Menditto leads Ocean Twp. wrestlers at state meet
152-pounder becomes two-time champion
BY DOUG McKENZIE Staff Writer
For the second year in a row, the entire state ofNewJersey haswitnessed just how strong Shore Conference wrestling has become.

JEFF GRANIT staff Ocean Township's Nick Menditto (r) grapples with J.P. Stevens Greg Zannetti during their 152-pound championship match on Sunday at the NJSIAA wrestling tournament at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City. Menditto won the match by a score of 10-2.

After setting a state record with five individual titles at last year's StateWrestling Championships in Atlantic City, Shore wrestlers fared even better this time around, capturing seven titles and 22 top eight finishes overall over theweekend atBoardwalk Hall.

As expected, senior Nick Menditto of Ocean Township rolled through the 152- pound bracket as the top seed. Menditto, who won the state crown last year at 145 pounds, was methodical, technical and essentially unbeatable throughout the course of theweekend, capping off a 40-2 senior season with a second state championship.

"It's definitely satisfying," the soft-spoken grappler said following his 10-2 finals victory over J.P. Stevens'Greg Zannetti.

His victory over Zannetti was a typical Menditto effort - jump out to an early lead with a textbook takedown, then attack the opponent's weakness to distance oneself. In what was probably the most ho-hum match of the championship round, Menditto affirmed his status as the top 152-pounder in the state.

In last year's final against a heavily favored Luke Lanno,Menditto won a thrilling quadruple-overtime affair thanks in part to some controversial stalling calls against Lanno. The calls, and the capacity crowd's reaction to them, took some of the shine off Menditto's title, as he walked off the mat to a chorus of boos, directed at thematch's official. Those boos still lingered during the awards ceremony following the next match, and was fodder among wrestling message boards for weeks following the match.

"I wasn't really thinking about that," he said. He was a little more insightful when asked about the differences between last year's title chase and this year's.

"It was a little bit tougher (this year) because everyone is trying to get you," he said. "You're the first seed so you're expecting to win. So it feels very good to do that."

After beating Don Bosco Prep's Brian Dack, 7-1, in the first round on Friday,Menditto then beat North Warren's Kevin Brown, 7-2, in the quarterfinals. That set up a semifinal bout with South Brunswick's Ryan Smith, who lost a tough 3-1 match to the Spartan senior.

In his win over Zannetti with a two-finger gesture,Menditto showedmore emotion in one simple action than he did over the course of the entire tournament combined. And for good reason too. He is now a twotime state champion taking his talents to Rutgers University, along with a handful of other top performers from this weekend's tournament, includingWinston.

Mike Berardesco was not expected to be much of a threat in the 112-pound bracket this past weekend.

After earning his trip with a third-place showing in the Region VI tournament, Berardesco made the best of his opportunity, showing everyone that he was much more than an also-ran. The gutsy senior, who entered the weekend's action with a 52-22 career mark that included three District 22 titles, made his first trip down to A.C. a memorable one,winning four bouts en route to reaching the final.

Unfortunately, his Cinderella story ended there, as Howell Joey Langel found a way to halt themomentumthat Berardesco brought into the finalwith a 6-2win, and his first state title.

"I knew he was a great wrestler, and I knewI'd have to pull out everything I had to beat him," a humble Berardesco said following the final. " I guess it just wasn't my time."

Langel jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first, before Berardesco tied it with a tilt in the second period. Langel then countered with a reversal and rode out the Spartan for the rest of the period. He later added two more points in the third, when Berardesco was left looking for an elusive takedown to tie it up.

"Itwas pretty straightforward.He gotme up two and just rode me out," Berardesco said following the bout. "Iwas going for anything that would work, a throw or an inside trip, but he's pretty good and he countered everything."

"I was hoping to get the first takedown," said Langel. "Thatwasmymain goal, just to get on the board first and get the advantage.

"He showed me basically what I expected," the Howell senior added. " I mean, we've been wrestling each other since middle school. We both go to Shore Thing (wrestling club), so we know each other like the back of our hands."

After beating New Egypt's Tom Morton, 7-0, on Saturday morning, Berardesco drew Queen of Peace's Frank Cagnina, who entered the bout with a 39-1 record. Berardesco, however,was not intimidated, andwent on to shock Cagnina, 5-4, to earn his shot at the finals.

Sunday morning, Ocean Township head coach Ken Hoff and one of his assistants were forced to test thewaters of theAtlantic Ocean as part of a deal made with Berardesco. The dealwas simple - beat Cagnina and Hoff and his assistant coachwould go swimming.

Andrew Van Dyk helped make history. The Spartan senior was part of a one-twothree Shore Conference sweep of the 145- pound bracket, with Byrnes taking first, Brick Memorial's Steve Santos taking second, and Van Dyk, now a four-time state placewinner, third.

'It's pretty amazing to have all three guys from Region VI go one-two-three," he said, after beating Kingsway's Rich Busby, 1-0, in the third-place bout.

After beating Queen of Peace's Dominic Maurillo, 3-0, in his opening bout on Friday night,VanDyk then beat CamdenCatholic's Jackson Brady, 1-0, in the second round.

In Saturday's quarterfinals, he beatHigh Point's Gavin Tarsa with a pin in 1:41 to earn a shot at Santos in the semifinals.

Van Dyk fell behind early in that bout, thoughmany felt hewas on thewrong end of a bad call by the official. He struggled to recover, and lost to the BrickMemorial senior, 4-3.

"What killed me was just that call in the first period," Van Dyk said. " A lot of people were saying bad call, and it just stinks that I lost to that. I wish it was just a loss and I wasn't beat by the ref."

Despite his disappointment, Van Dyk stillmanaged to come back and beat St.Augustine's Mike Digalbo in the wrestlebacks to get a spot in the third-place bout, and go out a winner.

Zac Coulas was the fourth Ocean wrestler to walk away a winner this weekend by taking fifth place in the 130-pound bracket.

After beating Collingswood's BrianHairston on Friday night, 16-1, Coulas then lost to Walkill Valley's Kodie Silvestri, 12-2, in the second round. Silverstri went on to take second in the weight class, losing to Kittatinny's Derek Valenti, 1-0, in the final.

As for Coulas, he rebounded with a 12-4 win over Fair Lawn's Joe Kover Saturday morning, then beat Parsippany's Kyle Hussey, 12-5. With a chance to get to the third-place bout on the line, Coulas then lost to Phillipsburg's LukeGrassi, 9-5, setting up his fifth-place bout with Livingston's Zach Kane, a bout that Coulas dominated en route to a 5-0 win.

Like Berardesco, Coulas was able to put his finish in perspective rather quickly.

"I didn't achieve my main goal, but I think I did pretty good," he said.