Local wrestlers excel at Jersey Shore Duals
Old Bridge Wrestling Festival up next for
summer season
By doug mckenzie
Staff Writer

Some of the area’s top scholastic wrestlers met at Matawan Regional High School last week to participate in the 2003 Jersey Shore Summer Duals.

The four-day event featured both team and individual tournaments, and attracted grapplers from as far as Belleville.

The team duals were up first, taking place from June 29 to July 2, and the winning team hailed from Bound Brook.

Bound Brook topped Edison in the final, while the other teams that competed were from Belleville, Old Bridge, Christian Brothers Academy in Middletown, Raritan High School in Hazlet, Ocean Township, St. John Vianney in Holmdel, Matawan, Long Branch, Freehold Township and Rahway.

On July 3, the individual tournament was held, with the Madison System in place for scoring.

Raritan’s Phil O’Hara won the 105-pound title, beating Edison’s Matt Pagan, 11-3, while St. John Vianney’s Jim Eggie took third with a 9-1 major decision over Freehold’s Danny Franke.

Old Bridge’s John Pagnotta won the 115-pound final with a pin over Westfield’s Sam Kramer at the 1:31 mark. CBA’s James Beshada took third with a 5-0 win over Bound Brook’s Kevin Shivers in the consolation match.

At 140, Raritan’s Shaun Putman was the champ, beating St. John Vianney’s Lenny Sasso, 17-3, in the final. Raritan’s Jason Sagos took third place, beating Bound Brook’s Billy Vivona, 13-2.

Raritan’s Mike Sagos was the 148-pound champ, beating SJV’s Billy Donovan, 5-2, in the final.

At 162 pounds, Bound Brook’s Andrew Flanagan beat Middletown North’s Ben Hockin, 9-4, in the final, while Matawan’s Ryan O’Shea took third with a 6-3 win over SJV’s Louis Calamunci.

In the 200-pound weight class, Blair’s Ed Ellegra beat Old Bridge’s Atnan Ramadini, 9-3, for the title.

At heavyweight, Long Branch’s Manny Navarro was the champ, pinning Raritan’s Jeff King in 30 seconds in the final. Raritan’s Robert Steiner took third, beating Old Bridge’s Frank Lillis, 3-1.

This weekend, the local wrestling community will focus on Old Bridge for the Old Bridge Wrestling Festival. This is the state’s largest wrestling event of the summer, and annually features the top wrestlers from throughout the tri-state area.

Saturday’s opening-day action will include the following divisions: High School Scholastic I, Junior High Scholastic I, Open Greco-Roman, and High School Greco-Roman.

On Sunday, the Elementary Scholastic, Open Freestyle, High School Freestyle, and Junior High Freestyle portions of the festival will be held.

On July 19, the festival will continue with the High School Scholastic II, Junior High Scholastic II and Open Collegiate divisions, concluding July 20 with the High School Scholastic III, Elementary Scholastic II and Masters Collegiate divisions.

The entry fee for all the tournaments is $18 per entrant (payable at scale only). All tournaments are held at the Old Bridge Sports Arena on eight mats and are modified double elimination. The Madison System is in effect, meaning that weight classes will be made up after weigh-ins with a maximum of 16-man brackets. Weigh-ins are from 7:30 a.m. to 9 a.m. at the Recreation Center. Wrestling begins at 11:18 a.m. In addition, there will be a wrestling camp held from Monday through July 18, from 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. No experience is necessary, and the fee is just $55.

A commuter camp will also be held during that time for wrestlers with at least one year of experience. The camp will run from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and costs $90.

For additional information regarding the wrestling camps, e-mail John Thornton at coachbo@comcast.net.

The Central Jersey Duals will also be held as part of the festival, from July 14-17. The competition will feature about 24 high school teams, with two dual meets each night, starting at 6 p.m

South Plainfield is the defending champion once again, and will be looking for its seventh consecutive team title. However, the Tigers will face a challenge from several familiar opponents, as well as a pair of newcomers to the tournament. According to the Director of the Central Jersey Duals, Ron Mazzola, Hunterdon Central will make its return to the competition this year, and will be joined by a team from Staten Island, N.Y.

"Hunterdon Central is always a formidable team, so it’s good to have them back," he said. "I also think it’s pretty neat that the Staten Island team will be making its debut here."

Many of the same teams that participated in Matawan will take part in the Central Jersey Duals, including teams like Bound Brook, Ocean, Belleville, Howell and St. John Vianney, although Matawan has dropped out.

Among the newcomers to this year’s tournament is Scotch Plains, a team that Mazzola said is part of an up-and-coming program.