Ocean, Long Branch thrive in District tourneys
BY DOUG McKENZIE
Staff Writer

Above, Ocean's Kyle Kiss puts Keansburg's Anthony Blozen on his back during a 171-pound semifinal bout at the District 22 tournament in Middletown on Saturday. Below, Monmouth Regional's Anthony Bongarzone works on Ocean's J.J. Bradford during a 152-pound semifinal bout en route to winning the 100th match of his prestigious career. Both Kiss and Bongarzone claimed individual titles.

Both the Ocean Township and Long Branch High School wrestling teams entered their respective district wrestling tournaments hoping to capture the team title.

Well, 1-for-2 ain't bad.

Ocean Township, behind seven individual championships, was successful in its pursuit of the District 22 championship at Middletown South, holding off a strong Raritan team, 205.5 to 193.

Meanwhile, Long Branch, the host school in the District 23 tournament, had to settle for second place behind (who else?) Brick Memorial, who used five individual championships to hold off the Green Wave, 213.5 to 185.5.

For Ocean, it was a strong showing from a team that is finally completely healthy, and just in time for the individual state tournament. The Spartans are sending eight grapplers into this week's Region VI tournament, with several of them expected to emerge with tickets to Atlantic City.

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Junior Mike Berardasco got things started for Ocean with his 17-2 win over Raritan's Chris Vanfechtman in the 112-pound final. Sophomore J.P Palandrano then followed with a hard-fought 11-7 overtime win over Keansburg's Adam Boyle in the 119-pound final.

The 119 final was one of the more anticipated bouts of the tournament, as Ocean junior Zac Coulas and Raritan senior T.J. Mitchell met in a match-up of two Region VI favorites. Coulas won this one, 3-1, following an early takedown in the first period. Those two could well meet again in the Region final.

Junior Nick Menditto looked ready for a run at Atlantic City with his 8-4 win over CBA's Joe Favia in the 145-pound final, while senior Joey Falco won the best match of the finals when he beat Raritan's Dave Seidenberg with a takedown in the closing seconds of the third overtime session of their 160-pound bout. With the 4-2 win, which had the crowd buzzing, Falco earned the tournament's Most Outstanding Wrestler Award, though it could have just as easily gone to the next two Ocean grapplers to take the mat - seniors Kyle Kiss and Jeff Siciliano.

Both Kiss and Siciliano dominated the competition in their respective weight classes (as expected), with Kiss claiming the 171-pound crown with a pin of Raritan's Dan Bilowus in 1:54, and Siciliano (the top-ranked 189-pounder in the state) making quick work of Middletown North's Rob Shope, pinning him in 39 seconds.

Those hoping to get a good look at Siciliano on Saturday didn't get much of a glimpse, because he spent a total of 68 seconds on the mat, pinning Raritan's Aaron Cruz in 29 seconds in the semifinals.

Ocean junior Andrew Van Dyke was the only Spartan not to win his final bout, losing to Raritan's Bill Voutsinas, 5-4, in another tough bout, which could resurface in the Region VI tournament.

Also advancing to this week's action for Ocean was senior J.J. Bradford, who bounced back from a loss to Monmouth Regional standout Anthony Bongarzone in a 152-pound semifinal to take third place with a pin of Middletown North's Brandon Vorrius in 2:33, and senior heavyweight Ted Konopka, who won his third-place bout, 2-1, in triple overtime over Middletown North's Blake Marron.

Bongarzone, a senior, became Monmouth Regional's all-time winningest wrestler when he beat Keansburg's George Neckles, 16-0, for the 152-pound title. Normally, a wrestler of Bongarzone's ability would be a favorite in the Region tournament. However, with Jackson's Scott Winston, who has never lost a high school match in three seasons, now wrestling at 152, Bongarzone certainly has his work cut our for him this weekend.

Red Bank seniors Lance Shea and Eli Goldman were the only other local wrestlers to advance out of this district, as Shea came back from a loss to Van Dyke in the 135-pound semifinals to beat Monmouth's Cory Sellers, 3-2, in their consolation bout, while Goldman, who lost to Shope, 12-5, in the semis, came back to pin Raritan's Crues in the third-place bout in 5:59.

Long Branch made a good run at the District 23 title, with a pair of Green Wave grapplers taking home individual titles, and another four losing in the finals.

In addition, three more Long Branch wrestlers took third, making it nine total wrestlers advancing to Region IV.

Scott Festejo got things going for Long Branch with his 103-pound finals win over Point Beach's John Paisi, 7-3. Senior Chris Menkin then gave Long Branch its other title when he beat Wall's Jeff Seidel, 6-4, in the 119-pound final.

Sophomore Justin Clarke fell in the 130-pound final, losing to Brick Memorial's Karon Reid via a pin, while impressive freshman Nick Visicaro lost in the 140-pound final to Wall's Blaine Woszczak, the school's first four-time district champion, 7-4. Visicaro gave Woszczak a tough match, further building his reputation as a budding star.

Next up for Long Branch was senior Sean Sims, the defending 160-pound champion, who lost a tough 6-4 overtime bout to Brick Memorial's Chris Giannos. Junior Shawn Brown then fell to Point Boro's Skylar Engelken in the 171-pound final, 7-2.

The other Green Wave grapplers to advance were junior Ray Stathum, who came back from a loss in the 125-pound semis to beat Shore Regional's Vinny Ricciardi with a pin in their third-place bout; sophomore Jon Robertson, who won his 130-pound third-place bout over Point Beach's Tyler Walengewicz, 7-2, after losing to Santos in the semis; and freshman Billy George, who took third with a 2-1 overtime win over Shore senior Jim Freudenberg.

Shore Regional senior 152-pounder Mike Polizois was the only other local wrestler to emerge out of this district, as he took third at 152, beating Long Branch junior Ryan Kirsch, 7-5, in their consolation bout. Polizois lost a tough 6-4 match to Neptune's Don Gutzmore, the eventual champion, in the semifinals.

The Region VI Tournament will be the final step toward AC. The top three finishers from each weight class will advance.

The tournament started Tuesday night with the second- and third-place finishers from the four Districts involved squaring off.

Friday is the quarterfinals and the start of the wrestle-backs, with Saturday the semifinals and finals.

The state championships are March 2-4.