SPORTS

Wrestling: Brothers boost Governor Livingston in quad

Andy Mendlowitz
@andy_mendlowitz
Governor Livingston's Quinn Haddad (top) and J.P. Steven's Jared Martinez grapple during their 170-pound match on Saturday at Woodbridge High School.

WOODBRIDGE — Brothers will be brothers, often remaining the best of friends while competing for family bragging rights in just about anything. It’s no different for Turner and Quinn Haddad, who also double as wrestling training partners for the Governor Livingston High School team.

Their DNA doesn’t quite mean much when jostling for takedowns.

“(They're partners) until I have to split them up for fighting,” Highlanders coach Rick Ortega said. “They’re battling as hard as they can. They’re getting pissed at each other. They’re throwing each other into walls. I mean, it’s all-out battle. I tell them, 'That’s what’s going to make you better. As long as soon as you walk out that door, everything’s good, it don’t matter. Don’t take it home with you.'”

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The brothers have been bringing the best out of each other, and their mat presence was shown during a quad meet Saturday at Woodbridge High School. Governor Livingston went 1-2, beating J.P. Stevens 38-33 but falling to Long Branch 47-19 and Woodbridge 41-30. Each of the Haddads were the only Governor Livingston wrestlers to go 3-0.

The Highlanders (4-3) have been missing a handful of wrestlers due to sickness and injuries. That includes senior 182-pounder Chris Bottone, who had over 20 wins last season and was a Union County Tournament runner-up. Unfortunately, he broke a foot in the Thanksgiving Day football game against New Providence and will miss the wrestling season.

With the holes, Ortega has been looking for tough opponents for his wrestlers.

“We’re looking for good matchups,” he said. “It’s early in the season. If we can get these matchups now, we can work on it and figure out what we need to do to get better as we go along. I tell these guys, this is all practice for the districts. That’s all it is.”

Saturday, Governor Livingston got to see their new district digs. The Highlanders are moving from being a longtime member of District 12 at South Plainfield to District 14 at Woodbridge. The NJSIAA shook up the districts and regions statewide to get a competitive balance and more of an even number of teams in each tournament. J.P. Stevens is also in District 14.

The Haddads certainly introduced themselves to the teams they'll be seeing. Quinn, a junior 170-pounder, pinned J.P. Stevens’ Jared Martinez in 1:36; beat Long Branch’s Justin Navarro 12-6 and decisioned Woodbridge’s Zackary Cottrell 5-3 in sudden victory.

Turner, a senior 195-pounder, got a forfeit win against J.P. Stevens, beat Long Branch’s Peter Wersinger 10-6 and nipped Woodbridge’s Nick Nyers, 3-1.

Governor Livingston's James Synder (left) has control of J.P. Steven's Michael Gelberg during their 152-pound match on Saturday at Woodbridge High School.

Area football fans will recognize the name. Quinn is Governor Livingston's quarterback and a defensive back, while Turner is a running back/linebacker. An older brother Shane also wrestled for Governor Livingston.

Each brother makes sure that the other remains intense in practice. Turner said, “We try our hardest every time. We don’t really hold back against each other.” But don’t worry, it’s not like dishes fly and lamps crash when they get home.

“I think after we get out of the wrestling room,” Quinn said, “everything just goes back to normal.”

The Highlanders’ sophomore 152-pounder James Snyder was in one of the more wild matches of the day when he edged J.P. Stevens’ Michael Gelberg 14-13. The match was actually scoreless after the first period. Snyder, who is normally a 145-pounder, outscored his opponent 9-4 in the third period to pull out the victory. That included scoring a takedown with about 30 seconds left and letting Gelberg escape for a one-point lead before getting the winning two points.

“That was all heart,” Ortega said. “He wrestles tough. He never gave up and he beat the kid mentally.”

Dan Tomlinson put in another good performance for Governor Livingston, going 2-1 and showing his stamina. The senior heavyweight, a two-way lineman for the Highlanders football team, won a Union County Tournament title last season. Saturday, he beat J.P. Stevens’ Spencer Johnson 3-1 and Long Branch’s Kevin Cerruti 2-1. Against Woodbridge, he dropped a 5-4 overtime decision to Alexander LaGrippo in the ultimate tiebreaker.

While a victory would have been nice, getting those tough looks is what everyone wants as the season heats up.

“That’s a really good heavyweight from Woodbridge,” Ortega said. “It was good to see him now. We’re going to see him, probably in districts. And then hopefully we’ll see him again in regions.”