Prep Work: Brick Memorial 47, TR South 22

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TOMS RIVER — A team win is always something to celebrate, especially when it comes against a rival in the rough-and-tumble Class A South division of the Shore Conference. Brick Memorial isn’t looking beyond any midseason duals, but the defending Group IV champion Mustangs also have goals far greater than garnering January headlines.

“The saying is ‘It’s not where you start, it’s where you finish,’” said Brick Memorial head coach Mike Denver after the Mustangs, No. 1 in the Shore Sports Network Top 10, took nine of 14 bouts from No. 5 Toms River South in a 47-22 victory Saturday morning. “To come in here for an A-South match, of course we want to win the match, but improvement is what we’re looking for most as coaches. It’s about where we are come Shore Conference (Tournament) and (state) sectionals.”

The Mustangs are humming right along at 7-0 and 3-0 in A South after Saturday’s win with crucial matches against No. 6 Jackson Memorial and No. 2 Southern coming in the next two weeks. They need their studs to do what they’re expected to do, but more so they need the unheralded wrestlers to shine in order to remain a championship team.

They got that on Saturday with technical falls from first-year starters Jose Bocalman and Joe Stowers at 126 and 138 pounds, respectively. Luis Bocalman wrestled a tight match in a 2-0 loss to state qualifier Owen McClave at 120 pounds, and freshmen Nick Rivera at heavyweight and Gianni Ghione closed out the dual with impressive victories.

“It was a big team effort,” said senior 182-pounder Nick Costa, who won by 9-1 major decision over Quentin DeCarlo. “Our JV kids and young kids are always good or behind tough kids if they’re not starting. They’re always working hard and they’re the ones making us better. When they finally get their shot on the mat they’re ready to go.”

“Everybody is going to get their chance and will have to step up to the plate,” Denver said. “Today kind of proves that and shows that our younger guys and guys we haven’t been using in the lineup have to step up. Injuries do occur, and we do bump around. We have to make those game-time decisions and at any moment they have to be prepared and ready to go. I think our kids know that and understand they have to be prepared, and if they fail to prepare it shows on the mat and doesn’t just hurt them, it hurts the team.”

Toms River South (3-3, 0-3) is still missing some starters due to injury, including 17-match winner Mike Rutter at 220, and that meant forfeiting bouts at 113, 152 and 220, severely hurting its chances to stay within striking distance. The Indians got wins from their big guns as McClave, Brandon Murray, Joe Salvato and Antrez Clagon combined for 19 of the 22 team points scored. Murray and Clagon won by technical fall at 132 and 170, respectively, while Salvato won by fall at 160.

After a forfeit to Luke Vescovi at 113 to start the match, McClave, who again wrestled up at 120 from his normal 113 weight class, held off Bocalman with a second-period escape and a stalling point to win 2-0 and cut Brick Memorial’s lead to 6-3. Jose Bocalman followed with an 18-2 technical fall over Joe Olivera at 126. Murray got those points right back with a 15-0 technical fall over Anthony Mitchel at 132 to pull the Indians to within 11-8, but that was as close as they’d get the rest of the way.

Stowers, a junior who was 0-2 last season, picked up his sixth victory this year via a 16-1 tech fall over Jason Cairns at 138 pounds. Junior Alec Donovan then won by fall in 1:45 and junior Rob Ruggiero received a forfeit at 152 to push Brick Memorial’s lead to 28-8. Salvato halted the Mustangs’ three-bout winning streak with a pin of Tim Santiago in 1:08, and Clagon delivered a 19-4 tech fall over Connor Owen at 170 to trim the Mustangs’ advantage to 28-19.

Costa, in his first bout since bumping up to 195 in a dual versus Keansburg last week and suffering a 12-4 loss to Tyree Sutton, bounced back with a 9-1 major against the hard-nosed DeCarlo. Costa led 5-0 after two periods and was able to secure two takedowns in the third period to push his margin of victory to eight and earn four team points.

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“(The loss to Sutton) definitely got the pressure of being undefeated or anything like that off my back,” said Costa, who was the seventh-place finisher in the state tournament at 182 pounds last season. “It showed me there’s certain stuff I need to work on and that I can’t get down on myself. I have to bounce back and keep improving.”

Indians senior Rich Gonzalez edged Bobby Mitler, 3-2 on a third-period takedown at 195 pounds before Mustangs senior Tyler Poling received a forfeit at 220 pounds to make it 38-22. Then came two of the bouts that pleased Denver the most. Rivera pinned Indians junior James Kearny (11-4) in 2:23 at heavyweight to make it 44-22 before Ghione used a third-period takedown to take a back-and-forth match with fellow freshman Zack Martin, 7-4.

Rivera (7-1) is part of a great upperweight group for Brick Memorial and one of three solid heavyweights in the Mustangs’ arsenal that includes junior Marcus Foster (8-2) and another freshman, Justin Szuba (3-1). Brick Memorial overpowered teams from 170 and up last season, and while it graduated a pair of state medalists from that group, the potential to grab bonus points in a hurry still remains.

“Every day we try to get them to improve and to see how talented they are,” Denver said. “Once they start seeing it and believing, that’s when good things start happening and you start getting pins and big wins.”

Ghione improved to 12-1, with his only defeat coming in overtime in the finals of the Mustang Classic. Martin earned the first takedown of the bout, but Ghione countered with a reversal with under 10 seconds left in the opening period to tie the bout at two. Martin chose neutral to begin the second and took Ghione down again, but Ghione’s mat wrestling drew him even when he again reversed Martin to knot the score at four heading to the third. Ghione began on defense and was given an intentional escape for a 5-4 lead. This time, however, it was Ghione who earned points on his feet, securing a takedown for a 7-4 lead and riding out Martin the rest of the way despite a near-reversal late in the bout.

“I think Gianni is great in the sense that he constantly wrestles through every single position,” Denver said. “When kids understand that, that’s when you start showing your true colors and winning matches. He’s living proof of that.”

When you’re ranked No. 1 in the Shore and a consensus top-10 team in the state, wins like Saturday’s, although against another ranked team both locally and in New Jersey, are expected. For Brick Memorial, it’s less about the final result and more of how it is achieved.

“We get tougher and tougher (opponents) each week and we need to be battle-tested,” Costa said. “Matches like this help us get better.”

Box Score

Class A South

No. 1 Brick Memorial 47, No. 5 Toms River South 22
113: Luke Vescovi (BM) by forfeit
120: Owen McClave (TRS) d. Luis Bocalman 2-0
126: Jose Bocalman (BM) tf. Joe Olivera 5:28 (18-2)
132: Brandon Murray (TRS) tf. Anthony Mitchel 4:29 (15-0)
138: Joey Stowers (BM) tf. Jason Cairns 5:42 (16-1)
145: Alec Donovan (BM) p. Justin Lubranicki 1:45
152: Rob Ruggiero (BM) by forfeit
160: Joe Salvato (TRS) p. Tim Santiago 1:08
170: Antrez Clagon (TRS) tf. Connor Owen 5:58 (19-4)
182: Nick Costa (BM) md. Quentin DeCarlo 9-1
195: Rich Gonzalez (TRS) d. Bobby Mitler 3-2
220: Tyler Poling (BM) by forfeit
Hwt: Nick Rivera (BM) p. James Kearney 3:23
106: Gianni Ghione (BM) d. Zack Martin 7-4

Records: at Toms River South (3-3, 0-3); Brick Memorial (7-0, 3-0)