Heilmann is first South Plainfield wrestler to reach state final since 2013

Joe Heilmann obviously was  elated to advance to the 2018 NJSIAA Individual Wrestling Championships final, but seemed genuinely happier to put the storied South Plainfield High School wrestling program back in the spotlight.

The senior  was slated to face Delbarton’s Patrick Glory, a defending state champion and the top-ranked wrestler in the entire country at 126 pounds, according to InterMat, in the state final at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City on Sunday.

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South Plainfield, which earlier this year claimed its third consecutive group title, has not advanced a wrestler to the state finals since its famed “Murderer’s Row” of Anthony Ashnault, Scott DelVecchio, Troy Heilmann and Corey Stasenko  five years ago.

East Brunswick's Mitch Polito and Heilmann were the lone Greater Middlesex Conference wrestlers to reach the finals.

READ: East Brunswick's Polito advances to NJSIAA wrestling final from state's toughest semis

The league’s other semifinalist, Michael Petite of Piscataway, dropped a 7-3 decision in the 160-pound semifinal to Bergen Catholic’s Shane Griffth, who InterMat ranks No. 1 nationally in that weight class.

Petite joins three other GMC grapplers who were guaranteed medals. They include Colonia’s John Poznanski and South Plainfield 195-pounder Luke Niemeyer. All three  had a chance to place as high as third but no lower than sixth. Middlesex-Dunellen’s Jeff Johnson  was slated to wrestle for seventh place at 145 pounds.

The third and final day of the tournament commences Sunday at 10 a.m. with the consolation finals and concludes with the championship bouts at 3 p.m.

“I’m excited to get to the state finals, not even for myself, but for my town and my school,” said Heilmann, who advanced with a 5-1 semifinal decision over St. Peter’s Prep’s Michael Kelly in a rematch of their region final, which Heilmann won with a 3-2 decision.

“I really take pride in representing my town. I had a lot of people walking around school before I left for AC – teachers and kids – coming up to me and saying good luck.”

Glory, an incumbent state champion, enters the final on an 85-match winning streak, his last loss coming to Christian Brothers Academy’s Sebastian Rivera, who pinned Glory before the buzzer with the score deadlocked at 5-5 in the 113-pound state final two years ago.

“He knows what he’s up against,” South Plainfield head coach Bill Pavlak said of Heilmann, who enters as the second seed with an unblemished 46-0 record, his last loss coming to Glory in last year’s state semifinals, during which Heilmann endured a 15-0 technical fall.

“He beat me up last year,” Heilmann said of Glory, “but any day is a whole new day. I could lose 15-0 to him one day and go out and win (Sunday).”

Glory actually got taken to his back and trailed 5-1 early in the first period before rallying for a pin of Roselle Park’s Mark Montgomery in Saturday’s quarterfinals, illustrating that despite his impressive 161-7 career record, the Princeton University signee is human.

“Obviously,” Pavlak said, “Glory is No. 1 in the country, but he was on his back in the semis. I think Joe’s got enough experience to know anything can happen in a wrestling match. It’s happened to him before and it’s happened to people he’s wrestled.”

Pavlak said Heilmann and Glory are familiar with each other’s style, having wrestled against one another and at clubs together.

“Joe knows what he has to do,” Pavlak said. “He has to focus. He’s going to be prepared. Anything can happen tomorrow, and hopefully whatever happens, it’s a great match.”

Heilmann has combined with his older brothers – Nick and Troy, who are both South Plainfield graduates – for 474 career wins.

Troy won an Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament 149-pound title on Saturday. Joe has signed a National Letter of Intent to wrestle for the Tar Heels next season.

Despite all the hardware the siblings have collected, including 12 district championships, 11 conference tournament titles nine state medals and six region titles, an NJSIAA crown has eluded the family.

"They are just a great family with a lot of wrestling tradition," Pavlak said. "Even though they (the Heilmann brothers) are not that old, they are legendary in South Plainfield."

For that reason, Joe Heilmann would like nothing better than to win a state title for his school and hometown.

"I've been working for this moment basically my whole life," Heilmann said.