By: centraljersey.com
David Bergida was more than the average fan at Sunday’s wrestling Tournament of Champions in Atlantic City.
The Montgomery High School junior was a student.
Bergida, who was the lone MHS representative to advance beyond Region 5, lost in the 145-pound first round Friday to Trenton’s Ray Bethea, 7-2, but stuck around to watch the finals, which got him thinking about next year already.
"I’m really excited," Bergida said. "Just watching all those matches today and yesterday, I feel like I should be there. And I really want to be there. I’m going to work so hard to make sure I’m there, standing on that podium next year. That’s pretty much my big goal next year.
"It’s a huge reach. I just feel like I’ve improved so much from last year to this year, I feel I could get that."
Bergida blossomed from the wrestler who had fought for third place at 130 pounds in districts and into the region semifinals last season into one of the top wrestlers in the state at 145 in one year.
"The clock is ticking," said MHS head coach Kevin Jacoutot. "If you have a goal in mind, if one of your goals is to make it to states and place, at some point you have to pick it up and turn the corner."
Bergida still had to go through his battles to get there, but he reached his highest goal. Bergida finished third in the District 18 at 145, then overcame a tough draw and a loss to fight all the way back to finish third in Region 5 to earn his first trip to the Tournament of Champions before losing to finish 30-10 overall.
David Bergida is the Princeton Packet Wrestler of the Year.
"He made it to semifinals of regions last year," Jacoutot said. "We expected big things from him. You’re not sure if you keep going up, are you able to adjust to that? He did."
Bergida enjoyed his first trip to the TOC. Just getting there this year was a big deal.
"I took it all in when I walked right on that mat," Bergida said. "When I was thinking about it before, I didn’t think it would be such a big deal to me. I didn’t think it would be that cool. Looking at the crowd and all the lights, it just clicked. It was a whole new experience."
It’s an experience that only two other Cougars wrestlers can say they were a part of in the school’s young wrestling program history. Only Erik Biago and Tom Reynolds had reached the Tournament of Champions before.
"It’s really cool," Bergida said. "We’re a really young program. It’s nice to be one of those first few guys to make it furthest on the team. It’s a really nice accomplishment.
"I felt kind of special. It made me feel like I stood out. I would have loved to have teammates with me and have them succeed as much as I did. It was a pretty special feeling."
Bergida matched up with Bethea in the first round, a match between two 30-match winners. Bethea had just one loss coming in while Bergida had nine.
"I wrestled pretty well," Bergida said. "Pretty much every match that I lose, I think I could do better. I lost to the kid that placed sixth. I thought I wrestled him tough, but he was a tough kid. I wrestled pretty much the best I could. I got a tough draw. There were a few other kids that I felt I could have beaten there, but people that get third get placed randomly."
The loss ended Bergida’s season at 30-10 overall, a far cry from last year’s 16-12 record, and it sets him up for a big senior season.
"It was a huge step from last year," Bergida said. "I thought it was a really good year. It had its ups and downs, but it was definitely a huge improvement from last year. Me making states is a huge accomplishment. I thought I should have wrestled better a few times in counties and districts. It doesn’t matter now. I wanted to make it to states and I did. My entire year was successful."
Bergida is determined to make his final scholastic season even better. He won’t be playing baseball anymore, and last year he dropped football.
"I’m focusing all on wrestling," he said. "I’ll go to camps, tournaments and constantly practice wrestling. I think I could definitely take a huge step next year."
Said Jacoutot: "I think this will put him in a new state of mind. It’s a mental thing more than anything else getting to Atlantic City."
A switch went on in Bergida last summer. He prepared with a different conviction for his junior season. He spent more time on the mats than he had ever before,
"I just sort of realized if wrestling is going to take me the furthest, if I want to get to regions or make states, I realized I have to put more time into wrestling," Bergida said. "Just seeing kids from other towns around me making states and seeing other kids I’ve wrestled before make states, I just said, I want to be there."
Bergida has been wrestling for a long time. He started in the Hillsborough recreation program around age 7. He moved to Montgomery’s rec program once it started.
"I had some family friends that just kind of kept convincing me to wrestle," Bergida said. "I kept telling my parents I want to wrestle. Finally they signed me up."
Bergida also played baseball and football on the side, but found his calling with some success on the mats in his sophomore year and he has moved full speed into wrestling year-round.
"I didn’t see the other sports taking me anywhere," said Bergida, a running back and cornerback in football and outfielder for baseball. He has had plenty to work on since making that commitment, and he won’t rest on the success of his junior year.
"I’m probably only going to take a week or two off," Bergida said. "After that, I’m going to Junior Nationals in Virginia Beach and I’m doing an invitational at University of Albany. I’m getting into it after a little break."
Not only has Bergida had more success, he’s done so while moving up in weight classes each year. He didn’t struggle to make the adjustment from 130 pounds last year to 145 this season.
"Because of the fact that he learned to wrestle as a lightweight, if he keeps going up in weight, that’s going to benefit him," Jacoutot said. "A lot of bigger guys don’t get the technique down. If you move up, and you learn to wrestle, he could do really well."
He also has improved his moves. One of his big focuses after last season was ensuring that he has more ammunition against the tougher wrestlers.
"A huge improvement was wrestling on my feet," Bergida said. "When I was able to take kids down, I kind of knew I had that match won. I worked a lot on my feet in practice, in the summer in tournaments. Taking down kids is one of the main things you need to have.
"When I’m on top, I’m very confident. I can ride kids really well."
Bergida watched the TOC matches carefully. He noted what it is that separates the wrestlers that medal from the ones that just make it to states, then filed it away as another thing to add before next year.
"One thing I need is to get escapes at will," Bergida said. "When I’m on bottom, I need to be able to get up whenever I want to. Almost every match, in the finals, no one could hold them down. They’re always wrestling on their feet. I have to be really strong on bottom and work on exploding up fast. And even though I thought I did well on my feet, I have to get quicker on my feet and finish my shots faster."
If he can do that, David Bergida believes that he won’t just be watching the Tournament of Champions finals from the stands, he could be one of the wrestlers to medal if he can make another big jump as a senior at MHS.
"What you believe goes further than what your ability is," Jacoutot said. "When your confidence goes up, everything goes with it."
