Old Bridge repeats as District 20 champion
BY GEORGE ALBANO
Staff Writer

SCOTT PILLING staff South Brunswick’s Vinnie Biondo tries to pin Old Bridge’s Brian Suozzo during a 119-pound bout at the District 20 wrestling tournament at South Brunswick High School on Saturday.

Old Bridge High School wrestling coach Ken Scott was actually worried about this year’s team.

Of course, that sounds strange now, especially after the Knights captured their second consecutive District 20 championship last weekend and advanced eight wrestlers to this week’s NJSIAA Region 5 tournament.

But coming into the 2004-05 season, Scott certainly had his doubts.

“I never had so many questions coming into a season,” Scott, in his 28th season at Old Bridge, said. “We were so young. This was one season I was really worried about.

“I was even wondering if we’d be .500,” he added. “I really thought this was going to be the season I had been dreading for 28 years. I thought it had finally caught up with me. But we surprised a few people.”

Most of all himself. All the Knights did was go 12-3 during the dual meet season, win the Red Division championship, and then finish runner-up at the GMC tournament.

In fact, Old Bridge placed second behind only South Plainfield, the No. 2-ranked team in the state.

“Our only loss in the county was to them, too,” Scott pointed out. “We also went outside our area, and beat Wall, Manchester and Raritan, all Top 20 teams.

“That kind of elevated our team. I don’t know if we were better than those teams, but we moved the right people around.”

At one point this season, the surprising Knights even cracked the state’s Top 20 themselves.

“We tickled with that for a week or two,” Scott laughed. “But we really wanted to win our division. Once I saw how our team looked, I thought we were equal to many of the teams and I felt we had at least a shot to win the division.”

He was right. In the end, the breaks all went Old Bridge’s way.

“We had one match against Perth Amboy where we won three overtime matches to pull out the win,” Scott noted. “Then against Piscataway, we had a freshman who was getting beat pin his opponent in the last 10 seconds to give us the win. So everything went our way.

“It was that kind of a season. If we had one kid out of the lineup or one miscue, we could have lost three or four matches very easily. We had a young team and we were hopeful, but I didn’t expect them to do what they did. Some freshmen and sophomores really stepped up, though, and helped us out. So I was very, very pleased.”

If Scott was pleased with the regular season, he had to be downright ecstatic with last weekend’s District 20 Championships at South Brunswick High School.

The Knights racked up 163 points to outdistance runner-up South Brunswick with 147 and third-place Sayreville with 141.5. The result was a second straight district title.

“Our kids wrestled well, and I was very happy,” Scott, who has won 14 district crowns in his 28 years, said. “It was one of our big goals for the season, and we accomplished it.”

What’s more, the top three finishers in each of the 14 weight classes advanced to the regionals at the Hunterdon Central Fieldhouse, and Old Bridge qualified eight. Among them were district champions Steve Fallon at 103 pounds and Mike VanderValk at 140.

Fallon, only a sophomore and a third-place finisher a year ago, was the top seed in his weight class and recorded three straight first-period pins en route to the championship.

“He didn’t get out of the first period the whole tournament,” Scott said of the 23-1 Fallon. “He’s probably our most dominant wrestler. He’s ranked second or third in the state, and he’s in a weight class where there are a lot of young kids. Plus, he’s a club kid, so he’s very experienced. He has a great future ahead of him.”

Fallon was so impressive at the district tourney that he was named the co-Most Outstanding Wrestler along with Scott Poore, Sayreville’s 135-pounder.

Meanwhile, VanderValk, the Knights’ two-year senior captain and district runner-up at 135 last year, was the top seed at 140 this season and scored a 5-1 decision in the final to up his record to 23-6.

“He’s been a great performer for us all season,” Scott said. “He works extremely hard, he’s a great leader and a bright student. He’s the whole package.

“He’s not the strongest or fastest kid, but he gets the job done. He just works his way through.”

In addition, junior Andrew Goldman (22-6) at 130 pounds, sophomore Chris Orzechowski (17-7) at 152, and senior Atnan Ramadani (19-9) at 215 pounds, each made it to the finals and finished runner-up. Ramadani, a No. 1 seed, lost by a point in the finals, while Goldman was a second seed and Orzecowski a third.

Freshman John Guisti (10-10) at 112 pounds, sophomore Eddie Ebewo (18-2) at 145, and senior tri-captain Frank Lillis (20-7) at 275 all added third-place finishes to qualify for the regional tournament.

Old Bridge had three more wrestlers finish fourth, including junior Brian Souzzo, the top seed at 119 pounds, who nearly made it to the finals, but was upset with 10 seconds to go in his semifinal match. His brother, Chris Souzzo, a freshman, also placed fourth at 135 pounds, while Billy Dunn, the other senior tri-captain, was fourth at 160 pounds.

It all added up to another district championship by Scott and the Knights.

“We had a lot of pins in the first round which helped, and a lot of kids advanced,” the coach said. “We had an early lead and then we were tough to catch. What happened, too, was the other two teams chasing us knocked each other off, which helped.

“South Brunswick and Sayreville were right on our heels, and going into the finals they both mathematically still had a chance to catch us. South Brunswick had five or six kids in the finals, but only two of them won. Sayreville had four winners and they helped us by knocking off some South Brunswick kids.”

The wins by Fallon and VanderValk in the finals sealed the title for Old Bridge.

While district champs received a first-round bye, the second- and third-place finishers in each weight class were scheduled to wrestle Tuesday, but the weather postponed those matches to Wednesday. Everyone is then re-seeded when wrestling resumes Friday night and all day Saturday.

The top three finishers at the Region 5 tournament then advances to the 72nd NJSIAA state tournament March 11-13 at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City.

“We want to send as many wrestlers as possible to the state tournament,” Scott, who led Old Bridge to the 1990 Group IV state championship, said. “It will be difficult, but we might have one or two.

“This team has met every goal so far,” he added. “It was a young team, but a lot of young wrestlers stepped in and took over, particularly in the middle of the lineup. We only have four seniors, too, so most of them will be back, which is nice.”

And maybe Ken Scott won’t be quite as worried going into next season.

South Brunswick’s second-place effort was led by Justin DelPiano and Derek Shelcusky, who both won individual titles.

DelPiano won the 145-pound title with a 7-1 win over Sayreville’s Tom Danielson in the 145-pound final. The Viking junior was dominant throughout the tournament, recording pins in both the quarter and semifinals.

As for Shelcusky, he won his second consecutive District 20 title with a 1-0 win over Old Bridge’s Atnan Ramadani in the 215-pound final.

Both Viking winners will be back in action tomorrow night when the Region V tournament resumes at Hunterdon Central. Last night, a number of second- and third-place finishers at the District 20 tournament were back in action in the region’s preliminary round.

Vinnie Biondo, who took second at 119 on Saturday to Sayreville’s Eric Tsang, was hoping to advance to tomorrow night’s action, as was teammate Bobby Ayala, who took second at 135 in District 20.

Kyle Wadiak was second at 160, while Matt Clancy fell in the 189-pound final to defending champ Vincent Otero of Sayreville, 6-4.

Also in action last night was Ryan Smith (third at 125).

North Brunswick sent two wrestlers to the Region V tournament, starting with Nick Gambino, the 125-pound champ from District 20.

Gambino beat Monroe’s Justin Bauman, 8-6, to win the title, and advance to tomorrow night’s region action.

His teammate, Billy Belfi (second at 103), was in action in last night’s preliminary round. Belfi lost the 103-pound final to Old Bridge’s Steve Fallon via a pin on Saturday.