By Jimmy Allinder
Mitch Polito could have easily packed it in.
The previously undefeated 113-pound East Brunswick High School wrestler lost a 3-1 sudden death decision to eventual champion Anthony Mininno of Gateway Regional High School in the state championship quarterfinals. Polito, however, gathered himself and defeated Richie Koehler of Christian Brothers Academy, 10-6, in the fourth wrestleback round and Colin Wickramaratna of Cherokee Regional High School, 5-2, in the next wrestleback to face Enrique Sanchez of Queen of Peace High School, a tough competitor whom he beat in sudden death, 3-1, in the pre-quarterfinals.
Responding with resolve he displayed all season, Polito wrestled cautiously but aggressively and defeated Sanchez for a 5-2 victory to earn third place — the highest of the four other area wrestlers to make it to Atlantic City.
Polito advanced to the pre-quarterfinals by scoring an 11-2 decision over Kenny Kerwin of Passaic Valley Regional High School in the preliminary round.
Another East Brunswick wrestler who remained determined after an early exit was 126-pounder Alec Gleason. Gleason opened with a 10-2 win over Matt Surich of Mahwah High School, 10-2, in the preliminary round but was pinned by Anthony Duca of Paulsboro High School (3:06) in the pre-quarterfinals.
He then mounted a spirited drive in rounds two, three and four of the wrestlebacks by defeating, in succession, Connor Murphy of Wayne Valley High School, 14-0, Matt Sacco of Bridgewater-Raritan High School, 8-2, and Justin Cariss of Highland Regional High School, 8-4.
That set up a fifth-place consolation match against Daniel Percelay of DePaul Catholic High School. Knowing this was his final high school match, Gleason went to work and pinned Percelay in 44 seconds to earn the medal.
Monroe Township High School’s 145-pounder, Nick Lombard, was the other area wrestler to mount the medal stand, also placing fifth. The senior entered the state finals as the eighth seed but was surprised by Southern Regional High School’s Nicholas O’Connell in the preliminary round, 6-5.
That meant Lombard had to wade through four wrestleback rounds to earn a chance to capture fifth place, and that he did. These are the results of his four matches: a 5-1 decision over Xavier Kelly of Howell High School, a pin with one second left against James Murdoch of Clifton High School, a 7-2 decision over Wyatt McCarthy of Newton High School and a 2-1 decision over O’Connell, the wrestler who earlier edged Lombard.
In the final match of his career, Lombard only had to walk to the middle of the mat to win fifth place because his opponent, Joe Casey of Bound Brook High School, forfeited. Interestingly, before he arrived in Atlantic City, Casey handed Lombard his only two previous losses of the season.
Monroe’s Kaylon Bradley, East Brunswick’s Mark Schleifer, and South River High School’s Joey Zargo were the other area competitors at the state finals.
Bradley (170) suffered a 5-0 defeat to Brian Bonino of Paramus High School in the preliminary round but recovered to win in the first wrestleback round, a 9-5 decision over Jason Peralta of Cherry Hill High School West. It ended for Bradley the next round when he was edged, 7-6, by Thomas Rigas of Whippany Park High School.
Schleifer won his preliminary round and pre-quarterfinals matches, an 8-0 decision over Jiya Gannone of Rancocas Valley Regional High School and a 3-0 decision over Darby Diedrich of Howell, respectively.
Schleifer was then edged by nemesis Joe Heilmann of South Plainfield High School, 2-1, in an ultimate tiebreaker. Heilmann twice defeated Schleifer during the regular season. The East Brunswick senior’s high school career ended in the fourth wrestleback round when Michael Kelly of Saint Peter’s Preparatory School handed Schleifer a 4-1defeat.
Zargo, a 132-pound freshman, proved the future is bright by not only making it to Atlantic City in his first year of high school competition, but also winning his preliminary round match.
The victory was a 5-4 decision over James Rodriquez of Perth Amboy High School which made him 3-1 for the season against his GMC opponents. In the pre-quarterfinals, Zargo was pinned in 1:03 by Gianni Gione of Brick Memorial High School, which relegated him to the second wrestleback round, where he dropped a 3-0 decision to Matthew Valli of Warren Hills Regional High School.