State Wrestling: GMC advances nine
ATLANTIC CITY — Mitchell Polito had a shrug up his sleeve.
In Friday’s 113-pound pre-quarterfinal match at the state tournament, the East Brunswick junior was waiting to use a certain move called a shrug because so he wouldn't give away any secrets early on.
“I wanted to hide it from him,” Polito said. “And then I used it when I had to. I was kind of saving it as my go-to move at the end.”
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In overtime, the poker-faced Polito finally used the move, spinning behind Queen of Peace’s Enrique Sanchez to win 3-1 in sudden victory to remain undefeated and to advance to Saturday’s quarterfinals at the NJSIAA Individual Championships at noon.
Nine Greater Middlesex Conference wrestlers are still alive at Boardwalk Hall when the quarters begin at noon. There are also three wrestleback rounds in Saturday’s early session. In the evening, the semifinals are at 6 p.m. with two additional wrestleback rounds. The tournament concludes Sunday with the wrestleback semifinals, the consolation finals and the 3 p.m. championship matches
The night had controversy, last-second takedowns, upsets and dominance. In all, a little of everything. Polito’s teammate Mark Schleifer advanced at 120 with an 8-0 win and a 3-0 victory. The fifth-seeded senior meets South Plainfield’s Joe Heilmann (40-1), who is seeded fourth. Heilmann advanced with a 13-3 win and a 12-1 major decision.
In the GMC final on Jan. 28, Heilmann edged Schleifer 4-3. Both wrestlers placed in the state tournament last season. The Tigers also advanced 220-pounder Zach DelVecchio (42-1), who had wins of 11-3 and 8-1. The seventh seed meets Phillipsburg’s No. 2 seed Robert Melise (35-2) in the quarterfinals.
“He’s a seventh seed and it’s a tough weight class,” South Plainfield coach Bill Pavlak said. “But I think that weight class is open. Any of the top six, seven guys are capable of getting to the finals. Maybe winning the tournament.”
Other GMC wrestlers to advance included Piscataway’s 160-pounder Michael Petite. The returning state place winner earned a 13-3 win and a 5-2 decision.
Woodbridge’s third-seeded Bryan McLaughlin (42-1), one of the best county bets for a state title, got a pin in 13 seconds and a 12-3 win.
At 220, Carteret’s Farhan Kahn earned a 5-2 win and a 4-1 tiebreaker victory. Additionally, two GMC heavyweights advanced — Sayreville’s Michael Porcaro, with 3-1 and 2-0 wins, and Woodbridge’s Anthony Lagrippo, who got a 3-2 ultimate tiebreaker win and a pin in 3:46.
Polito (35-0), meanwhile, earned an 11-2 win in his first match and then beat Queen of Peace’s Sanchez for the second time this season. On Jan. 21, Polito also pulled out an 8-6 sudden victory win. Both Polito and Schleifer have helped make each other better, along with East Brunswick’s Alec Gleason (126), who went 1-1 Friday night.
“It’s pretty cool because a lot of kids are just down here by themselves,” Polito said. “So they don’t have anyone to warm up with. They don’t have anyone to talk to, like strategy with. But we can go and have fun with each other. Support each other and at the end of the day hopefully win.”
He wrestles top-seeded Antonio Mininno (39-1) of Gateway/Woodbury in the quarterfinals.
At 126, Bishop Ahr’s 24th-seeded Dylan O’Connor (36-8) pulled one of the biggest upsets of the night when he beat Rahway’s ninth-seed Rhise Royster 5-2 for his first loss of the season. O’Connor was a District 20 champ and finished third in Region V. Friday, O’Connor got a takedown and back points in the first period to jump to the lead.
“Union champ, region champ, undefeated wrestler, and Dylan wrestled his style,” Bishop Ahr coach Nicholas Tonzola said. “Went out there, wrestled his way and controlled the style of the match. It was beautiful.”
In the prequaterfinals, O’Connor lost to the 25th-seeded Justin Cariss of Highland Regional 7-5 in the overtime tiebreaker off a reversal. At the end of regulation, O’Connor spun behind Cariss for his own reversal and an apparent 7-5 win. O'Connor had his headgear off and was about to shake hands when the two officials conferred, and the reversal was overruled as the match ended tied 5-5.
At 132, two GMC freshmen wrestled for the fourth time this season. South River’s Joey Zargo (19-7) turned a 3-0 deficit into a 5-4 win over Perth Amboy’s James Rodriguez (34-9). His takedown with just under 1:30 left in the match made it 5-3. Rodriguez escaped with 40 seconds left, but couldn’t get a good shot off. Rodriguez had beaten Zargo 7-4 (on Dec. 28) and 3-2 (on Jan. 7) in sudden victory, while Zargo earned a 9-6 win in the Region V semifinal last week.
In the pre-quarterfinals, top-seeded Giovanni Ghione of Brick Memorial pinned Zargo in 1:03.
At 126, South Plainfield’s Jake Giordano had one of the more dramatic moments of the night. He trailed St. Augustine Prep’s Connor Kraus 3-1 late in the third, but he escaped and took the sophomore to his back with seven seconds left via a pancake for a 6-3 win. In his next match, however, Howell’s seventh-seed Kyle Slendorn pulled out the 7-0 win.
At 138, a prequarterfinal match featured a rematch of the 2016 Greater Middlesex Conference 132-pound final. Bound Brook’s Robert Cleary, who used to wrestle for Edison before moving, beat Middlesex/Dunellen’s Bob Dinger 3-0 and was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Wrestler for the lower weights. Friday, Cleary edged Dinger 5-4 in the unlikely rematch.