SOMERSET COUNTY

WRESTLING: J.F. Kennedy off to fast start

Michael Jago
@MikeJagoSports

WOODBRIDGE – This time last year, the J.F. Kennedy wrestling team was stuck at zero wins, searching for answers and how to turn things around.

After going 3-0 in the DiMario Quad Meet, the Mustangs were sitting at 5-1 on the season, reeling for their recent success.

"So far we're 5-1 on the season which is a huge improvement from last year," said Kennedy coach Nick Cilento. "Last year we started off the season 0-3 but this year we had a good showing at the Mountain Lakes tournament, placing seventh out of 15 teams…I'm really happy where the team is right now but we've got a long way to go."

The road needs to start somewhere for the Mustangs, and the five wins, three of them coming against Perth Amboy, South River and North Brunswick in the DiMario quad, is a good place to begin.

At 170 pounds, Brandon Farrell has become the backbone of a team on the rise. With a person record of 3-0 in Saturday's quad match, including two by pinfall, Farrell and his squad are beginning to erase all doubts that were had coming into the season.

"We have a lot of new incoming freshman that are good, solid wrestlers," said Farrell. "We have a new assistant coach in coach Russo, who has helped out a lot in conditioning and coach Cilento has helped us out a lot too and I'm just trying to be better than last year and make it to Atlantic City."

While Farrell has dealt with a slew of injuries, his goals remain high. A trip down to exit 38 on the Garden State Parkway at the end of the season is where Farrell wants to be, and he's content in doing whatever it takes to get there.

"It's all I want," said Farrell. "I've had injuries every season, including a torn ACL, so I just want to fight through them and make it to Atlantic City and place top eight."

As for the team, the Mustangs have scheduled some tough opponents to start out the season, including some out of division contests. Cilento noted that he prefers these out of division matches because it could help his team in the long run.

"I love going on tournaments a lot, especially out of the way," said Cilento. "We went to Mountain Lakes, we're going to Union City to get out of the county and stop seeing the same teams and maybe steal a seed for a tournament if we beat somebody good."

After a 5-1 start, the Mustangs are continuing to aim high behind the leadership of Cilento, and the shoulders of Farrell.

"We want to win as much team matches as we can," said Farrell. "We have a really solid team so we just want to keep winning as many matches as we can."