Red Bank program gets boost from middle schools
BY VIN RAPOLLA
Staff Writer

Above, RedBank Regional's Chris Quinn tries to avoid getting rolled by St. John Vianney's Tom Kevlin during a recent 152-pound match in Little Silver. Below, RBR's Cody O'Mally tries to put SJV's Ryan McNamera on his back during a 171-pound match.

Take a look at the top high school wrestling programs in the state and you'll notice that they all have at least one thing in common: strong feeder programs.

In a sport where skill and technique are just as important as athleticism, it has become absolutely vital to introduce the sport of wrestling at a young age to future prospects, should you hope to create a program that can compete with the state's elite.

And that has become even more prudent in the Shore Conference, home to several of the top programs in the state, and even a couple of nationally ranked teams.

The result has been the emergence of feeder programs in towns that have never had them before, and that has led to stronger high-school-level wrestling, thus strengthening the overall depth of talent in the Shore Conference.

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For an example of this, one needs to look no further than Red Bank Regional High School.

"We have had a lot of kids who have had to learn the sport once they got to high school," said head coach Scott Ferris, who added that those wrestlers are immediately at a disadvantage against many of the grapplers they face.

But Ferris and the Red Bank program have seen great improvement since the start of local middle school programs.

"The middle schools in the area have just begun wrestling programs, which has been very successful for us," said Ferris. "This year we have a couple of guys down below who have managed five-plus wins."

The Bucs, 5-16 last season, have already topped that mark thus far with a team record of 8-7, and are holding on to a solid third place in the Shore's A Central Division. And they've done this with just five seniors on the roster.

"Our future is looking good; we've had a very good season with only five seniors," said Ferris. "We just missed the state cut-off, but we should be able to pull off a 10-win season."

The young Bucs have been led by seniors Anthony Fabbri (heavyweight), 135-pounder Lance Shea, 189-pounder Eli Goldman and 152-pounder Chris Quinn.

"These guys are really showing the younger guys how to work hard, and their positive leadership has really led to our success," said Ferris. "These guys are willing to work with the younger guys during and after practice."

With the inception of the local feeder programs over the past two years, the Red Bank program is already showing signs of improvement as a result. And Ferris is confident that trend will continue as more and more kids get to the high school level with some experience under their belts.

"With the more mat time offseason we will have more success," said Ferris. "A few of our matches were only determined by one point, and that's just [a lack of] experience."

The Bucs still have some big matches left on the season, not to mention the district tournament, which begins Feb. 17.

"We have four matches remaining that we could get wins in," said Ferris. "We've had 10-win seasons in the past, and looks like this year we're back. It's all going to depend on if the guys come out and wrestle."

A 10-win season may not seem like something to trumpet for some of the elite teams in the Shore, but for a program like RBR's, where they've been accustomed to fighting for every win, it's a sign of progress.

And with more local kids picking up the sport at a young age, the Bucs have every reason to believe that progress is just a step in the right direction.

Mat notes...While Red Bank Regional fell short of earning a berth in the Central Jersey Group II tournament, a trio of local teams will be in action on Feb. 6 when the state team tournaments get under way.

While the official pairings were not made official by the NJSIAA by press time, the final power points were posted Sunday night, providing a glimpse of likely matches in next week's sectional tournaments.

Ocean Township, the defending CJ Group III champion, was expected to get the No. 2 seed, behind Wall Township. The Crimson Knights beat Ocean in a dual meet recently, thereby cementing the top seed in the bracket.

However, Ocean is yet to wrestle with a full lineup this year, and will likely be looked at as the favorite in the bracket should all of its wrestlers be available. As the second seed, Ocean will take on the winner of the Monroe-North Burlington first-round match on Tuesday.

Long Branch was expected to get the fourth seed in the CJ Group II bracket, which would mean a trip to South Plainfield and likely match-up with JFK-Iselin. The Green Wave (13-4) has been one of the pleasant surprises of the Shore Conference this year, but would face a stiff challenge against the Mustangs, who emerged as one of the top teams in the Greater Middlesex Conference. In fact, the Mustangs, despite being one of the smaller schools in the conference, finished third in the GMC Tournament last weekend, behind South Plainfield and Old Bridge.

The winner of the Long Branch-JFK match will take on the host Tigers. South Plainfield has emerged as one of the top three teams in the state this year, and is the overwhelming favorite to emerge with the sectional championship.

That leaves Shore Regional (11-7), who was expected to get the sixth seed in the CJ Group I tournament, where they would take on Bound Brook (8-5) in the first round Tuesday night at Roselle Park. The winner would get the host Panthers (14-2), the second seed in the bracket behind Brearley (19-2).

Both St. John Vianney (9-8) and Christian Brothers Academy (10-7) were expected to qualify for the Non-Public South A tournament, where they would likely face each other on Tuesday night at Camden Catholic, home of the top-seeded Irish (22-4).

Tuesday night's matches are set for 5:30 p.m. and 7 p.m., with the sectional finals to follow on Feb. 8 at the highest remaining seeds in each section. The Group semifinals and finals are set for Feb. 11 at the Ritacco Center in Toms River.