BCCA TOURNEY 2009 - RECAP
TEAM TITLE:
Coming into this tournament, how many people that thought Old Tappan had a chance to win the team title? Who could have predicted that so many of their wrestlers could improve so much in one offseason? Congrats to Rob Ortiz, his coaching staff, and the wrestlers of OT for pulling off the feat for the first time in school history.
103:
The freshman stole the show here. Nick Gravina, a freshman from NH, upset top seeded Brian Schneider from Hackensack in the quarterfinals and just kept rolling. He went on to beat Albrecht/BC in the semis and defeated freshman from SJR Cantone in the finals. Three of the four semifinalists were freshman, with Massaro of OT dropping a 2-0 decistion to Cantone. Massaro's big win came in the quarters when he decisioned the 3rd seed, Baldicanas of PC. Noteworthy was Brian Schneider coming back from his upset in the quarters to the eventual champ to take 5th place and the Most Falls in Least Time Award. Billy Reardon/DBP took 6th place, losing to Schneider in the 5-6 match.
112:
Brandon Stueben of NH made the first splash in this weight class when he beat Casper/BC, the top seed, in the quarterfinals 8-3. He dropped his next match though to Anthony Miuccio in the semifinals with a pin in the first period. The bottom bracket had eventual champion, Tony Nadera of Paramus, and Jeff Rottingen, the 3rd place consolation winner. Rottingen gave the champ his toughest match in the semifinal round. District 5 was well represented here with Nadera, Rottingen, Stueben, placing in the top four, Mike Laurice/IH taking 6th, and Alex Scheinert/RPO reaching the top eight level. Casper, like Scheider at 103, came back from his quarterfinal upset to finish 5th place.
119:
The quarterfinal round was a tough one for the top seed, and for the third straight weight class, the top seed went down. Charlie Mitchell/BC defeated Jorge Reyes/NB in a tight one to move to the semifinal round. Mitchell edged highly reguarded Steven Schneider/EPR the previous round, 1-0. Mitchell had one more upset in him when he defeated Albonico/SJR 3-2 in the semis. Mitchell's dramatic run ended in the finals when he met Sergio Grigorian of Fair Lawn. Grigirian was in control and won the decision 6-3. Grigorian had an upset of his own along the way beating third seeded Ryan Monteforte/CP 6-4 in the quarters. Ramsey's Chuckie Slater was the second seed and rolled until the semis before falling to Grigorian, with his best win being a 5-1 decision over Ridgewoods Brandon Giovanetti. Albonico defeated Slater for third and Schneider upended Reyes for 5th place 15-4. It would be silly to do a summary of this weight class without mentioning returning state finalist Joe Orecchio/DBP, who missed the tournament with an injury. Hopefully we will see him on the mat soon.
125:
Andrew Polidore/QP became the first top seeded wrestler to reach the quarterfinals when he won by TF over Nick Maselli/EPR. It was the third consecutive TF for the senior. Polidore was unable to compete at the BCCA last year but did qualify for the state tournament by placing in Region 4. He stayed in complete control in the semifinals with a 10-1 decision over Angel Quinones/NB, who just came off a terrific 8-7 win over Paul Getto of NH. However, Polidores dominance ended in the finals when he met Bergen Catholic's sophomore Connor Melde. Melde won the crown with a 3-1 decision. Melde defeated fellow Region 2 placer Ryan Giovanetti/RW in the semifinal round. The seeds help up at this weight, with the top four seeds taking the top four places. Giovanetti nipped Quinones in the consolations for third place and Maselli rebounded from his quarterfinal loss to take 5th place over sophomore Joe Rizzitello of Paramus.
130:
This was the toughest weight class in the tournament, hands down. Not only did it feature a potential 4x BCCA Champ and 2x state champ in Frank Cagnina/QP, but the bottom bracket featured state placer Joe DeQuizio/HHWR and regional placer Julian Quintero/NB. The unluckiest wrestler was talented freshman James Dawson/DBP who met Cagnina in the prequarterfinals. He kept the match close for a period and dropped a respectable 8-1 decision to Cagnina, and then battled back with four staight wins to take 5th place. The hype in the bottom bracket semifinal match, which was a region semifinal rematch from last year, was warranted, but ended quickly. Quintero was impressive in quickly controlling and pinning the state medalist in the first minute to advance to the finals. In the final round, Cagnina seemed to kick his wrestling level into another gear for the talented North Bergen junior. While the opeing period was ful of action and potential for excitement and possible upset, it was the relentless attack of Cagnina that prevailed. Cagnina avoided tie ups and stayed offensive on his feet, and despite some great defensive wrestling and attempts to scramble so that he use his great hips, Quintero was unable to put Cagnina in a bad position. Congrats to Cagnina becoming a 4x champ, he is elite company. DeQuinzio was able to rebound from his semifinal loss to defeat Nick Guariello/EPR. While Guariello may have been the victim of a loaded wight class, he undoutedly is encouraged that all three wrestlers are wrestling in region 4. Matt Jacobson was upended in the prequarters by Matt Mangini/BC but was able to wrestle back to 6th place.
135:
Vin Fava/EP ended the 2008-09 season by winning his consolation match in Atlantic City for 3rd place. He picked up where he left off this week, dominating the 135 lb. weight class with four pins, three of which were in the first period. Zach Zotollo was the last victim, but has nothing to be ashamed of. In addition to reaching the finals with a pin of Dan Rehain/NH, Zotollo had the interest of the RCC crowd when he opened the finals by taking down the returning state bronze medalist. Zotollo seemed very comfortable on his feet with the champ but things fell apart when he got on the mat and got locked up in an air tight nearside cradle. Tough freshman Nick Baranello/RD edged Matt Madormo/RPO in the prequarterfinals 2-1, then upset Jake Bogosian in the quarterfinals with an 8-5 decision, and wrapped up his tournament with a tight 3-2 win over region placer Rehain/NH. Sophomore James DiGregorio/EPR edged Bogosian for 6th place.
140:
Nick Alpher had a challenging route to the finals, beating a tough Brandon Cocheri/NH 5-0 in the prequarters and John Boyle/Ruth in the quarters in triple overtime. Those close wins kept coming as he met returning BCCA finalist and second seed Sal Mastriani in the semis, and he held on to win a wild 9-7 match to advance to the finals. Vince DiMitri/Fair Lawn had two tight bouts to his credit as well. He had an overtime fall over Matt Dickman/SBGR in the quarters and knocked off the top seeded wrestler, Sam Pietrantuono, a regional champion, with a tight 8-6 win. The final match was close, but Alpher seemed to be in control most of the time and wound up with a 4-0 win for the title. Sophomore Mastriani was able to recover to win a close 6-4 bout with Pietranuono. In keeping with the 10th grade theme, two sophomores met in the 5-6 match with Boyle beating Dickman 4-1.
145:
Top seeded Johasi Rivera/Fort Lee wrestled like a man on a mission. His relentless offensive attack and quick reflexes were too much for his first three opponents. His semifinal opponent, Darius Charles/OT, reached the semis with a one point win over Dombroski/DBP and a pin of talented Buonomo/EPR, featuring an air tight cross face cradle. This made for an intriquing matchup as the state qualifier, Rivera, met one of the many the Golden Knights on the rise. Rivera kept on the attack and eventually built a substantial lead and won 12-4 to reach the finals where talented sophomore Mike Paskas was waiting for him. Paskas, the 2nd seed and a state qualifier, had two falls before meeting talented Vince Silano/SJR in the quarterfinals. Paskas won 4-2 and met Charlie Woods/NVD. Woods surprised Gal Levy/FL, the 3rd seed, and then beat Pete Ruiz/HHWR 4-1. Paskas won a close match over Woods in the semis by a score of 4-3. Rivera proved to be too much for his fellow region 4 wrestler, and his relentless attack earned him a major decision, winning a title for the Bridgemen. Charles beat Woods in a potential District 8 preview, 8-5. Andrew Gramaglia/RW earned 5th place with a fall over Silano.
152:
In keeping with the theme of top seeds falling in the quarterfinals, senior Chris Duran/NB knocked off Jason Dack/DBP with a tight 3-2 victory. Duran stayed hot in the semifinals with a victory over River Dell's Adrian Fernandez, the 4th seeded wrestler. Duran prevailed 7-3 and earned his first trip to the BCCA finals. Waiting in the bottom bracket was James Dugan of Bec/Wal, the 2nd seed. Dugan had dominated the bottom bracket, winning by fall in all four of his matches. Most impressive was a tech fall of Alex Cimiluca/GRSB in the semifinals, the third seed. Dugan, a highly touted sophomore, met the upstart senior in the finals. Duran completed the unlikely task of progressing from a 14 match winner and 3rd in the districts to county champion with a 5-4 decision over Dugan. Cimiluca rebounded to take third with a win over Fernandez and Chris Durante/Paramus took 5th with a win over Dack, 2-1.
160:
All four top seeds advanced to the semifinals at this weight class. Top seed Keith Switzer/BC had a fall and a major decision, Mike Mordaga/Par had three falls, Mahwah's Ryan Splendorio had three falls, and Dane McDermott/SJR had a fall and a decision. The closest match that each semifinalist had was when McDermott edged Dob Bosco's tough freshman Frank Mattice and held on for a 3-2 win. In the top bracket Mordaga controlled the match over top seed Switzer, 9-2, to advance to the finals. Splendorio had an exciting first period fall over fellow junior McDermott. Splendorio stayed hot in the finals, striving to win his second consecutive BCCA crown. He opened up on his feet and on the mat and built a big lead, only to see Mordaga rally late in the match. Splendorio held on in what became an exciting match to win 12-9. Switzer finished third by beating McDermott in a tight consolation match and Mattice beat Ryan Melley/RPR for 5th place.
171:
Jamie Westwood/QP earned the top seed via his 7th place finish in the states last year. In this weight class the top seed was particularly important because it meant that that two top notch wrestlers, regional champ Eric Torres/EP, and Mike Khoury/SJR, would be in the bottom bracket. Both of these wrestlers earned falls on their way to the semifinal round. Khoury seemed in control most of the match and won, 3-1. He kept up the momentum of defeating a regional champ and upset another region champ and state place with a 3-2 decision over Westwood. Torres rebounded with a pin over Victor Kipiani/RPO for third place. Kipiani earned his place in the semifinal round with a tight 2-1 decision over Kieran Kellan/RD in the quarterfinal round. Fifth place went to senior Vince Nicoletti/IH who defeated Teanecks Nate Leer of Teaneck.
189:
Old Tappan's Ray Donnelly seemed to represent the rise of the Golden Knights in this tournament. After not placing in districts last year, he overcame the odds with two impressive wins to reach the semifinal round. He won by major decision over 4th seeded Jared Schlett/GRSB in the prequarters and then defeated the 5th seed when he pinned David Zurla of Rutherford, setting the stage for a big match with top seeded Brendan Wengerter/Cr. Wengerter earned his second trip to the finals with a tight 4-3 win over Donnelly. The bottom bracket had plenty of excitement as well. Freshman Razhon Gross/DBP became quite a story with plenty of drama in every match. He opened with a two point win over senior Nick Barone/W and then shocked the crowd with a 3-2 decision over Mike Scrozzo/QP, the second seed. He advanced to the semis with a wild 15-11 victory over Fred Szott/RD. His run ended when he met a stronger and more eperienced Kevin Yali/WMP, but managed to make it close before dropping a 15-11 decision. Yali advanced to the semis with a two point win over Anthony Mordaga/Par, who was the third seed. Wengerter wrestled very well in the finals and won the title for the Cougars. Gross and Donnelly met for third place with Gross earning the fall, and Schlett wrestled all the way back to fifth with a 6-1 win over Francisco Yanes/NB.
215:
Phil McCue became the second Green Knight to win a title, joining Mike Khoury, to lead them to an impressive second place finish. It has been a long time since SJR placed ahead of rivals Don Bosco and Bergen Catholic. McCue seemed in control the entire tournament, with a major decision and a fall entering the semis where he met Abo Mahmoud/BECWAL. Mahmoud dropped to the eventual champ but came back to take third place over Matt Mecca/NH. Mecca had a surprising 9-7 win over third seeded Dan Lewitt/GRSB to earn his place in the semifinals. Iyi Okunola/OT moved through the bracket from the second seed, pinning twice and defeating Mecca 10-4. McCue prevailed in the finals, which could be a preview of the Distirct 8 finals down the road. Andrew Benvenuto/DBP pinned Joe Schlossberg of River Dell for fifth place.
275:
Jonathan Price/Hack and Mike Shannon/OT seemed destined to meet in the finals. En route each wrestler pinned their opponents, with the exception being Shannons 5-1 decision over Ridgewood's Jimmy Uzzalino. The final bout went from being a defensive battle one minute to a scramble fest the next. In the end it was Shannon winning a 4-3 decision to win his first BCCA crown. Joe Ortiz/RPR reached the semifinals from the 5th seed with win over Cody Mann of Mahwah. Mann knocked off fellow district 6 wrestler Kurt Schmitz/DBP in the prequarters. Ortiz overcame his semifinal loss to beat Uzzalino/RW for third with a first period fall. Mann beat Schmitz for 5th place with a 9-7 decision.
Powley Award winner: Screwly Louie Lazzari. What a great choice! Louie has been one of the great ambassadors for wrestling across the state, and it is nice to see one of the great people in Bergen County wrestling get honored this week.
