December
24, 2006
SUFFERN, NY -- The buzz around Rockland Community College prior to the championship round of the 47th Annual BCCA George Jockish Holiday Wrestling Tournament was the 119-pound bout between returning champions Fred Santaite of Northern Highlands and Bob Dabal of North Bergen.
While Santaite took care of business, the feature match of the evening came a few weight classes later, and it was the one that decided the team title as well as a strong storyline that should carry through the next couple of months.
Bergen Catholic’s Matt Spataro pulled off what many would consider an upset when he defeated top-seed Dale Fava of Don Bosco at 135 pounds, denying Fava a county title and putting the Crusaders over the top in the team title race. In the process, he was named the Most Outstanding Wrestler.
It was the eighth straight team crown for the Crusaders and their 14th overall, but for the first time in a number of years, Bergen did not have the championship wrapped up before the final round.
“We were trailing the whole tournament until the semis,” BC head coach Dave Bell said (they entered the finals with a 4 ½ point lead over St. Mary’s and a 5 point edge over Don Bosco). “For my well-being, I would have liked a bigger cushion and been able to sit back and relax, but it was great for the sport and it made it exciting.
“I think it also made the kids wrestle harder and it meant more to them, having to fight for it instead of running away with the title.”
The Crusaders also won the Non-Public crown for the fifth straight time (since its inception), and three of the four group champions were repeat winners as well. North Bergen (Group 4), Paramus (Group 3) and Hasbrouck Heights/Wood Ridge (Group 1) took home their second straight group crowns, while River Dell unseated Lodi as the Group 2 titlist.
The Most Falls in Least Time Award went to Nick Adamo of Demarest at 112 pounds, where he pinned five opponents in a total of 11:51.
The following is a summary of each weight class:
103 – Bergen Catholic freshman Frank Cagnina (11-1 this year, 11-1 career) scored an early takedown and never relinquished the lead in defeating senior Mike DeMarco (12-1, 71-19) of St. Mary’s by decision, 3-1. Cagnina, the fifth seed entering the tournament, got the takedown 14 seconds into the match and held position for the rest of the period. He was down to start the second and managed to escape with 1:17 on the clock. He allowed DeMarco to escape at the beginning of the third period, then denied the top-seeded Gael an opportunity for the tying takedown. Don Bosco’s unseeded Jason Dack took third place with a 4-2 decision over Alex Preefer of Cresskill.
112 – Top-seed Jose Vega (10-1, 75-10) of Hasbrouck Heights/Wood Ridge picked up a key second period takedown to establish control and earn a 5-2 decision over Don Bosco’s Vinny Fava (7-2, 7-2). Vega, a junior, scored the only points of the first period with an early takedown, and he came off the bottom quickly for an escape in the second period. The takedown came with 1:19 to go and gave him a 5-0 lead entering the third period. Fava, a freshman who was unseeded entering the tourney and knocked off the second seed in the first round, picked up a takedown with 50 seconds to go in the match but could not turn Vega to his back. Fifth-seeded Joe Ortiz of Paramus took third with a 7-4 decision over Westwood’s Dan Murtaugh.
119 – Top seed Santaite (13-0, 118-12), a defending state champion, won his second county title with a 6-2 decision over second-seeded Dabal (7-1, 75-8), a junior, in methodical fashion. The first period saw both wrestlers feeling each other out, with neither coming close to scoring a point. Dabal chose the down position to start the second period and Santaite allowed him an escape, then worked a takedown with 1:43 left. He again allowed an escape to tie the score, but got another takedown 26 seconds from the end of the period. From the down position in the third period, Santaite, a senior, clinched the match with a reversal just six seconds from the end. Mike Quinn of Pascack Valley was a 7-0 winner over Pete Ruiz of St. Mary’s for third place.
125 – Bergen Catholic junior Joe Trause (7-0, 64-14) became a two-time county champion with a 13-6 decision over Fair Lawn junior Joe Kover (8-2, 62-10). Trause, another returning state champion, was expected to battle St. Joseph senior John Trumbetti in this weight class, but Trumbetti pulled out with an injury, denying him the chance to become just the fifth four-time champ in county history. Instead, Trause, the top seed, was clinical in defeating Kover, the second seed, scoring six takedowns. All of Kover’s points came on escapes in which Trause let him up. Trause’s takedown with two seconds left gave him a 6-2 lead after one period, and it was 11-4 at the end of two. In the third place bout, Matt Fusco of St. Mary’s took a 7-1 decision from Anthony Bachmann of Rutherford.
130 – Unseeded Glen Cannici (12-1, 37-6) of St. Mary’s used two escapes in the third period to knock off fifth-seed Dan Butcher (10-1, 70-10) of Westwood in a 4-2 decision. Cannici, a sophomore, had defeated the second seed in the first round, while Butcher, a junior, dropped top-seed Taylor Trumbetti of Pascack Hills in the semis. A Cannici takedown was the only points of the first period, and neither wrestler scored in the second. Cannici began the third period down, and he escaped 20 seconds in only to be taken down almost immediately by Butcher. He worked an escape with a minute to go and avoided being taken down the rest of the way. Trumbetti took third with a 6-0 decision over Mahwah’s Scott Albrecht.
135 - “I believed he was going to beat him,” Bell said. “He beat the state runner-up last week, and he is dangerous from every position, on the mat or on his feet.” Spataro (9-2, 31-13), a sophomore, stunned the top seed in pinning at 5:21 after a flash takedown and a turn with just under a minute to go. “He hit a shot near out of bounds, and he tried to stand up,” Spataro recalled. “I got a headlock, and was able to finish. It was pretty exciting.” The match was tied at 2 entering the third period, and Fava intentionally let Spataro, the second seed, escape to open the third period. “I’ll probably see him three or four more times,” Spataro said of Fava, “and this (win) really doesn’t give me any advantage.” Fava (8-3, 112-17), a senior who was third in the state last year, was stunned as he left the mat without a county title. Hackensack’s Nick Allegretta took third with a 3-1 decision over Joe Yuskaitis of Fair Lawn.
140 – That elusive county title finally came home to Northern Highlands senior Derek Steuben (12-2, 89-27) as he took Bergen Catholic sophomore Emmanuel Ajagbe (6-2, 25-12) to school in a 16-5 major decision. The two worked a scoreless first period before Steuben allowed an escape to start the second. He dropped Ajagbe and turned him for three back points, only to see Ajagbe, the sixth seed, escape and get a takedown of his own to close to within 5-4. Steuben, the top seed, then escaped and took the Crusader down, scoring three more back points to take an 11-4 lead after two periods. He continued the workmanlike effort in the third, picking up an intentional escape before scoring a pair of takedowns. Second seed Tony Cariddi of River Dell, last year’s MOW, took third with a 10-1 major decision over Mark Scimeca of Lodi.
145 – Defending champion Matt Morgenstern (9-2, 89-21) of Bergen Catholic made it two in a row, besting Don Bosco’s John Dack (9-3, 98-24) in a 9-3 decision. Morgenstern and Dack, both seniors, battled to a scoreless draw through one period. From the down position, Morgenstern, the top seed, worked an escape and added a pair of takedowns, the second with six seconds to go in the second period, to forge a 5-1 lead. He allowed Dack, seeded second, an escape to start the third and put a stanglehold on the match with a takedown with 1:43 left. Another escape and takedown closed the scoring. Third place went to Dan Clarke of Ramsey via a 4-3 decision over Tom Mullins of Hackensack.
152 – Garfield senior and top seed Frank Buenafuente (11-1, 100-18), who lost to Morgenstern in the 145 final last year, saw his chance for a county championship thwarted in overtime, as Demarest senior and second seed Dan Adamo (9-0, 88-14) became the first Norseman champ since 1998 with a 3-1 decision. After a scoreless first period, each wrestler picked up an escape in the next two periods to force the overtime. The winning points came on a takedown with 20 seconds left. “He had a collar tie, I posted it into a single and switched to a double,” Adamo related. “I dragged my feet across and got the turn.” Jeremy Pierce of Hackensack took third place with a 7-2 decision over Matt MacLean of Old Tappan.
160 – Top-seeded Juan Vega (9-1, 62-13) of St. Mary’s had the power move of the night, driving second-seeded Dan Zotollo (8-1, 75-25) of Paramus straight down to his back for a takedown and three near fall points midway through the first period on the way to a 13-4 major decision. Zotollo, a senior, was actually able to reverse immediately, but Vega, a senior, escaped quickly and nailed a takedown with two seconds left in the opening period for an 8-2 lead. It was 10-3 after two periods and Vega got an early escape and takedown in the third to seal the deal. Mark Peck of Hasbrouck Heights/Wood Ridge pinned Don Bosco’s Nick Vetterlein at 5:32 for third place.
171 – Lodi junior Dan Rinaldi (10-0, 69-13) earned a second county championship, but he was taken to overtime before closing out Bergen Catholic sophomore Jonathan Becker (8-3, 30-15) by a 3-1 score. Neither wrestler could generate a point in the first period before Becker, the second seed, pulled off an escape midway through the second period for a 1-0 lead. He intentionally let Rinaldi, the top seed, escape from down in the third period, but could not get the winning takedown. In the overtime, Rinaldi finished the bout on a takedown with 11 seconds on the clock. “I can’t really remember what happened,” Rinaldi said. “There was a flurry, and I came out on top. I don’t feel like I wrestled up to my expectations at all.” Third place went to Emerson/Park Ridge’s Mike Lange via a 7-5 decision over Mike Sweeney of Hasbrouck Heights/Wood Ridge.
189 – Westwood’s Anthony Lisanti (11-0, 78-20) became the first Cardinal champ since 2002 with a 7-0 decision over St. Mary’s Vinnie Cevetello (11-2, 83-15). Lisanti, a senior and the top seed, scored a takedown 38 seconds into the first period, then managed to put Cevetello, a senior seeded third, to his back and ride him to the end of the period, scoring three near fall points. After a scoreless second period, Lisanti picked up a takedown with 44 seconds to go to close out the match. Phillip Hawes of Ridgefield Park/Ridgefield took third place with a 9-4 decision over Dumont’s Kyle Hemmer.
215 – In the strangest ending of the night, River Dell’s Nick Pallotta (9-2, 46-20) received a penalty point in overtime, giving him a 2-1 decision over Don Bosco’s Luke Stala (6-3, 56-24). The pair had wrestled a scoreless first period before Stala escaped in the second. Stala, a junior and the sixth seed, then allowed Pallotta, a junior and the fourth seed, to escape to start the third. In the overtime, Stala clasped both hands behind Pallotta’s head, and the referee called him for an illegal hold, costing him the penalty point and the match and leaving Stala and his coaches shocked. Pallotta had defeated top seed George Kocher in the semis, though Kocher came back to decision Joe Regina of St. Mary’s, 11-3, for third place.
285 – Top seed Chris Farulla (7-0,69-16) of Leonia/Palisades Park snapped two very long dry spells with his pin of sixth seed Zak Taylor (7-1, 25-21) of Northern Highlands in the final match of the tournament. You have to go back to 1982 to find the last Palisades Park champ and even further to 1962 for the last Leonia winner. The finishing move was sudden, as the duo was locked in a scoreless draw in the second period. Taylor, a junior, chose the bottom to start the period and Farulla, a senior, caught him on a move and got him turned. Taylor tried to bridge to stave off the pin, but the end came at 3:38. Second seed Mike Farr of Don Bosco shook off a semifinal loss to Taylor to win a 10-6 decision over Tyler Blake of Hasbrouck Heights/Wood Ridge for third place.
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