Bound Brook Wrestling

2014-15 SEASON RECAP:

GREAT GROUP OF SENIORS COMPLETE A FOURFECTA

                   While there was individual talent returning to the Bound Brook wrestling team for the 2014-15 season, the belief that the team could remain in the National rankings for a third consecutive year was somewhat doubtful. Not only did the team graduate five State qualifiers, they also lost a State Champion to transfer and two freshman wrestlers transferred out  right before and at the beginning of the season respectively. This left the team with a eternal forfeit during the season; but hey, matches are wrestled on the mat and that’s what did the Crusaders did. They did it well winning County, District, Region and Group I State titles and a final Intermat ranking of 41^st in the Country. But like every season, what a strange, wonderful journey it was.

                    The season started in scenic central Pennsylvania coal country as the Crusaders wrestled in the inaugural Flo Excalibur Tournament. The stakes were high in this tournament as the team would be competing against one of the best teams in the Nation, Wyoming Seminary and for swords if they won the Championship. Sem certainly lived up to their billing as they defeated the Crusaders by a wide margin, the swords not so much. However, the Crusaders did have a few Champions as Nick Accetta (132), Stephan Glasgow (145) and Sean Glasgow (152) all won Championships. One further honor was bestowed upon Nick Accetta as he was voted Outstanding Wrestler of the tournament.

                    After a quiet pre-Christmas where the Crusaders wrestled only one dual meet which was a win against St. Joseph Montvale, the team loaded onto a plane and flew to Minnesota for their third time at the Clash National Wrestling Duals. Although maybe not the charm, the third time at the Clash was a great success as the Crusaders finished the tournament with a 5-1 record and won the “B” Bracket, which meant they finished fifth out of thirty two teams. Our best finish ever and to boot Nick Accetta was honored again as he was named to the scholar athlete all tournament team and Sean Glasgow was named to the all tournament team. Plus, Joe Casey (106),  Mekhi Lewis (132), Stephan Glasgow and Sean Glasgow all finished the tournament undefeated. This was remarkable as only Zach Vatalare finished the tournament undefeated in the Crusaders previous two journey’s to the Clash.

            From this point on, things got a little tough as the first obstacle the Crusaders faced was a long drive (that’s right drive!) from Minnesota. However, the team despite the lack of practice still defeated Hunterdon Central and won the Somerset County Tournament the next week. The Crusaders fourth County title was as impressive as ever as the team had ten finalists and eight Champions as Joe Casey, Nick Accetta, Mekhi Lewis, Stephan Glasgow, Sean Glasgow, George Walton (160) Josh Ugalde (182) and Abe Saavedra (220) won titles. Placing second were Anthony Lopez (113) and Aaron Saavedra (195), while Tyler McIntosh (126) and Andrew Gombas (170) placed third.

            Unfortunately, the Crusaders then suffered a rash of sickness and unaggressive wrestling which cost them two duals against Phillipsburg and Delbarton in  three days, which would be the second and third losses of the season. However, the team continued to battle on with a few solid wins but a loss against St. Peter’s Prep on the world’s smallest wrestling mat in the finals of the Jack Welch Duals.

            The Crusaders then roared through the Sectional wrestling tournament defeating Manville and Belvidere by a combined 116-21 score, then defeating Pompton Lakes in the Group I semi-finals by a 63-12 score. This left them with a match against a 25-0 Paulsboro team which most ‘experts’ thought the senior-laden Paulsboro team would win. This was not to be as the Crusaders won the match by a 41-18 score with two cherries on top provided by Anthony Lopez and Tyler McIntosh who both defeated Paulsboro State qualifiers in their matches. The end result was the Crusader’s and senior classes fourth Group I State Championship. A fourfecta!

            At this point all that was left was the best part of the season, the quest for individual State Championships. As par usual the quest started at Hillsborough High School at the District 18 Tournament and despite suffering a upset in the first match of the tournament, the Crusaders rolled to their fourth consecutive title with a impressive eleven finalists and ten Champions, which tied a team and tournament record. District Champs were Joe Casey, Nick Accetta, Mekhi Lewis, Stephan Glasgow, Sean Glasgow, George Walton, Josh Ugalde (170), Andrew Gombas (182), Aaron Saavedra (195) and Abe Saavedra. Also qualifying for Regions was Tyler McIntosh.

            At Regions the Crusaders were voted Team of the Year for the fourth consecutive year and set a Region 5 record with six individual Champions and eight State qualifiers…Dang! Champs included Joe Casey, Mekhi Lewis, Stephan Glasgow, Sean Glasgow, Josh Ugalde and Aaron Saavedra. While State qualifiers included Nick Accetta who placed second and Abe Saavedra who placed third. Also placing at Regions was George Walton with a fourth place finish.

            All that was left was the final tournament of a great season which of course was the State Championships in Atlantic City. After a great weekend at the shore, the tournament was all at once was the best of times and it was the worst of times as the Crusaders ended up with their most State place-winners and finalists in school history, but alas, no State Champions. Being a part of history for the Crusaders were Joe Casey who placed seventh, Mekhi Lewis who placed third and runner-ups Stephan Glasgow, Sean Glasgow and Josh Ugalde.

            So despite losing five State qualifiers, the Crusaders produced another National ranking, a 22-5 final record, the Senior classes fourth County, District 18, Region 5 and Group I State Championship and five New Jersey State place winners. Plus, they were one of the most enjoyable team the coaches have ever witnessed and coached. Well done Gentlemen and Naz too!

2014-15 FINAL INDIVIDUAL RECORDS

Don Bosco gets a dose of reality

SUNDAY, JANUARY 19, 2014

BY  GREGORY SCHUTTA

STAFF WRITER

THE RECORD

BOUND BROOK – Don Bosco has been riding high lately with a huge win in the Virginia Duals and its lineup getting healthy at just the right time.

But Saturday afternoon, the Ironmen went into Bound Brook and were brought back to earth – hard – by the Crusaders, 36-19, in a showdown of top 5 wrestling teams in the state.

"They punched us in the mouth and we had no answer for it," Bosco coach Chris Bitetto said after the Crusaders handed the Ironmen their first loss of the season. "They came right out ready to wrestle."

The Crusaders won 10 of the 14 bouts, earning bonus points in five of them to avenge last year’s meeting, when Bosco won with a win in the final bout.

Returning state champion Craig Delacruz won the feature bout of the day with a 3-1 decision over Bosco’s Kyle Bierdumpfel, a returning state runner-up, at 126.

"We thought we potentially could win at 120, 126 and 152," said Bitetto, whose team cruised to a 69-6 victory over Newark Academy in its other match at the tri-meet. "Obviously they have a state champion at 126, but we have a state runner-up who is also very good."

But it was Bound Brook that took full control early.

Bosco’s Dominick Mandarino dropped a 7-6 decision to Stephan Glasgow at 120, giving up the winning takedown with three seconds remaining after controlling Glasgow for most of the final two periods.

Delacruz then outlasted Bierdumpfel in the hard-fought bout at 126.

Returning state champ Luis Gonzalez got Bosco (10-1) back in the running with a first-period pin at 132 to cut Bound Brook’s lead to 11-10. But the Crusaders went on a tear, winning the next five bouts and earning bonus points in three of them to take a 29-10 lead with four bouts remaining.

"Craig has done that a thousand times, winning a close match like that," Bound Brook coach Shaun Cleary said. "We did feed off that momentum."

Returning state place-winners Luke Farinaro and Zack Chakonis tried to keep the Ironmen in it in the upper weights.

Farinaro bumped up to 182 to face Bound Brook ace Isaiah Soto and came away with a come-from-behind 3-2 victory in overtime. Chakonis wasted little time with a first-period pin at 220.

"Luke is not afraid to wrestle from behind," Bitetto said of Farinaro, who tied the bout on a stall call late in the third and won in overtime when Soto was called for an illegal move. "Luke gets stronger as the match goes on."

Now it’s Bosco that will be looking for more strength as it goes from one hostile environment in Bound Brook to another in Jersey City, where the Ironmen will face another state-ranked opponent in St. Peter’s on Monday morning.

"The coaches have been talking all year about this match and St. Peter’s," Bitetto said of the back-to-back challenges. "But the coaches can only say so much. Eventually it’s got to come down to leadership from [the wrestlers]."

Accetta bridges the gap

By: Harry Frezza for the Courier News

1/19/14

BOUND BROOK — Bound Brook junior Nick Accetta has bridged the gap as Sean Glasgow has recovered from surgery to repair a dislocated left elbow suffered in football season.

Though his record hasn’t reflected it, Accetta has been a stalwart for the Crusaders at his regular spot at 138 pounds and up at 145 where he was Saturday for the fifth time this season against Don Bosco Prep.

Accetta (11-9) scored an 11-3 major over Jesse Reiter to give the Crusaders (7-4) a 19-10 lead on their way to a 36-19 victory. Bound Brook, which beat Newark Academy in its first match of the day, was No. 1 in last week’s Courier News Top 10 and fifth in the New Jersey Writers Association Top 20. Don Bosco (9-1) was third.

Don Bosco beat Bound Brook 32-31 on criteria last season and Accetta and teammates were very aware of how important bonus points — giving — and taking would be. Accetta lost 8-1 at 138 in that match.

“Before my match the coaches told me I had to get bonus (points), last year I didn’t win and we lost by the tiebreaker, so this year I had to get my takedowns and come out and do my job,” said Accetta, the county champ at 138.

“I think it’s the strongest we’ve wrestled all year,” he added.

Bound Brook won 10 bouts.

Senior Nick Limenza (106) won by technical fall, freshman Mekhi Lewis (138) and seniors Ryan Doerr (170) and Ronald Picado (195) and Accetta won major decisions. Doerr, who will play baseball at Ramapo College, improved his record to 16-4.

Freshman 120-pounder Stephan Glasgow (9-0) — brother of Sean who could be back this week — beat Dominick Marandino 7-6 on a takedown with four seconds left in regulation, and junior Andrew Gombas (152) beat Ryan Forero 5-3 in sudden death overtime. Picado extended the lead to an insurmountable 33-16 lead.

Junior Josh Ugalde won 1-0 at 160 and senior 285-pounder Mike Johnson beat 6-foot-7 junior Kevin Feder, a tackle during football season.

Junior 126-pounder Craig De La Cruz, 15-1, the state champ at 120 last year, won 3-1 over sophomore Kyle Bierfumpfel. Bierfumpfel was state runner-up at 106 last year to Bergen Catholic’s Nick Suriano.

Bound Brook was without Sean Glasgow and sophomore Abe Saavedra (182) and Don Bosco was without freshman 113-pounder Avery Shay and junior 126-pounder Sam Cali. Sean Glasgow, a Region V champ last year, could be back any day.

“We won all the close matches, we got bonus where we needed bonus and we didn’t give up bonus where we couldn’t give up bonus, we got pinned twice, but other than that the kids did their job this time,” said coach Shaun Cleary.

De La Cruz, Johnson (4-0) and Ugalde (15-2) were all state place winners last year — Johnson placing fifth at 285 and Ugalde sixth at 152. Accetta got a very good sample of state place winners, especially from Illinois, Iowa and Minnesota and at the Clash Tournament earlier this month in Minnesota. Accetta went 0-6, but allowed just one bonus point loss — a 17-6 decision to Logan Ryan of Bettendorf, Iowa. Ryan is 31-1 and ranked No. 1 at 138 in Iowa’s 3A group.

“Nick’s probably one of the best 11-9 kids in the country,” Cleary said. “He’s wrestled eight or nine kids who are ranked in their respective states. He bumped up to 45 tree times and wrestled kids who ranked at 45 three times , and he wrestled at 38 and wrestled three more kids who were state ranked in that weight.”

BOUND BROOK TOPPLES DON BOSCO

By: Joe Kania for the Star Ledger/NJO

1/24/14

Almost everyone in Bound Brook's gym Saturday was surprised at how handily Bound Brook, No. 4 in The Star-Ledger Top 20, defeated No. 2 Don Bosco Prep -- except for the Bound Brook wrestlers and coaches.

Bound Brook claimed 10 of 14 weight classes in recording a 36-19 victory.

"Yeah, this is how I foresaw it," Bound Brook coach Shaun Cleary said. "It wasn't a surprise for us. We know what we're capable of doing, it's just a matter of going out and doing it. That's it."

Bound Brook received bonus points in half of the team's victories.

Gonazalo Limenza recorded a technical fall at 113 pounds over Robert Aloro in the second bout of the dual to put Bound Brook ahead, 5-4, while Mekhi Lewis (138), Nick Accetta (145), Ryan Doerr (170) and Ronald Picado (220) all picked up major decisions.

Bound Brook was just as impressive in its close victories. At 120 pounds, freshman Stephan Glasgow scored a takedown with four seconds left on the clock to defeat Dominick Mandarino, 7-6. His victory put Bound Brook up, 8-4 -- a lead it wouldn't surrender.

"I was calm late in the third period because I knew I was well-conditioned," Glasgow said. "He looked a little tired so I just tried to push the pace. It felt great. The crowd and everyone, they were really into it and hyped. I just wanted to go out and win and dominate."

At 126 pounds, Craig De La Cruz, the 120-pound state champion from a year ago, met Don Bosco's Kyle Bierdumpfel, a state finalist at 106 last season. De La Cruz, currently the top-ranked wrestler at 126, downed No. 3 Bierdumpfel, 3-1.

"He took second last year, I obviously knew that," De La Cruz said. "He's a great kid and a great wrestler. I just went out there and controlled the match and just did what I wanted to do -- score the first points. I had a couple takedowns that I could have had. I just wanted to dominate."

State-ranked wrestlers also met at 182 pounds, but this time Don Bosco came out on top. Luke Farinaro, ranked No. 2 at 170, met Isiah Soto, ranked No. 6 at 170, at 182 and Farinaro came out with a 3-2 victory. The two were tied, 2-2, heading toward overtime before Soto was penalized one point for an illegal head scissor.

Evan DeLuise (106) picked up a major decision for Don Bosco with an 11-0 victory over Anthony Lopez while Luis Gonzalez, the No. 5-ranked wrestler at 120, pinned George Walton in 1:07 at 132.

Both teams were shorthanded due to injuries.