Wrestling: Region VI a Roller Coaster Ride for Ghione Family

TOMS RIVER - Brick Memorial freshman 106-pounder Gianni Ghione grinned widely as he held up the plaque as the Most Outstanding Wrestler of Saturday's NJSIAA Region VI Tournament at Pine Belt Arena.

While his parents, friends and teammates snapped pictures, Gianni's older brother, Brick Memorial senior 138-pounder Joe Ghione, was nowhere in sight. He was still boiling over an overtime loss to Southern's Matt Wilhelm in the final that cost him a chance to become a rare three-time Region VI champion and had him whipping his second-place medal to the floor in disgust.

It was that kind of day for the Ghione family.

"It was a really tough thing to handle,'' Gianni said. "I was so happy I won, and then I saw my brother lost. I was kind of confused with how I felt about it. I like to win, but I hate when my brother loses."

"If the roles were reversed, Gianni would be fine by the time we got home, but Joseph is very serious about what he does,'' said their mother, Amy Ghione. "He gives 110 percent and Gianni is more relaxed and not all that intense, so for Joseph to lose, it makes it harder. If it was the reverse, it would be no problem."

It surely meant for a strange dinner atmosphere on Saturday night, with one brother jubilant that his first trip to the Region VI Tournament could not have gone any better, and another stewing over a loss that is the latest frustration in a senior season full of them. Joe entered as the No. 1 seed, hoping to become just the fourth wrestler in Brick Memorial's storied history to win three region titles, but lost 3-1 in sudden victory to Wilhelm. The Wilhelm brothers had the day the Ghione brothers hoped to have, as Zach Wilhelm followed Matt's victory by beating previously undefeated Alec Donovan of Brick Memorial 3-2 to win the title at 145.

Joe's loss came after Gianni wowed the capacity crowd at Pine Belt Arena by stunning Christian Brothers Academy sophomore Sebastian Rivera, who was 35-0 entering the match. Gianni won 5-3 with a takedown in sudden victory to grab the title as the sixth seed.

Witnessing it all in the stands were their parents, who saw the dramatic highs and lows while watching through the cracks between their fingers most of the time.

"She was just kind of sitting there not watching us,'' Gianni said about his mom. "She's always in the stands, but she's always squeezing someone's arm or not watching us wrestle and stuff like that because she's all nervous."

"We've been doing this for such a long time,'' Amy said. "We really banked on this being the year because we only have them together (on the same team) for one year. Since they were in second grade, I've looked forward to this year. Having Joseph blow out his elbow the first weekend took all of that away."

Joe suffered an elbow injury in the semifinals of the early-season Pride Tournament at The College of New Jersey in December, forcing him to miss a significant chunk of Brick Memorial's dual meet season. That's why even though he had a tough day on Saturday in Toms River, his mother views it as a positive that he was out there in the first place.

"The fact that I have them on the mat together at all, to me, is such a blessing and a gift,'' she said. "Yeah, it stinks that Joseph didn't win, but we live to wrestle another day next weekend (at the NJSIAA Individual Championships in Atlantic City), and honestly we thought the season was lost. So having that, what more could I ask for?"

Saturday was the latest ride on the roller coaster for the Ghione family. Amy is the athletic trainer at Howell, which enjoyed its best season ever this winter. The Rebels won their first Shore Conference Tournament title and their first Central Jersey Group IV championship. Their opponent in both of those matches? Brick Memorial, of course.

Howell won the SCT final 28-27 over the top-seeded Mustangs, with Gianni dropping a 1-0 decision and Joe trying to gut it out after returning from the elbow injury and losing a major decision to Howell's Kris Lindemann that clinched the victory for the Rebels. Joe avenged the loss to Lindemann, who reached the Region VI 132-pound final on Saturday, with a 7-3 win in the sectional championship match, while Gianni dropped another 1-0 decision to Peter Dee at 106 in a 27-25 win for Howell.

Amy was caught in the middle of the exhilaration of her school winning two historic thrillers and the devastation of her sons being on the other end of it.

"Being the trainer at Howell and having Brick Memorial wrestle Howell in Joseph's senior year coming back from an injury was probably the most stressful of my career as their mother in wrestling,'' she said. "It was probably the worst day ever in stress level."

At the sectional final, Amy had another athletic trainer cover for her.

"I wasn't questioning my ability as a trainer,'' she said. "I didn't want anyone else questioning my ability as a trainer. (Brick Memorial's) Sue Penrod is a phenomenal trainer, and I've always trusted her opinion. As their mom, I don't always make good choices where their health is concerned because I don't want them to be hurt, so I don't look at things objectively. I found that I go to her to give me her opinion on how they are doing first."

Despite all the ups and downs, the brothers have one last chance to finish on a high note together. Joe has finished sixth in the state in each of the past two seasons down in Atlantic City and can make all the frustration of this season go away with one last inspiring run this coming weekend. His younger brother looks to just keep the ride going at Boardwalk Hall after his brilliant performance on Saturday.

"My brother and I didn't get that much time to spend together because of his injury, but finally we get to do what we need to do in Atlantic City,'' Gianni said. "I'm always looking forward, so I can't wait to see what will happen next."