While Tigers roll, locals enjoy strong showings
BY DOUG McKENZIE
Staff Writer

Above, North Brunswick's Billy Belfi escapes the hold of East Brunswick's Matt Ackermann during a 119-pound quarterfinal match at the GMC Tournament in Piscataway on Saturday. Below, South Brunswick's Ryan Smith attempts to pin Joseph LaRocca in a 140-pound match.

South Plainfield is the top team in the Greater Middlesex Conference.

We didn't need the GMC Tournament to tell us that, even though it did, with the Tigers winning their fourth straight team title, and ninth in the last 10 years.

What we didn't know going into the GMCT last weekend at Piscataway High School was where the rest of the conference's elite teams would finish, as well as who among the local area's top grapplers would emerge as individual champions.

While South Plainfield saw six wrestlers earn titles, Old Bridge reaffirmed its status as the conference's next-best team with 183 teams points and a trio of individual champions.

Locally, North Brunswick's Billy Belfi reached the 119-pound finals before falling to Perth Amboy's Gabriel Roman, 19-4. Roman pinned his way to the final and continued to impress against Belfi, last year's champ at 112 and the top seed. Belfi, who cruised to the final with a pin, a 6-2 win and a 2-1 win, fell to 18-2 with the loss.

PHOTOS BY JEFFGRANIT staff

South Brunswick, which finished tied with Woodbridge for 14th place with 43 points, was led by Ryan Smith's third-place finish at 140, and Malcolm McQueen's fourth-place finish at 171. Smith, who fell to eventual champion Joe MacAuley of Bishop Ahr, 5-4, in the semifinals, came back to beat Woodbridge's Will Buchan, 2-0, and South Plainfield's Nick Dorey, 12-4, to claim the third-place medal. Third place at 140 is quite a feat, considering the depth and talent of the 140-pound field at this year's GMCT. Smith will certainly be battle-tested once the district tournament rolls around next week.

Eddie Ebewo took home the first gold medal for the Knights when he won what many in attendance called the match of the tournament over JFK's Pete Simon, 9-8, in the 171-pound final. The top-seeded and undefeated Ebewo, who cruised to the final via a pin and a pair of technical falls (19-3 and 20-3), knew he was in for a battle, having already faced Simon (and pinned him) earlier in the season at the Hunterdon Central Tournament.

The match went into the third period this time, when Simon tied the score with a stalling point and a takedown late. He then allowed Ebewo to escape with 57 seconds left, giving the Old Bridge senior the one-point lead. Simon tried frantically to score another takedown to steal the win, but Ebewo (21-0) was able to hold him off and earn the title.

Old Bridge quickly got its second first-place finish at 189, where Chris Orzechowski also remained unbeaten (25-0) with a hard-fought 2-1 win over Middlesex's Joe Bozzomo. Orzechowski, who reached the final with a pin and a 6-2 win, scored the match's only takedown right before the buzzer to end the first period, then held on from there, allowing only an escape the rest of the way.

At 215, Old Bridge's Travis Gerdon rolled to the title, dominating JFK's Vin Maglione in the final, 11-0. Old Bridge's Troy DeCuester tried to make it four in a row at heavyweight, but dropped a tough 9-5 contest to Perth Amboy's Argenis Minaya in the heavyweight final.