The Sayreville War Memorial High School wrestling team has yet to experience a defeat this season, even recently snapping an impressive streak by Woodbridge High School.
In ending the Barrons’ 13-meet winning streak against Greater Middlesex Conference White Division opponents, the Bombers earned a convincing 45-26 victory on Dec. 20 in Sayreville. Woodbridge’s streak stretched over the last two years, and the Barrons’ last division loss was to Sayreville on Jan. 7, 2015.
The victory improved Sayreville’s record to 4-0 this season.
Sayreville coach Marcus Ivy is pleased with his team’s performance so far this year, stating that the team is very experienced even though it is very young.
“We have a great group of kids,” Ivy said. “We were very young last year, but we were still successful. Almost everyone is coming back for us. We had good sophomores and freshmen last year that are now very good juniors and sophomores this year. We’re filling out our weight classes and when you can do that, you’re going to be successful.”
Some of Sayreville’s most productive wrestlers have been Trevor Mastorio and Darren Figueroa, who both placed well in the 2017 East Brunswick Bear Invitational on Dec. 27. Sayreville finished fourth at the invitational with 120 points.
Fourteen teams competed in this year’s tournament. Hopewell Valley Central High School won the team title with 213.5 points, while Somerville High School (155 points) and Manville High School (147) were second and third, respectively. Other local teams included Spotswood High School, which came in fifth (108); South River High School, which finished sixth (104); North Brunswick Township High School, which was eighth (86); and Matawan Regional High School, which came in ninth (80). Host East Brunswick High School was 11th (73).
“Mastorio is our junior in the [138-pound weight] class,” Ivy said. “He’s 10-2 this year, and his only losses have been to guys that are top-ranked wrestlers in the state and the nation. Everyone’s he’s supposed to beat, he dominated. He came in first place in [the] East Brunswick Bear Invitational in his weight class.
“Figueroa is another guy that has been really good this year. He’s a sophomore in our [113-pound] weight class. He took second place in his weight class in the invitational, which was his first major tournament. He’s been following Mastorio in the offseason, and it’s really paid dividends for him this year.”
The Bombers traveled to South Brunswick High School on Dec. 30 and will be the host to John P. Stevens High School on Jan. 3 at 7 p.m.
For the Barrons, the loss to Sayreville was another disappointing one for a team in transition, according to head coach Michael Carbone.
“As a team, we’re not doing that well,” Carbone said. “We have lots of holes because of injuries and the fact that we graduated a lot of seniors. So right now, we can’t fill out weight classes, and that’s a real problem. We wrestle well individually but as a team, we’re struggling. That lost to Sayreville was by 19 points, but we gave up 26 points in forfeits. You’re not going to win like that.”
Carbone has been happy with some of his veteran wrestlers, reiterating that the team’s problem is filling out the roster and not the effort of those competing. Multiple wrestlers finished well when they took part in the Rumble in the Pines tournament at Lakewood High School on Dec. 28.
The coach pointed out that Nick Nyers and Hunter Kiraly are both 5-1 this season, with Nyers taking first place in the 220-pound weight class at Lakewood and Kiraly also bringing home gold at 152 pounds. Dom Zecchino was second at 170 pounds in Lakewood, while Xavier Laracuente won the 113-pound weight class in his first tournament.
“We have a lot of guys that are good and can contribute. We just need to be able to fill out more weight classes,” Carbone said. “Hopefully, our New Year’s wish will be to get healthy and fill in those empty weight classes. Once we do that, we’ll be really good.”
The Barrons will travel to South Brunswick on Jan. 5 for a 7 p.m. match.