By Jeff Appelblatt
Woodbridge High School’s Bryan McLaughlin knew that the quarterfinals of the NJSIAA Wrestling State Championships would be a tough battle — if he was able to make it that far at the 3-day tournament March 4-6 in Atlantic City, that is.
But it only took one match for the junior to show the crowd at Boardwalk Hall he was good enough to reach the quarterfinals. A 4-1 win in his opening-round match against Allentown High School’s Jordan Rugo, and McLaughlin was there.
McLaughlin just stuck to the script. He was the No. 4-seed. Rugo was No. 5. The better-rated wrestler won there, but everyone in attendance quickly learned that rankings weren’t going to make a difference. Many of the other matches in the 160-pound weight class didn’t go as planned — Craig Roumes, a top seed from Roxbury High School, was defeated in his first match. Tyler Mullen, the No. 2 seed from the Northern Valley Regional High School at Old Tappan, fell early, as well.
But McLaughlin and coach Michael Carbone weren’t surprised seeing the so-called underdogs still competing for a title beyond the opening few rounds — especially the No. 9 seed from Paramus High School, Kyle Cochran.
“We knew who he was,” Carbone said a day after Cochran won the tournament. “When the numbers came out, me and Bryan [McLaughlin] looked at each other and said we had to get ready for him. He placed at Beast of the East. We knew this kid was not an underdog. He’s not your typical [No. 9] seed.”
As prepared to see him as he may have been, though, McLaughlin was unable to outdo the Paramus athlete. Following Cochran’s early victory over the No. 1 seed, 5-2, he managed to beat Woodbridge’s premiere wrestler, 3-2.
And then the Paramus 160-pounder kept on rolling. He defeated Bill Janzer (Delsea Regional High School) in the semifinals before beating the brackets’ other No. 1 seed, Kyle Bierdumpfel (Don Bosco Preparatory High School), 3-2, to win the 160-pound championship.
“When [McLaughlin] saw Cochran win in the state finals, he felt he should have beaten him, that he shouldn’t have [been in that match],” Carbone said. “Meanwhile, Cochran is a state champ.”
McLaughlin, meanwhile, got back in the win column in the wrestlebacks. He won three straight, giving him a chance to finish in third. But the lower-ranked Janzer ruined that chance, outlasting McLaughlin on the mat with a 7-6 decision.
“Bryan [McLaughlin] was a little disappointed he didn’t finish third,” Woodbridge’s coach said.
Though McLaughlin had plenty of disappointment when he was leaving Atlantic City, the Woodbridge student-athlete still left Boardwalk Hall with a fourth-place medal. And Woodbridge’s coach can only imagine that medal will have McLaughlin working even harder next year.
“Next year, he’ll be looking forward to the state finals — to the state championship,” Carbone said.
McLaughlin finished his 2015-16 campaign with a 36-2 record that included district and regional championships.