S.B. hopes to continue wrestling resurrection
Vikings hope for continued resurgence under Dougherty
BY GEORGE ALBANO Staff Writer
It wasn't that long ago the South Brunswick High School wrestling program resembled - pardon the play on words - a near fall, and possibly not far from getting pinned.

As recently as two years ago, the Vikings, once a perennial GMC and district power, had only 18 wrestlers in their practice room and were forced to forfeit a few weight classes on days of matches.

But last season saw the SBHS program execute a reversal, as the numbers in the wrestling room climbed to over 30 kids and the Vikings improved from a 4-17 record in 2006 to 13-9.

This year the picture is even brighter on Ridge Road, with nearly 50 kids now in the program.

Yes, wrestling is not only alive and well at South Brunswick High, it's thriving.

"We have 47 kids, and that's great," said veteran head coach Joe Dougherty, beginning his 19th season at South Brunswick. "I'm really pleased with the number of kids in the room. High school wrestling looks to get as many kids as possible involved."

So why the big turnaround?

There have been several factors, but one of the biggest reasons has been the success of the middle school wrestling program in town, run by Tim Schnorbus, one of Dougherty's former assistant coaches.

The dividends of that feeder program began showing up last year when 14 freshmen came out.

"We have a significant number of freshmen this year, too. I think we had another 15 come out," Dougherty pointed out. "We have a decent number of sophomores as well."

Which means most of last year's freshmen have stuck with it. With back-to-back freshman classes like that, if the trend continues, it won't be long before the Vikings have over 60 wrestlers in the program.

"That's what we're kind of hoping will happen," Dougherty said.

But the Vikings also have a number of solid upperclassmen returning from a team that placed fourth in District 20 last season. Leading that contingent is senior Ryan Smith, who won the district championship at 140 pounds and was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Wrestler. He then went on to place third in the region and win his first-round match at the state tournament. Smith will move up to the 152-pound weight class this season.

Another key senior returnee is Anthony DelPiano, who placed in the districts at 152 pounds and will bump up to 171 this season. Meanwhile, Dave Amrhein, another senior who was a district runner-up and reached the regional semifinals, at 215 pounds as a sophomore, is moving up from 189 to 215 pounds this season.

A number of other letter winners from last season also return, including three more seniors: Joe Biondo at either 119 or 125, Brett Griffin at 160, and Evan

Nathanson, who will move up

from 215 to heavyweight.

Meanwhile, juniors Cody Shelcusky, who will

move up from 145 and

wrestle either 152 or 160,

Colin Preacher, up from

119 to 125, Manny Ortiz at 130 or 135, and Edmond Jasabe, up from 135 to either 140 or 145, are also back.

So is sophomore Michael MacMurray, who saw some varsity action at 130 as a freshman and will be at the same weight class or at 135 this season.

The Vikings also received a nice boost with the return of junior Kevin Wadiak and senior Matt Vahabi, who both wrestled as freshmen, then left the program, but have come back out this season. Wadiak will help out at either 130 or 135 pounds, while Vahabi can see action anywhere between 145 and 160 pounds.

South Brunswick opens the 2007-08 season a week from Saturday with a home quad meet against Warren Hills, West Windsor North and Middlesex. The Vikings hope it will be the start of another successful season, but Dougherty remains cautious.

"If you look at our experience, we have a lot of kids bunched in the same weight classes," he said. "We have several kids between 115 and 125, then at 130 to 140, and then from152 to 171. It's not spread out, unfortunately.

"I'm not a weight-cutting guy. I'd rather they go out and have fun."

With that in mind, one option is to move wrestlers in bunched-up weight classes to the next class up.

"But if I have three kids at 152, only two of them can wrestle, one at 152 and the other at 160," Dougherty noted. "Or if I have three kids at 130, I can say okay, one wrestles 130 and another 135, but that still leaves one wrestler as the odd person."

Then again, that's a problem the Vikings wouldn't have minded having just a few years ago.