St. Benedict's 129
2. Central Regional 125.5;
3. Nutley 124;
4. Passaic Tech 110;
5. Westfield 106;
6. Kearny 85
7. Northern Highlands 81;
8. Glen Ridge 68;
9. Lodi 59;
10. Rutherford 56;
11. Blair (B)53.5;
12. New Providence 50;
13. Linden 48;
14. St. Mary (Ruth.) 42;
15. Montclair Kimberley 37;
16. Plainfield 36;
17. Elizabeth 32;
18. Irvington 18.5.
103: Max Houlbeck (Blair), d. Jalen Ramos (Central Regional), -.
112: Devrin Egipciacco (Passaic Tech), d. Darryn Albanico (St. Joseph (Mont.)), 5-4.
119: Todd Preston (Blair), d. Brandon Stuber (Northern Highlands), 12-4.
125: Vin Scutaro (Nutley), d. Ed Ruhnke (Central Regional), 6-4.
130: Bryan Lighty (Passaic Tech), d. John Barnes (Westfield), -.
135: Anthony D'Amico (Nutley), d. Dan Rehain (Northern Highlands), 10-5.
140: Mike Paskas (Rutherford), d. Joe Panarese (Westfield), -.
145: Kalyph Hardy (Central Regional), p. Dan Umnana (New Providence), 2:38.
152: Vin Perry (Passaic Tech), d. Vin Maurillo (Nutley), -.
160: Turtgotokh Luvsandorj (St. Benedict's), d. Dan McDermott (St. Joseph (Mont.)), 25-10 (TF 5:50).
171: Mike Khoury (St. Joseph (Mont.)), d. Dawud Hicks (Plainfield), 17-9.
189: Bill Nash (Kearny), p. Marcus Cook (St. Mary (Ruth.)), 1:37.
215: Nick DePhillips (Glen Ridge), d. Tim Hasseman (Northern Highlands), 7-4.
HWT: Rob Schwalenberg (Glen Ridge), d. John Ceccio (St. Joseph (Mont.), 3-1.
MOW: Turtgotokh Luvsandorj, St. Benedicts
Fastest Pin: Austin Frank, Linden - 11 seconds
Host annual Holiday Tournament Saturday with talent-packed field
By Jim Hague, The Observer
Tony Carratura has been the head wrestling coach at Kearny High School for the last nine years and the team he has assembled to begin the 2008-09 campaign may be the very best, at least right now on paper.
The Kardinals have a fine blend of talent and experience, youth and age. It is a nice mix, a pleasant way to start the season, which begins Friday night with a dual meet against Westfield and continues Saturday morning at 9 a.m., when the Kards host their annual Kearny Holiday Wrestling Tournament.
“We have a veteran group,” Carratura said. “We had a bunch of sophomores last year who really blossomed. We had to make sure that we had the kids in the right weight classes. We have a lot of good wrestlers and we’re really looking forward to the season.”
The Kardinals will welcome such powerful programs as St. Benedict’s Prep, Blair Academy, Lodi and Central Regional to the Kearny gym this weekend, as well as local teams Nutley, Rutherford and St. Mary’s of Rutherford. Others to participate include Northern Highlands, St. Joseph (Montvale) and New Providence.
The opening rounds of the tourney should commence around 9 a.m., with the finals to take place around 5 p.m.
“It’s a great day of wrestling,” Carratura said. “It’s a good way to get things going right off the bat. It should be a good test.”
Leading the returnees for the Kardinals is 171-pound junior J.T. Nash, who is a two-time defending District 16 champion.
Nash, who had a solid football season this fall, breaking the school’s single season rushing record, won 33 matches last year.
“J.T. and I have talked about some things and he’s definitely set some goals for this season,” Carratura said. “One of his goals is to get to Atlantic City and he’s shooting for that.”
Nash just missed qualifying for the NJSIAA state tourney in Atlantic City last year, so that becomes the main goal for this season.
Nash’s twin brother, 189-pound Billy, had a tough year last season as he recovered from knee surgery.
“Billy missed a good portion of the season and he never really got going,” Carratura said. “But his knee is good and he looks good so far. I expect big things from him this year. He just wasn’t in wrestling shape last year.”
Another key returnee is senior 215-pounder Jimmy Livingston, who won 23 matches last year.
“Livingston has shown a lot of improvement and he should have a good year,” Carratura said.
Junior Billy Dimos, who was third at the District 16 tourney last year, returns. Dimos will wrestle at 119 pounds. He won 20 matches last season.
Senior Matt McCurrie is at 130 pounds and he provides a lot of senior leadership and experience to the middle of the Kardinal lineup.
Sophomore Andrew Plaugic is the Kardinals’ 103-pounder, even though Plaugic doesn’t come close to weighing that much.
“He wrestled at 80 pounds last year and this year, he’s about 93,” Carratura said. “He’s a tough little kid who is going to be very good. I expect good things from him.”
Senior James Vezos and junior Nick Machado are splitting time right now at 112 pounds.
Sophomore Brandon Barrett is the Kards’ 125-pounder. Carratura likes the promise that Barrett shows.
“He worked very hard in the off-season and looks very good,” Carratura said of Barrett.
Sophomore Miguel Matos is in the mix at either 125 or 130.
Freshman Dave Bush has emerged as a fixture at 135 pounds
“He’s a good learner and a very tough kid,” Carratura said. “He’s a tough kid and a great addition to our lineup.”
Junior Chris San Martin is at 140 pounds and newcomer Lucas Pena, a sophomore with a background in martial arts, is the 145-pounder.
At 152 and 160, the Kardinals have a pleasurable logjam, with six different wrestlers battling for a spot in the lineup _ something Kearny hasn’t had in quite some time.
Juniors Gabe Pichinin and Sergio Felipe, sophomores Eric Fiore and Andrew Vega and freshmen Edwin Castillo and Dave Chew are all in the mix for mat action at those two weight classes.
“It makes things very interesting in the wrestling room,” Carratura said.
The Nash twins follow at 171 and 189, followed by Livingston and then sophomore Matt Chin at heavyweight.
Needless to say, it’s a solid lineup with a ton of promise. Carratura also likes to keep his team busy, with as many as 30 different dual meets lined up throughout the course of the season.
“We had a couple of scrimmages against Ridgewood and West Milford and looked pretty tough,” Carratura said. “We have the experience. We have the newcomers. It looks good. Let’s see where it goes. We’ll know our progress soon enough.”
The Kardinals will also play host to the Hudson County Duals, which will determine a true county champion, sometime in January.
It looks like a solid season all around for Kearny wrestling.