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WRESTLING

Scotch Plains-Fanwood's Wustefeld, Voorhees' Fernandes advance to state wrestling final

Andy Mendlowitz
Courier News and Home News Tribune
Westfield's Sam Wustefeld (white singlet) wrestles Voorhees' Scott Fernandes in the 195-pound Region 4 final

ATLANTIC CITY – The referee scared Sam Wustefeld.

The Scotch Plains-Fanwood wrestler was called for a stalling in the second period during the 195-pound state semifinal. In a third period with little action in a 1-1 match, Wustefeld said he felt the urgency to shoot and not get penalized.

The senior hit a takedown with less than 10 seconds remaining to pull out a 3-1 win over Pope John XXIII’s Jake Brown at 195 to reach the state final for the second year in a row.

Voorhees’ Lewis Fernandes also had a tight match in the heavyweight semifinal against Manville’s Michael Tyle. The smooth 220-pound heavyweight held off the bigger Tyle and scored a late takedown to seal a 3-0 win.

They were the only wrestlers from Courier News-area schools in Somerset, Hunterdon and Union counties to reach the championship round.

READ: Follow our NJSIAA Individual Wrestling Championships coverage right here all weekend long

Saturday’s long day at the NJSIAA included the quarterfinals, semifinals and five wrestleback rounds. The tournament concluded with Sunday’s finals at 3 p.m. preceded by awards and presentations and a parade of former state placewinners. The final wrestleback round and consolation finals to determine third through eighth place started in the morning.

The top eight places in each of the 14 weight classes earned a medal and get a spot on the podium. Wrestlers that reached the semifinals clinched medals, as did winners of Wrestleback Round 4, nicknamed the blood round.

Courier News-area wrestlers that lost in the semifinals were Westfield’s C.J. Composto (106), North Hunterdon’s Andrew Gapas (138), Bound Brook’s Joe Casey (152) and Manville’s Michael Tyle (285).

Additionally, four Courier News-area wrestlers clinched medals by advancing through the consolation rounds were Hunterdon Central’s Brett Ungar (106), Hillsborough’s Anthony Donnadio (126) and Kevin Faulkner (160) and Bound Brook’s Jervey Sistrunk (285).

At 195, the second-seeded Wustefeld had a tense day. In the quarterfinals, he beat Delsea’s Tommy Maxwell 3-2 on overtime tiebreaker one. But like a veteran, he found ways to win.

The semifinal had a lot of hand fighting and little shooting.

“I was struggling to get a hold of him because he was trying to keep space,” Wustefeld said. “The ref kept warning me for stalling because I got that one stalling call at the beginning. And I told myself I didn’t want to lose on a stalling call, so I just waited for my best shot and it opened up and I was able to get to a single leg off of an inside reach.”

Wustefeld reached the 182-pound final last season, and has only gotten better since then.

“I put in a lot of hard work this year,” Wustefeld said. “I feel like I’m twice the wrestler I was last year and I know so much more. I’ve been working really hard to get back here and right back where we were last year. And just one more step to go.”

The heavyweight semifinal was a rematch of a Dec. 20 match, in which Fernandes pinned Tyle in 2:29. In that bout, Tyle got the takedown in the first period, but Fernandes got a reversal and back points and scored the fall early in the second period.

Saturday, the goal was to stay out of bad position against the physically bigger wrestler. Both used their weight and muscle to out-maneuver one another. Tyle chose neutral in the second period and it remained 0-0.

At the beginning of the third, Tyle let him escape as Fernandes took a 1-0 lead. Neither wrestler could get a clean shot off and Fernandes sealed the win with a takedown in the final seconds. Voorhees coach Eric Hall said that Fernandes has gotten better “at deflecting and just changing the direction of the heavyweight’s force and power.”

Fernandes said his aim was “staying in position and keep pushing forward and pushing the pace.”

While Voorhees has had a lot of success, the last state champ was John Brienza at 130 pounds in 1998.

“I want to win this more for my coaches, rather than me, because they do so much for me,” Fernandes said. “I’d rather have this than for me.”

In the quarterfinals, Fernandes advanced with a pin in 1:35 over Brian Sidle, the 14th-seed from St. Joseph-Montvale. Tyle, meanwhile, shocked second-seeded Kevin Cerruti of Long Branch with a 3-2 win.

Both wrestlers are much improved from last season. In 2017, Tyle finished 34-8 and went 2-2 in the state tournament.

In his freshman season, Fernandes created a homemade poster with a Sharpie that he hung on his wall that said four-time state champ. When he didn’t win that season, he wrote three-time state champ. Now, it’s a two-time state champ.

Last winter, Fernandes finished 35-11 and went 2-3 in the state tournament getting eliminated in Consolation Round 4 with a 2-1 loss, just missing placing in the top eight.

Over the summer, Fernandes placed five national tournaments, including becoming an All-American in both freestyle and Greco-Roman at the prestigious USMC/USAWrestling Cadet National tournament.  

In other words, he just worked, worked, worked.

“He’s just a very driven, motivated kid and he always has been since he stepped in as a freshman and I don’t’ see it changing anytime soon,” Hall said. “I’m excited. He has wanted this since the day he stepped foot in our wrestling room. He wants to win a state title. If it ends up being multiple, wonderful, but this is his goal. This is his dream. This is his vision. So, we’re just here to help him. To guide him. I’m happy for him. He’s one step closer. Hopefully, he’ll get there.”

Other semifinalists

At 106, Westfield’s 11th-seeded CJ Composto (36-2) lost 3-1 in the semifinal to St. John Vianney’s Dean Peterson. The seventh-seeded Peterson (36-1) scored off a double leg takedown with 35 seconds left for a 2-0 lead.

In the second and third periods, each wrestler traded an escape. Down 3-1, Composto nearly got a takedown in the final 20 seconds, but Peterson held him off for the 3-1 win.

In the quarterfinal, Composto defeated Hunterdon Central’s third-seeded Brett Ungar 3-1 in tiebreaker one. Ungar led 1-0 via an escape in the second period. In the third, Composto rode out Ungar, but got called for locking hands with 16 left. Composto won with two escapes in the overtime tiebreaker.

Ungar bounced back in Wrestleback 4 to defeat South Plainfield’s Anthony White 1-0 to clinch a medal.

At 138, top-seeded Quinn Kinner of Kingsway pinned Gapas in 4:21. Kinner, the 132-pound state champion in 2017 has committed to Ohio State and is ranked No. 1 in the country by InterMat, led throughout and built a sizable lead before the fall.

The fifth-seeded Gapas, though, earned a medal for the second season in row. Last winter, Gapas was the 26th seed at 132, but stormed his way to an eighth-place finish. In Saturday’s quarterfinal, Gapas defeated fourth-seeded Aaron Coleman of J.F. Kennedy 14-10 with an array of back points off of tilts. Gapas avenged a 9-7 loss to Coleman in the Region 4 semifinals.

At 152, Bound Brook’s Joe Casey reached the semifinals with a 6-3 win over Holmdel’s sixth-seeded Scott Dupont in the quarterfinals. It clinched his fourth straight season with a state medal.

In the semifinals, the third-seeded Casey lost 7-5 in sudden victory to second-seeded Brian Meyer of Phillipsburg. With just under 35 seconds remaining, Meyer scored a takedown off a scramble and they went out of bounds with 33 seconds left for a 4-3 lead.

Casey got an immediate reversal for a 5-4 lead and they went out of bounds again with 27 seconds left. Meyer escaped in the final five seconds to tie the match at 5-5. In sudden victory overtime, Meyer spun behind for the win.

Milestone win for Hunterdon Central’s Graf

In Wrestleback 2, Hunterdon Central’s Hunter Graf not only gutted out a 5-4 win over Seton Hall’s Charles Cunningham in ultimate tiebreaker, but he also made some history. He earned his 142nd career win to break the school of 141 held by Pat Strizki from 2003-2007.

Graf tied the record in Friday’s preliminary win. Along the way, Graf captured four District 17 titles and qualified for the state tournament four times and placed eighth at 113 in 2016. Graf had a gutsy tournament as he had four matches decided by one point or in overtime. That includes grinding out two ultimate tiebreaker wins Saturday in Wrestleback 2 (5-4 over Seton Hall’s Charles Cunningham) and Wrestleback 3 (4-2 win over Delran’s Bryan Miraglia).

In Wrestleback 4, Graf fell 16-0 to fifth-seeded Jake Rotunda of Pope John XXIII.

Friday, the 11th-seeded Graf opened the tournament with 2-1 win over Watchung Hills’ Nick Ciraulo, but fell 3-2 in the prequarterfinal to seventh-seeded Anthony Clarizio of Cedar Grove.

Consolation rounds notes

Wrestlers that won consolation matches but were later eliminated included Westfield’s Luke Hoerle (113), Bridgewater-Raritan’s Nick Sacco (113), Pingry’s Brandon Spellman (113), Hunterdon Central’s Jack Bauer (120), Delaware Valley’s AJ DeRosa (126)

Hunterdon Central’s Graf (132), Watchung Hills’ Nick Ciraulo (132), Scotch Plains-Fanwood’s Jack Cannon (152), No. Hunterdon’s Tucker Kirchberger (152), Watchung Hills’ Rob Saum (152) and Vincent Mattaliano (170), New Providence’s Owen Smith (152), North Hunterdon’s William Hughes (160), Governor Livingston’s Quinn Haddad (170), Watchung Hills’ Justin Hayward (182), Delaware Valley’s Eli Kalfaian (195), Matthew Rogalski’s Manville (220), Franklin’s Marcus Estevez (285),

Coming to Atlantic City is a long way for a match between Union County wrestlers. But in the Wrestleback 2 round, New Providence’s Owen Smith defeated Scotch Plains-Fanwood’s Jack Cannon 9-3. In the Region 4 semifinals, Smith edged Cannon 1-0.