CN State Wrestling: Sistrunk tops Tyle in 11th meeting; Casey takes third as eight earn medals

ATLANTIC CITY – Round 11.

You just knew, one way or another, that Bound Brook’s J.J. Sistrunk and Manville’s Michael Tyle would meet at some point in the state wrestling tournament. The two heavyweights have tussled 11 times over the past three seasons and five times since December.

Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City has seen some big-time boxing matches, including two of the fights between Arturo Gatti and Micky Ward. Now, add Sistrunk/Tyle to the list of great rivalries in the arena.

While Tyle has a 6-5 edge in the series, it was Sistrunk winning 3-1 in Sunday’s third-place match. Afterward, they crossed paths in the stands roped off for the wrestlers.

“When I just saw him come up the stairs, 'I said, 'Hey, we had a heck of a three years,'" Sistrunk said. "'It was a great run. I loved having three years with you and I wish you the best of luck in college.' ... Off the mat, we’re friends. He’s a cool guy. I like him, nice kid. We had a great three years. There’s no reason why we should hate each other, dislike each other because we wrestle each other all the time. We’re like rivals.”

There were eight wrestlers from the Courier News area’s Skyland Conference and Union County schools that placed in the top eight to earn medals after not reaching the finals. Bound Brook’s Joe Casey (152) placed third and Westfield’s CJ Composto (106) took fifth. Placing sixth were North Hunterdon’s Andrew Gapas (138), Hillsborough’s Kevin Faulkner (160) and Hunterdon Central’s Brett Ungar (106), who medically forfeited the final two consolation matches. Additionally, Hillsborough’s Anthony Donnadio (126) snagged seventh place.

Sistrunk Snags Third; Tyle Pulls Major Upsets

The Sistrunk/Tyle series has had six overtime matches. This weekend, it was the seventh-seeded Tyle that reached the semifinals, while the No. 8-seeded Sistrunk lost in the prequarterfinals.

Tyle’s road included wins over the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds. In the quarterfinals, Tyle beat second-seeded Kevin Cerruti of Long Branch 3-2. In Sunday’s consolation semifinal, Tyle edged Pompton Lakes’ Drew Flynn 4-3 in tiebreaker one. The Manville senior’s only loss was 1-0 in the semifinals to Voorhees' Lewis Fernandes, the eventual state champion.

Sistrunk, meanwhile, had to win three wrestleback matches on Saturday to clinch a medal. Sistrunk said, "You got to just keep going. You can't just give up on yourself. You take that loss and you grow on it. Don't take that loss and settle." He scored a pin then won 2-1 in overtime tiebreaker one and 3-2 in ultimate tiebreaker to clinch a medal.

In the third-place match against Tyle, the Bound Brook junior scored the decisive takedown in the second period. Last season he finished 32-11 as a sophomore and went 1-2 in the state tournament.

“It’s just been a lot of hard workouts that I felt prepared my body for this moment here,” he said. “I felt that I probably could have gone two more minutes – a whole other match. I felt that it was my conditioning.”

Bound Brook graduated three state champions from last winter – Stephan Glasgow, Mekhi Lewis and George Walton. Enter guys like Sistrunk to help keep the tradition going.

“I just kept working,” he said. “My coach was pushing me, telling me I have to grow to be a leader on the team. All the seniors graduated last year, so I knew I had to step it up. Me, Joe Casey, a couple other teammates, we had to step up this year and show that we’re leaders now and Bound Brook’s never leaving. Bound Brook’s going to stay here. We’re always going to be a powerhouse.”   

Casey Earns Fourth State Medal

It does mean something putting on the black and red colors of Bound Brook. The Crusaders own a streak of having a state placewinner in every season since 1999. This season’s flagship wrestler was Casey who placed third with a 3-1 win over Ewing’s Lavinsky Collins in the third-place match. The ninth-seeded Collins upset Bergen Catholic’s top-seeded Gerard Angelo in the quarterfinals.

After both lost in the semifinals, each won their match in the consolation semifinals to set up the third-place match. Casey battled through several timeouts because of a bloody nose and the disappointment of losing in the semis to emerge at third place.

“Mentally, I wasn’t all there, but sometimes you just got to look deep inside yourself and just know you got to move on,” Casey said. “So I just said two more matches to myself and got it done.”

Entering Sunday’s final wrestleback round, the consolation finals and the finals, Casey had the tournament’s fastest pin in 13 seconds and the fastest technical fall in 2:15. His amazing career includes being a four-time region, district and Somerset County champion. This season, he was named the District 18 and Region 5 Most Outstanding Wrestler.

 “It was all about everyone else really coming down here to support me,” Casey said. “I didn’t want to just show them like I gave up and throw in the towel. So I pretty much did it for everyone. … Wearing a Bound Brook singlet is a special thing, especially in Atlantic City.”

Donnadio Guts Out A Medal

After losing in the preliminary match, Hillsborough’s Donnadio went back to the hotel and thought about the two paths he could take – quit or keep going. In short, he looked inside himself for answers.

“The whole night I was battling with if I wanted to keep going,” Donnadio said. “All I got to do is lose one match and it’s all over. I never have to think about it again. And I’m glad that I chose to fight it out. To still grind it out. And it all paid off.  … I faced that. I said, ‘Nope, that’s not how I want to be remembered. That’s not how I want to go out.’ I took my fate in my hands.”  

Indeed, many wrestlers pack it in after an early loss. It takes guts to mentally recover and then toughness to win several matches in a row.  If you lose in the preliminary round on Friday afternoon, a wrestler must win four straight matches in Saturday’s consolation rounds. That’s a lot of wrestling, bruises and willpower.

In his first match at 126, the 21st-seeded Donnadio lost 8-5 to Livingston’s Anthony Petrillo, the 12th seed who did not place in the top eight.

Saturday, Donnadio got his four wins to clinch a medal, which included one forfeit. He wrestled possessed getting a 16-0 win, a pin in four minutes and a 3-2 win over Roselle Park’s Mark Montgomery. The 25th-seeded Montgomery created a stir in the quarterfinals when he put Delbarton’s Patrick Glory on his back early in the match for a 5-0 lead. Glory, the top-seed and the No. 1 wrestler in the country, came back to get the pin in 2:25.

With a medal secured, Donnadio got pinned in his next consolation match and in the match for seventh place he came out with a quick takedown and scored a pin over the No. 6 seeded Andrew Clark of Collingswood in 1:51. There were just four wrestlers seeded higher than Donnadio (four at No. 25) who placed in the top eight.

Afterward, Donnadio went to the stands and was greeted by several friends and family members.

“I have a lot of support,” Donnadio said. “I have my family, my friends. I would say at least 15, 20 people came down just to watch me wrestle and I live like three hours away, so it means a lot. So when I’m wrestling I get to not only look around at this crazy arena, I just see all my family and supporters in the crowd, it just makes me want to work harder and win the match for them. Not so much for me, but I want to put a smile on their face as much as I’m putting one on mine.”