Vikings almost done with turnaround season
SB wrestling goes from four wins a year ago to 12 so far this season
BY GEORGE ALBANO Staff Writer
The South Brunswick High School wrestling team hopes an alreadysuccessful season can get a lot better over the next couple of weeks.

The Vikings will take a 12-10 record into Thursday's match at Spotswood before wrapping up the regular season with a quad meet on Saturday against Toms River, Woodbridge and host Lawrence. South Brunswick needs to win two of its last five matches to clinch a second consecutive winning season after going only 4-17 in 2006.

"Yes, I am pretty pleased with the way we've wrestled," veteran head coach Joe Dougherty said Wednesday morning. "We've won 12 matches and we wrestled a tough schedule. We've been competitive even in our losses for the most part."

What's more, the Vikings are ranked in the top 10 in the county and qualified for the Central Jersey Group IV Championships for the first time in seven years. They lost to Howell 49-15 in the first round Monday night, but just getting there was quite an accomplishment for the SBHS program.

"Yes, it was," Dougherty, now in his 19th season, agreed. "Howell is one of the topranked teams in the state of New Jersey."

But South Brunswick has had its share of monumental wins, too.

"We beat Monroe, and they qualified for the Central Jersey Group III Championships, where they've won a round already," Dougherty pointed out. "They're a 20-win team this season and we beat them.

"We also lost quite a few matches by only a couple of points. We lost to Old Bridge by a point, and they're still alive in the Central Jersey Group IV tournament. They're one of the top five teams in the county.

"So, we've been competitive."

But the fun might just be getting started for the South Brunswick wrestlers. Next Friday and Saturday the Vikings will host the District 20 tournament, with a chance to do even better than last year's fourth-place finish.

The top three finishers in each weight class will advance to the Regional tournament the following weekend at Hunterdon Central, and the top three at the regionals will advance to the state tournament in Atlantic City.

The Vikings have a few wrestlers who could make it to the Convention Center. Senior Ryan Smith, last year's 140-pound district champion and the tournament's Most Outstanding Wrestler, is currently 27-3 at 152 pounds.

"Last year he qualified for the state tournament, and we're looking for him to make a return trip this year," Dougherty said.

Another senior having a big year is Dave Amrhein, who's 28-3 at 215 pounds. Amrhein was a district runner-up and reached the regional semifinals as a sophomore, but "didn't make it out of the districts last year," Dougherty said. "He was in a very tough weight class last year. But he's been wrestling well this season, and he has the potential to make it to Atlantic City."

A few other South Brunswick wrestlers could make it to the regional tournament and possibly the state tourney. Not bad for a program that was hurting just two years ago.

Now the future looks brighter than ever.

"We have over 40 kids on the team compared to 22 last year, so that's been a big help," Dougherty noted. "And our middle school team just won the middle school county championship.

"So the program seems healthy and hopefully will continue its success."