Thursday, January 31, 2008

By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer

North Bergen’s Angel Quinones (bottom) was in control the entire way at 112 pounds in posting a 10-1 major decision.

NORTH BERGEN – In a tight match, every little detail in each of the 14 bouts contested could be the difference between winning and losing. North Bergen head coach Jerry Maietta and his squad found out that lesson the hard way three weeks ago against Hasbrouck Heights/Wood-Ridge when the Bruins saw a win slip away when they lost the last contested bout of the night at the buzzer and then dropped the team decision on criteria.

North Bergen found itself in the same situation on Wednesday night against traditional West Jersey power Jefferson. Unfortunately, the Bruins had to deal with the same heartbreaking outcome.

Jefferson 145-pounder Kyle Castelonia scored a technical fall with 44 seconds left in the final bout of the night to tie the team score. They were tied all the way down to the third criteria, but Jefferson had one more technical fall more than North Bergen, earned the bonus point and handed the Bruins a crushing 35-34 loss.

Jefferson’s Anthony Vasile (bottom) pulled off a key win at 140 pounds.

“This is a big win for us, especially right before the state tournament cutoff with the power points we’ll get from this,” said Jefferson head coach Mike Mastagullo. “Every time we go against North Bergen, it’s a nailbiter. Our kids that fought off their backs were just as important as those who won matches for us. Every match was important and we got the maximum effort out of our entire team.”

Jefferson held a five-point lead until a thrilling match at 189 pounds. The Falcons’ Mike Monteverdi trailed North Bergen’s Jared Zuckerman until tying the bout at 8 early in the third period. Zuckerman answered quickly with a five-point move with a minute to go and held on for a 13-10 win, cutting Jefferson’s lead to 11-9.

The Falcons responded quickly at 215 with a surprising pin. Brian Cary held a slim 3-2 lead over North Bergen’s Mitz Trinidad to start the third period. Trindad tried to turn Cary over, but got caught and it took just 15 seconds for Cary to notch the fall.

One of many turning points came in a two-bout span at 112 and 119 pounds with Jefferson holding an eight-point lead. North Bergen’s Angel Quinones was in control the entire way at 112 pounds against Brendan Coveney. But Quinones could not get the pin despite having Coveney on his back for nearly the entire third period, having to settle for a 10-1 major decision.

Jefferson held a five-point lead until NB’s Jared Zuckerman (top) held on for a 13-10 win, cutting Jefferson’s early lead to 11-9.

At 119 pounds, Justin Cabrera held a 1-0 lead when Jefferson’s Joe Ojeda did what he was unable to do the entire bout. He hit Cabrera with a duck-under for the only takedown of the match with 18 seconds left to win 2-1 and put Jefferson up 26-19. Instead of the Bruins potentially picking up nine points, they only got one.

“Joe Ojeda came up with the biggest win of the night for us,” added Mastagullo. “Between him winning and Brendan (Coveney) staying off his back, that gave us a little bit of a cushion before we got to the heart of their lineup.”

Julian Quintero scored a 21-second pin and one of the state’s best 130-pounders, Bob Dabal, scored a technical fall to give North Bergen its first lead of the night. John Vazquez followed with a convincing 9-0 major decision at 135 to put North Bergen ahead, 34-26, with just two bouts left.

The most entertaining bout of the night came at 140 pounds where Jefferson’s Anthony Vasile and North Bergen’s Alex Sierra went at each other from the opening whistle until the final buzzer. Both of them nearly scored pins in the final 20 seconds of the second period. In the end, they traded five-point moves and Vasile eventually held on for a 16-12 victory to trim NB’s lead to five points going into the final bout of the night.

John Vazquez earned a convincing 9-0 major decision at 135 to put North Bergen ahead, 34-26, with just two bouts left.

That set the stage for Castelonia, who knew exactly what he needed to do. He knew he needed a technical fall to tie the match and a pin would win it; anything less than that would result in a North Bergen win.

Castelonia set the pace right from the outset with four first-period takedowns for an 8-3 lead over Manny Sierra. He got a takedown seconds before the end of the second period to push his lead 16-7 going into the final period. He removed any doubt by scoring quickly and notching the technical fall, 25-10, in 5:16.

“In that situation, you have to want to be under pressure and I wanted it,” said Castelonia. “It gets you so pumped up to be there, especially when you know exactly what you need to do.”

Castelonia’s five team points tied the match at 34 and sent the referee to the scorer’s table to check the official scorebook and determine which team would be declared the winner.

The first criterion is number of bouts won and both teams were tied at seven. The second criterion is number of pins and both teams had three. The third criterion is number of technical falls, where 171-pounder Trevor Salvatore and Castelonia earned techs. That gave Jefferson a 2-1 edge in that department to earn a bonus point and give them the win. It was the second time in as many matches that Jefferson won in the final bout to earn the victory after earning a 34-32 win over Wallkill Valley on Monday.

Julian Torres got a pin for North Bergen at 275.

“They deserved to win, they just outhustled us,” said North Bergen head coach Jerry Maietta.

The outcome will likely affect both teams and their seeds in the state tournament. Jefferson (14-5) might have landed a No. 1 seed in North 1, Group 2 with the win. North Bergen was sitting in the No. 2 slot in North 1, Group 4, but may drop to third with the loss and a 36-30 win by Passaic County Tech over Passaic Valley. That would force the Bruins to go on the road and win two matches in the same night to advance to the section final.

“This match definitely will slingshot us right into the sectionals,” added Castelonia. “Our confidence is riding high right now and we’re peaking at the right time.”

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