Locals get ready for state wrestling tourney

The Long Branch High School wrestling team enjoyed its finest season in the program's history this winter, winning its first Shore Conference Tournament and Group III championships.

CHRIS KELLY staff Ocean Township's Nick Menditto tries to pull Freehold Township's Ryan Fry inbounds to score a takedown during their 152-pound quarterfinal bout at the NJSIAA Region VI Wrestling Tournament held at the Ritacco Center, Toms River, on Feb. 29. Menditto is last year's 145-pound state champion and is the top seed in this year's 152-pound bracket at the state championships which start tomorrow in Atlantic City. The Ocean Township Spartans, though not quite as successful as a team as they have been in recent years, still put together a solid season despite facing arguably the state's toughest schedule.

However, this weekend, it's not about what these two teams have been able to accomplish. This weekend, it's time for their superstars to individually represent their squads on the state's ultimate stage.

This weekend, the Wave and Spartans will send a combined eight wrestlers toAtlantic City to compete in the state championships, where many of the Shore Conference's elite wrestlers are expected to challenge for titles once again, after dominating the competition last year with 12 wrestlers reaching the finals, and five winning titles.

Leading the list of locals with championship aspirations is Ocean's Nick Menditto, last year's 145-pound champ, who is back to chase down the 152-pound title.

Menditto was one of the more unlikely champions last year, admitting following his win over Southern's Luke Lanno in the final that even he was a bit surprised to be a state champ. This year, however, Menditto will not be sneaking up on anyone.

The Spartan senior has been downright dominant all season, giving Jackson Memorial's Scott Winston (who looks to become a three-time state champ and finish his brilliant career undefeated this weekend) his toughest match of the season during an all-star meet.

Menditto cruised to a Region VI title at Southern Regional over the weekend, dominating the 152-pound bracket in impressive fashion. After tech falling Freehold Township's Matt Frye, 15-0, in the quarterfinals, Menditto beat Long Branch's Nick Visicaro, 5-3, in a tough semifinal match. That put him in the final against Southern's Brian Broderick, where he used three takedowns to beat Broderick, 7-1, for the title.

Menditto enters the weekend as the top seed in the top bracket at 152 pounds, and will face the winner of a first-round match between Plainfield's Dawud Hicks (28-5) and Don Bosco Prep's Brian Dack (30-9) on Friday.

Seeding for this weekend's tournament was done in two half brackets for each weight class, based mostly on each wrestlers' past state tournament performances, as well as any head-to-head scenarios. The eight region champs in each weight class receive a top seed in one of the brackets, based on the aforementioned criteria. Among the eight region champs, the first, fourth, fifth and eighth seeds go in the top bracket, with the second, third, sixth and seventh seeds going into the bottom bracket.

Region runners-up then go into the opposite half-bracket from their region champion, along with their respective region third-place finisher.

Ocean senior Zac Coulas, who was third in the state at 112 two years ago and eighth last year at 125, also captured a Region VI title over the weekend, beating Wall Township'sMike Tancredi, 8-3, in the 130-pound final. After scoring an early takedown and scoring an escape to start the second for a 3-0 lead, Coulas scored another takedown to go up 5-0, before Tancredi scored a takedown of his own after starting the third neutral.

However, Coulas escaped and scored another takedown to put the match out of reach.

His title came after an impressive 8-0 win over Matawan's Johnny Short in the semis after being awarded a forfeit in the quarterfinals.

Coulas was given a No. 1 seed in the bottom bracket and will face the winner of the first-round match between Passaic Valley's Andre Greco (27-10) and Collingswood's Brian Hairston (26-13) on Friday.

Three-time state place winner Andrew Van Dyk also earned another trip to AC with a resilient third-place showing at 145 pounds.After pinning CBA's DylanMeade in the quarterfinals in 2:52, the Ocean senior dropped a tough 2-1 bout to Brick Memorial's Steve Santos in the semifinals. He then fought back to score a dramatic 3-2 triple-overtime win over Southern's Franklin Miele in their semifinal wrestleback to earn a spot in the consolation final. Van Dyk fell behind early, 6-1, to Pinelands'Rob Semprevivo before turning the match around, building an 11-6, and pinning Semprevivo to earn his spot in AC, where he will face Queen of Peace's Dominic Maurillo (32-4) on Friday, with the winner to get Camden Catholic's

Jackson Brady (29-4), the state's fifthplace finisher at 145 last year, lost in the second round.

Senior Mike Berardesco will be the fourth Spartan in AC this weekend after capturing third at 112 pounds in Region VI. The scrappy Spartan opened the tournament with a 3-0 win over Freehold Township's Gene Accardi, before being pinned in the semifinals by Toms River South's Mark Maestry in 5:52 in their semifinal bout. However, Berardesco came back to tech fall Brick Memorial's D.J. Santos, 18-2, in just 3:39, before beating Accardi again, 8-4, in the consolation final to get back to Atlantic City. His reward is a first-round match with Hunterdon Central's Brian Betis (31-7), with the winner to get Hackensack'sAnthony Racioppi (27- 6), the third seed in the bottom bracket.

Second-place finishers Jon Robertson and Ameer Washington lead Long Branch's contingent of wrestlers who advanced.

Robertson opened his tournament in the 140-pound bracket with an 11-5 win over Point Boro's Tyler Walengawicz. He then beat Raritan's Bob Hornacek, 3-2, in the semifinals to earn a shot at the title. Unfortunately, he was unable to seal the deal, losing to Brick Memorial's Karon Reid for the second time this year. Robertson took the early lead in this one with a first-period takedown, before Reid escaped to make it 2-1. After Reid rode Robertson out in the second, Reid tied the score with an escape in the third. The Mustang then scored a takedown with just 25 seconds left, and added three backpoints for the 7- 2 win.

On Friday, Robertson, who got the third seed in the top bracket at 140, will open againstWilliamstown's C.J. Cob (32- 6).

Washington ran into one of the Region's hottest wrestlers in Howell's Harry Turner in the heavyweight final, and was unable to overcome Turner's speed, losing a 13-7 bout. Turner took control early on, getting two takedowns in the first to build a 4-2 lead. Washington got to within 4-3 with an escape in the second, but it was all Turner from there as the 215-pound Rebel emerged as one of the favorites in the heavyweight division going into this weekend.

On Friday, Washington, the fourth seed in the bottom bracket, will face Perth Amboy's Joel Perez (29-4), with the winner to get Newton's EdMattice, who is undefeated on the year at 38-0.

Long Branch's Justin Clarke will also be inAtlantic City this weekend after taking third at 135 pounds. Clarke opened up his tournament with a 5-0 win over Jackson's Doug Hamm in the quarterfinals. He then lost via a pin to Southern's Nick Maugeri in the semifinals, before beating Monmouth Regional's Cory Sellers, 8-2, in their wrestleback bout. That set up his consolation bout, where he beat Brick Memorial's Don Miller, 10-2. Clarke will face Roxbury's Anthony Dattolo (35-4) on Friday, with the winner to get Kingsway's John Renaud (35-3).

Sophomore Billy George will also look to make an impression on the state's best wrestlers this weekend as he competes in the 189-pound bracket. George took third in Region VI, beating Brick Memorial's BillyMiller, 3-0, in their consolation final. That win came after beat CBA's Ted Callis, 3-2, and Toms Rive South's Joe Birmingham, 5-1, earlier in the tournament. His loss came to Brick's John Battista, 4- 0, in the semifinals.

The talented sophomore will certainly be tested early on during his first trip to A.C., drawing a first-round match-up with Rutherford's Nick Zurla (32-5). Should he win that match, he'll face the weight class's top seed, Tyler Smith from Belleville, who enters the tournament at 32-1.

George and his teammates will certainly be in good hands this weekend, as they are guided through the tournament by the Region VI Coach of the Year (and Billy George's uncle) Dan George.

Although last year's incredible showing at the State Championships in Atlantic City will certainly be tough to duplicate, there will be another strong contingent of Shore Conference grapplers making the trip down the Garden State Parkway on Friday. Led by Winston and Menditto, there will be 29 Shore wrestlers looking to earn the top spot on the podium this weekend.