BY DOUG McKENZIE
Staff Writer
PHOTOS BY JEFFGRANIT staff Above, JFK’s Tom Hogan puts Edison’s Anthony Peterson in a cradle during their 103-pound quarterfinal match at the GMC Tournament at Piscataway HighSchool on Saturday. Below, Woodbridge’s Chuck Sabin stays on his feet while grappling with Edison’s Jeff Peterson during their 119-pound quarterfinal bout. South Plainfield is the top team in the Greater Middlesex Conference.We didn’t need the GMC Tournament to tell us that, even though it did, with the Tigers winning their fourth straight team title, and ninth in the last 10 years.
What we didn’t know going into the GMCT last weekend at Piscataway High School was where the rest of the conference’s elite teams would finish, as well as who among the local area’s top grapplers would emerge as individual champions.
While South Plainfield saw six wrestlers earn titles, followed by Old Bridge with three individual titles, J.F. Kennedy was the most successful local team, finishing third in the team competition with 158 points
While the Mustangs did not have any individual winners, they had a bevy of top finishes, led by Tom Hogan (second at 103 pounds), Pete Simon (second at 171) and Vin Maglione (second at 215).
Hogan rolled to the finals with a pin in the second round, a technical fall (15-0) in the quarterfinals, and a 6-2 win over Perth Amboy’s Heriberto Quintana in the semifinals, before dropping a tough 7-3 decision to South Plainfield freshman Nick Heilman in the final.
Simon was equally impressive through the early rounds, advancing via a pin, a 9-2 win in the quarterfinals, and a 8-3 win in the semis to reach the 171 final, where he took on unbeaten Eddie Ebewo of Old Bridge. In what was one of the more exciting matches of the tournament, Ebewo grabbed a late one-point lead and held on for the 9-8 victory. Simon, who won the GMCT 160-pound title last year, gave everything he had in the match, only to fall short despite a furious comeback effort late.
Maglione reached the 215 final with three straight pins, but was unable to knock off the top seed, Old Bridge’s Travis Gerdon, who rolled to an 11-0 decision.
JFK also got some strong finishes from Pete Buttita (third at 125), Joe Creighton (third at 130), John Lemongelli (third at 135), Anthony Howard (fifth at 145) and Dustin Rudy (fifth at 152).
Edison finished in seventh place in the team standings with 85.5 points, led by second-place finishes from Mikey FrancoBandiero (112) and Brandon Swift (145). FrancoBandiero reached the final via a pin, technical fall (23-4) and major decision (11-1), before falling to South Plainfield’s Patrick Hunter, 5-1, in a rematch of last year’s 103-pound final, also won by Hunter.
Swift, meanwhile, was just that, reaching the finals with three close decisions before falling to South Plainfield’s Mike Jacubik, last year’s 135-pound champ, 9-3.
Edison also got strong finishes from Jeff Peterson (third at 119) and J.C. FrancoBandiero (fifth at 140).
Bishop Ahr finished eighth in the team standings with 81.5 points. But the story of the tournament for the Trojans was the effort of Joe McAuley.
The gritty sophomore was forced to compete in the tournament’s most challenging weight class, 140 pounds, after his coach misinterpreted the NJSIAA’s weight certification rule. After preparing all season to wrestle at 135, McAuley learned on Friday that he would have to
wrestle at 140, making the path to a championship much tougher.
All he did was beat everyone he faced en route to the 140-pound title.
After rolling to a technical fall win the second round, McAuley beat three-time GMC champ J.C. FrancoBandiero, 3-2, in the quarterfinals, before topping South Brunswick’s Ryan Smith, 5-4, in the semifinals. That set up a finals match-up with J.P. Stevens Greg Zannetti, who had already beaten the top seed, South Plainfield’s Nick Dorey earlier in the day, 6-2.
In the final, McAuley overcame a 1-0 lead in the third quarter with an escape and a takedown, then held on to the 3-1 lead late as Zannetti attempted a late takedown just before the buzzer. With the win, McAuley improved to 25-0 on the season, and earned the respect of everyone in attendance with his perseverance.
Bishop Ahr’s John Meyers also had a strong tournament, taking second at 152, after falling to Middlesex’s Mike Dessino, 6-3, in the final. Meyers was strong throughout the tournament, advancing to the finals with a technical fall, a pin and a hard-fought overtime win (2-1) in the semifinals over South Plainfield’s Sam Martin.
Bishop Ahr also got strong finishes from Derek Delacruz (fifth at 112) and Duane Quarles (fifth at 171).
J.P. Stevens finished in ninth place with 72.5 points, led by Dan Kaiser’s individual title at 125 pounds. After rolling through his first three matches via a tech fall (19-4), major decision (14-4) and a hard-fought 8-5 decision in the semis over Buttita, Kaiser faced Sayreville’s Eric Tsang, the top seed, in the final. Kaiser was in control throughout the final bout, registering an early takedown early on and a nearfall late, to score the 11-4 win. It was an impressive showing for Kaiser, a returning district champion who is expecting to continue to collect some hardware the rest of the season.
Also wrestling well for Stevens was Gary Repke (fourth at 160).
The only other local wrestlers to finish in the top three was Woodbridge’s Craig Batista. Batista lost his 160-pound semifinal to eventual champ Mark Wagner of South Plainfield, 7-5, but bounced back to beat Repke, 11-4, in the third-place bout.