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Wrestling: South Plainfield's DelVecchio, Heilmann punch ticket to semifinals

Angel D. Ospina

@AngelDOspina

South Plainfield's Joe Heilmann wrestles East Brunswick's Mark Schleifer during their NJSIAA quarterfinal on Saturday at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City.

ATLANTIC CITY - In order to make a victory official at the NJSIAA Individual Wrestling Championships, the winning wrestler must sign off on the scorecard to confirm the win.

It’s a pretty simple task, but when South Plainfield’s Joe Heilmann (120) earned a 2-1 ultimate tiebreaker victory against Mark Schleifer of East Brunswick in the state quarterfinals – the senior was so pumped he ran off the mats without signing anything.

READ: BOUND BROOK WRESTLERS SHOWING DOMINANCE

With the victory, Heilmann was the first of five Greater Middlesex Conference wrestlers to advance to the state semifinals at Boardwalk Hall on Saturday.

“I was just really happy, I don’t know what I was doing,” said Heilmann of his immediate exit after his victory. “Ever since I was young South Plainfield has had an amazing program. I remember watching those guys and saying, ‘I want to be like that someday.’ Finally, here I am.”

In a rematch of the GMC Tournament 120-pound final, where Heilmann defeated Schleifer 4-3 to clinch the county title, the two wrestlers found themselves in another nail biter – this time with a state semifinal berth on the line.

Heilmann was able to get out to a 1-0 lead early in the match with an escape, a point which proved to be crucial later in the match as he was able to choose the defensive in the ultimate tiebreaker. Schleifer attempted to escape, but Heilmann had a tight grip on his ankle and was able to ride out his opponent the rest of the way to clinch the victory.

“I knew he was a real tough opponent, really tough to open up and tough to score on,” Heilmann said. “I just made sure I kept my feet moving and wearing him out because I remembered he got a little tired last time, so that’s what I was trying to do.”

When the clock hit zero, Heilmann jumped to his feet, high-fived his coaches and raised his clenched fist toward the South Plainfield crowd as he left the eight mats.

It was raw emotion showcased by the junior, who suffered a 5-2 decision defeat in last year’s state quarterfinal matchup against Paulsboro’s Nick Duca.

Since last year’s tough loss, Heilmann was determined to get back to the quarterfinals and advance to the state semifinals.

“I think I progressed a lot since last year,” Heilmann said. “My mental status has improved a lot. I remember every match I was nervous last year. This year, first match I wrestled real good and dominated. Second match was the same and third match went the course and now I’m in the semifinals.”

Heilmann was the first of two South Plainfield wrestlers who advanced to the semifinals on Saturday, as sophomore teammate Zach DelVecchio also earned a 2-1 ultimate tiebreaker victory.

Seventh-seeded DelVecchio was able to upset No. 2 Robert Melise of Phillipsburg despite neither wrestling gaining an advantage until the third period.

DelVecchio scored first with an escape to start the third period, but Melise responded with an escape of his own midway through the final period to tie the quarterfinal match at 1-1. Neither wrestlers were able to score in the first minute of the overtime period and both wrestlers rode one another out in the sudden death overtime periods. To start the ultimate tiebreaker, DelVecchio chose bottom and was on his way to seal the victory with a reversal until Melise locked hands and was hit with the penalty with seven seconds remaining. DelVecchio was able to earn a semifinal’s matchup against Howell’s Eric Keosselan.

“I was thinking I could do this and I deserve this,” DelVecchio said. “I just wanted it a lot more than he did obviously.”

Last year as a freshman, DelVecchio was defeated in the quarterfinals and has used that experience to fuel this year’s shot at the state title.

“I expect to win,” DelVecchio said of the upcoming semifinals match. “I just need to clear my mind and not let anything in but my coaches.”

Woodbridge advances two wrestlers to state semifinals

Woodbridge's Bryan McLaughlin goes for the pin in his match against Delbarton's Cole Kreshpane at 170 pounds during their quarterfinal match at the NJSIAA individual championships on Saturday in Atlantic City.

When Woodbridge’s Bryan McLaughlin pinned Delbarton’s Cole Kreshpane in the first period of the quarterfinals on Saturday, he didn’t celebrate at all. The 170-pounder just turned his chair and focused on second-seeded Delsea’s Bill Janzer’s match.

The two wrestlers faced off in last year’s third-place match, where McLaughlin suffered a heartwrenching 7-6 defeat. This year after his quarterfinal win, McLaughlin watched as Janzer defeated his opponent with a dominant 27-12 technical fall victory.

Once Janzer’s arm was raised, the semifinals matchup between the two wrestlers were set. For McLaughlin, this shot at redemption has been on his mind since last year.

“Honestly since last March, there hasn’t been a day that went by where I haven’t been thinking about it,” McLaughlin said. “It’s been literally an everyday thing for me where I’ve been thinking of this. With my strategies, I’ve came up with, I think I’m going to come out on top against (Janzer).”

While McLaughlin was immediately focused on the semifinals match, his quarterfinals match was a display of excellence. McLaughlin controlled the pace the entire first period and was able to turn his opponent on his back with a swift move to pin his opponent.

“He just fell into a trap,” McLaughlin said of the move that earned him the win.

While McLaughlin was able to advance to the semifinals fairly easily, his teammate Alex LaGrippo had to work hard in his match as he advanced to the semifinals with a 3-2 decision victory.

In his first state tournament appearance, LaGrippo took an early 1-0 early in the first period with an escape. In the second period, he got up 3-0 lead and was able to control the match the rest of the way.

“This is a tournament I’ve been training for all season long,” LaGrippo said. “That was a good kid I faced but I wrestled my best and now we’ll see what I can do in the semifinals.”

LaGrippo will meet Sayreville’s Michael Porcaro in the semfinals for a rematch of the GMC Tournament finals, where LaGrippo suffered an ultimate tiebreak 4-3 defeat.

LaGrippo and McLaughlin have used one another as motivation and will once again look to thrive off each other’s success as they head into the semifinals.

“Bryan pushes me, he helps me mentally since he’s been here before,” LaGrippo said. “He talks to me about how to prepare for matches and he’s just an overall great teammate. When he does something, it motivates me to do something. Having Bryan on my team has been a great addition.”