Nothing
came easily for the Cranford Wrestling team at the Region 3 tournament held at
Union High School the final two days of February but when the dust had settled
the Cougars had four qualifiers who will continue their seasons into March at
the state finals in Atlantic City March 6-7. Of the four Cougars who advanced, senior Gavin
Murray second at 152, sophomore Tom DiGiovanni third at 120 and junior Niko
Cappello first at 182 qualified last year while sophomore Chris Scorese, second
at 126 is making his first trip. After dominating their District 11 tournament
last week, Cranford faced the added competition of district nine powers Delbarton,
Hanover Park and Parsippany as well as South Plainfield which knocked them out
of the state team tournament.
Cranford
began the week with ten qualifiers, including six who had byes into Friday
night’s quarterfinals but by the time Saturday morning dawned, they were down
to four semi finalists. DiGiovanni had his hands full with defending state
champion Ty Agaisse of Delbarton who scored a second round pin. Murray,
Cappello and Scorese rolled through their matches while sophomore Anthony
Capece (106), sophomore Vince Concina (132), junior David Bush (138) and
sophomore Brian McGovern (145) all kept their hopes alive by winning first
round wrestle backs. All four would lose their next match while DiGiovanni won
two rounds of wrestle backs to qualify for a winner take all third place match
against Phillip Angelo of Summit. DiGiovanni also qualified third as a freshman
last year after also losing in the semi finals and winning two wrestle backs.
For the second straight year, he defeated Angelo of Summit by one point to book
his trip. DiGiovanni is now 6-0 over the past two seasons in the regions when
facing a possible season ending loss. While he won 1-0 last year, DiGiovanni
had a 3-1 lead in the third period when he was penalized a point for stalling
but held on to win 3-2.
When Cappello took the mat for his
182 pound final against Rohan Phillip of Plainfield, the Cougars had already
lost two final matches and while Cappello had guaranteed a spot in the state
tournament, he to feel confident having previously defeated Phillip twice this
season including a 9-3 victory in the Union County Finals in January. But
Cappello faced immediate adversity as Phillip reversed him for a 2-0 lead in
the first period. A second reversal in the second period left the score 4-2
heading into the third, with Cappello’s only scoring coming from two escapes.
In danger of losing Cappello was able to execute a Merkle to nearly pin his
opponent, gaining a 5-4 lead on the near fall. Cappello was unable to hold the
lead as his quick opponent was able to escape tying the match. Cappello came
very close to ending the match in regulation with a takedown, but the match
went into overtime where Cappello took his opponent down for a 7-5 win and a
huge of expression of joy and relief for Cappello and Coach Pat Gorman.
“We really needed that win after the type of day it had
been,” said Gorman.
“He wrestled much better than he had in previous matches. As
long as I had time left, I thought I would win,” said Cappello, who will next
wrestle in Friday night’s pre-quarterfinal round against undefeated Region 4
champion Chris Morgan of West Orange.
Although
not ranked in the state’s top eight at 182, Cappello is not swayed.
“Rankings are just numbers next to people’s names. I just
give it my best for six minutes no matter who the opponent is,” said Cappello.
Murray
ranked second in the state at 152 faced top ranked Joe Tavoso of Delbarton in a
battle for top ranking in the state finals. Murray fell behind early, getting
taken down once in each period. He fought back and nearly evened the match in
the third period but was unable to turn his bulky opponent. Afterward, wearing
a Purdue University hooded sweat shirt, Murray took an upbeat look at the
defeat, his second this year.
“I would have liked to have won this match but next week is
what it is really about. We are looking to win a state championship and we will
have to work hard in practice to correct what went wrong,” said Murray.
Tavoso
had the size and strength that Murray rarely faced at 138 last year, but he
would not second guess his decision to bypass 145 and move up two weight
classes.
“It would not have been healthy for me to wrestle at 145. I
would be cutting too much weight. I am never going to be the strongest wrestler
at my weight class. It’s the way I am built,” added Murray, who will open as
second seed and faces Joe Rocca of Queen of Peace in the preliminary round.
For
Scorese, who fell one point short of going to the state finals last year,
winning his semi final match 11-6 against highly touted Anthony Fajardo of
Boonton was a big relief and allowed him to enter his final match against two
time state champ Anthony Cefolo of Hanover Park with a nothing to lose
attitude. Cefolo quickly showed why he is one of the greatest wrestlers in
recent state history by taking Scorese down six times before pinning him in the
second round.
“I knew he was going to be tough to handle. He is so strong
for his weight and is very quick. He is the best wrestler I have ever faced,’
said Scorese after the match.
“I accomplished my goal of making it to Atlantic City and my
goal now is to win as many matches as possible. It will be a great experience
and I plan to make the most of it.”
“He’s a very good wrestler. He has a bright future the next
two years,” said Cefolo.
Scorese
has a very difficult opening match against Avery Shay of Don Bosco and if he
wins would face second seed Ryan Pomrinca of North Hunterdon. For Gorman, the
Region 3 co-coach of the year, the improved performance continues Cranford’s
gradual climb into the state’s elite.
“I am proud of the way each of the ten wrestlers competed
this weekend, even though some fell short of their goals they all played a
pivotal part in helping Cranford reach new levels this season. I hope to our
fans in the stands at Boardwalk Hall, Cranford has a reputation of traveling
well, and there will be 100 plus shirts printed up for our fans.”
No comments:
Post a Comment