodman is 15-3 on the season.
Mondelo pinned Chris Pondish at 4:11 at 220 pounds. Mondelo is 12-3 on the season. Pondish is 16-3.
Pins by Jackson Memorial’s Michael Spino, who is 9-1 at 120 pounds, and Matt McGowan, who is 13-1 at 126, wrapped up the victory. Tim Hamann also continued his winning ways at 145 pounds for Jackson Memorial with a 5-1 decision over Marc Palmieri (9-6). Hamann is 13-1 on the season.
Unbeaten Jackson Liberty heavyweight Jared DiZenzo pulled out a 3-2 decision over Austin Ostrander (5-5) and is 19-0 coming into this week. Jackson Liberty’s Tyler Kalmowitz, who is 19-1 at 170 pounds, won a 2-1 decision on tiebreaker criteria over Tanner Kelly (4-1).
Nick Pellegrino won his bout over Kevin Hogan at 113 pounds and comes into the week 17-2, while Niles Jackson, who defeated Ryan Bonringer, is 14-5 at 132 pounds for the Liberty Lions.
Jackson Memorial comes into the week 9-2 off a 29-25 loss to Delsea Regional High School Jan. 16 that snapped a four-match win streak.
It was an up-and-down week for Jackson Liberty, which had pulled out a 30-29 victory over Point Pleasant Borough High School Jan. 13 in a showdown of unbeaten teams in the Shore Conference B South Division. The match was decided with crucial back-to-back pins late in the match by Pondish and DiZenzo.
Pondish handed Point Pleasant Borough’s Dominick Infante his first loss when he held a 2-1 lead and took him down to his back at 1:58.
“That was the match right there. We didn’t expect him to get a pin,” Eddy said. “If he didn’t do that, it would’ve been a lot harder [to win the match]. But it was a total team effort because the younger guys who have been struggling of late did not give up bonus points by not getting pinned.”
DiZenzo pinned his opponent, Anthony Bonavito, at 3:32 late in the match to wrap up the victory. Eddy also pointed to a key 1-0 victory by Pellegrino at 120 pounds over two-time district finalist Blake Dale early in the match as a tone-setter.
Jackson Liberty, which went to 11-3 by sweeping a quad meet Jan. 16 over Manasquan High School, 61-12, Red Bank Catholic High School, 51-24, and Barnegat High School, 56-17, had the chance to wrap up the division title in its final division match at home Jan. 20 against Central Regional High School. Jackson Liberty hosts a tri match Jan. 23 against Toms River High School East and Shawnee High School.