Wrestling: Five GMC wrestlers win District 20 titles

MONMOUTH JUNCTION — Saturday, Bobby Januska took a piece of white tape and wrote “Gus Palacio 182 2017” and stuck it on the permanent banner that hangs in the wrestling room. The South Brunswick coach then called in Palacio before the District 20 final, instructing him to look at it.

“He told me to just soak it in and want it,” the junior said. “And I wanted it.”

Palacio trailed 8-3 in the third period but came up with a throw and the pin with 33 seconds remaining to capture the 182-pound title.

Domination and drama.

There was nothing in between from the five District 20 champions out of the Greater Middlesex Conference. Nothing methodical. It was either heart-stomping wins or a clinic on the mat.

The Domination Kings included Perth Amboy’s Norberto Torres, who was voted Outstanding Wrestler after his 15-1 win at 120 over Matawan’s Jaleel Gopaul, who was 27-1. Monroe’s 145-pounder Nick Lombard (30-0) remained undefeated with his 23-8 technical fall over Raritan’s James VanFechtma.

The Drama Kings included Palacio and Bishop Ahr’s Dylan O’Connor (126), who got a reversal with under 10 seconds remaining on the edge of the mat for a 2-1 win. Monroe heavyweight Lou Ceras pulled out a 4-3 win in the second overtime tiebreaker.

Team-wise, Raritan of the Shore Conference rolled with 230.5 team points followed by Monroe’s 182.5. The Top 5 in the newly created district after the NJSIAA offseason realignment included Holmdel (127.5), Perth Amboy (101) and New Brunswick (82).

The Top 3 in each of the 14 weight classes advanced to next week’s Region V tournament at Hunterdon Central, with the Top 4 region finishers then advancing to the state tournament at Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Hall on March 3-5.

The home crowd got to cheer at 182. The top-seeded Palacio trailed New Brunswick’s Dominion Ezechibueze 8-3 in the third period. In an instant, Palacio caught him with a lat throw. Ezechibueze fought off his back, bridging high up, but the Viking got the fall. He was the lone South Brunswick wrestler to advance.

Palacio won the regular season meeting 6-5 on Jan. 24th against the first-year wrestler.

“I knew he was going to come at me with everything he had because I knew he wanted a rematch,” said Palacio, who doesn’t have a practice partner because South Brunswick is thin in the upper weights and often trains with assistant coach Jeff Goldhagen. “He just had a lot of confidence going in and my mind wasn’t right at the moment. But I pulled that lat drop out of me and I made it happen.”

Palacio said he has learned from his cousin Nick Daza, who was a District 20 champion last season and now wrestles for Muhlenberg College.

“I came in this season with a whole new attitude,” Palacio said. “In the room, I’ve been working a lot harder. I just wanted to get my name on that banner right up next to his.”

Another rematch occurred at 120 between Torres (33-3) and Matawan’s Jaleel Gopaul. Torres beat him 21-3 on Dec. 28 in the finals of the East Brunswick Bear Invitational. Since then, Gopaul reeled off 23 straight victories, including 13 combined pins and technical falls.

That made what was going to happen Saturday a bit of a mystery. Turns out, it was the same script.

“I thought it was going to be closer, but at the same time I wanted to go out there and do the same thing as last time and just dominate,” Torres said. “I came in today, I really wanted this. And now that I took first, I can focus on the next tournament, the regions, and from there focus on getting down to Atlantic City and placing.”

As far as getting the Outstanding Wrestler honor?

“I was not expecting it,” he said. “I thought like 126 or 132, probably. … At least I got one before I graduated. Hopefully get another one down in the regions next week.”

The Panthers got a sweep with the hardware. Perth Amboy’s coach Mike Giordano, who is retiring after 29 seasons, earned the district’s Coach of the Year. Additionally, Rob Morales was named the district’s Assistant Coach of the Year.

Perth Amboy advanced four other wrestlers in silver medalists Joe Pacheco (106) and Alexis Soriano (126). Getting third were James Rodriguez (132) and Adalphi Jimenez (170).

Monroe advance a GMC-high nine wrestlers, including second-placers Nick DePalma (113), Nick Weikel (160) and Kaylon Bradley (195). The third-place finishers were Joseph Fiordaliso (106), Andy Lombard (126), Donny Albach (138) and Kyle Comerford (152).

New Brunswick advanced four wrestlers in three runners-up in Dominion Ezechibueze (182), Jovan Mercado (220) and Ramiro Osuna, Jr (285). Yarinel Peralta took third at 145.

Bishop Ahr also got three wrestlers through in third-place finishers Gaven Ringwood (113), David Loniewski (120) and Andrew Brazicki (195).