There was little suspense about which high school team was going to win the Union County wrestling championships, held Saturday January 24 at Union High School. The only question was how dominant, heavily favored Brearley would be in capturing its fourth straight title. The answer was nine individual championships, compared to five for the other 12 teams combined which even left the hard to please Brearley coach Brian Luciani beaming.
“There were a lot of highlights throughout the day. Everybody who wrestled Saturday did a nice job, whether or not they finished first,” said Luciani, who felt that the Bears’ demanding schedule helped their performance.
“Our schedule may beat up our record and bruise some egos but the end result is to put the kids in a position to gain confidence and be able to meet the challenge and work to improve. Perhaps where some wrestlers cannot draw from that experience or position we can,” said Luciani.
In addition to sweeping all nine finals, the Bears also took two of three third place consolation bouts to finish with 270 points, well ahead of Roselle Park, which has now finished second five straight years.
Senior Kenny Knapp was named outstanding wrestler and became the seventh grappler in county history to win four titles, joining 2008 Brearley star Jesse Boyden in the record books. Knapp won an 8-1 decision over John Barnes of Westfield in the 130 finals to add to his titles won at 119 last year and 103 as a freshman and sophomore.
Fellow co-captain and senior Joe Lospinoso edged Anthony Casselli of Roselle Park 3-1 to defend his 135 title and win the third crown of his high school career. Lospinoso also won at 119 as a freshman. Senior Umar Taramov also defended his title at 160 by pinning Dawud Hicks of Plainfield in 4:58. His junior brother Khusen followed with a 14-6 victory over Alex Aravena of Roselle Park at 171.
The Bears’ two top seeded sophomores, Anthony Madonia and Danny Ries sailed to victories at 103 and 119 respectively. Madonia pinned Anthony DeFranco of Governor Livingston in1:58 and Ries stopped 2008 103 pound champion Mike Stepien of Governor Livingston 5-1.
“Madonia is having a great season, Ries just continues to wrestle like a machine and if he continues will make some noise at the end of the season,” said Luciani.
In addition to their six top seeded wrestlers, the Bears got titles from three of their lower seeded athletes. The most exciting final also resulted in the biggest upset when Brearley sophomore Devin Geoghegan toppled top seed Russell Benner of Roselle Park 6-5 in a three overtime marathon. Second seed Allen Phillips also captured the 125 pound title with a 5-4 squeaker over Christian Alvarez of Union and junior Travis Dilts toppled top seeded Gary Pyrus of Rahway 7-4 to win the 215 pound title. Phillips defeated Joe Hoy of Governor Livingston in the semi finals avenging a defeat from a year ago.
“Phillips was great, Travis was incredible but Devin Geoghegan's win over Benner was tremendous,” said Luciani, who was most surprised with Geoghegan’s upset win.
“We reminded him to stay focused and just pressing the attack, I told him to not just stop and relax and continue moving. We also reminded him about his shot distance and poor angles from his feet. He made some good corrections and took Benner's aggressiveness away. It was very exciting regardless of the outcome,” added Luciani, who also lauded Brian Gilligan’s third place finish.
“Brian worked hard to wrestle back to third, gave (Mike) Ferrara of Scotch Plains all that he could handle in the semi's,” said Luciani.
The Bears competed without 112 pound freshman star Nick Lospinoso, who failed to make the weight and heavyweight Jeff Viglone.
Cranford got victories from sophomore Joe Giaccio at 112 and junior heavyweight Joe Brady and finished sixth. Giaccio, the top seed, made amends for a disappointing loss in the finals as a freshman last year after he was also the top seed.
This time, Giaccio broke on top quickly and controlled the match in defeating Dan Pisauro of Roselle Park 5-1. Giaccio won his semi final 8-0 over Troy Skibitsky of Westfield.
“Last year I was upset in the county final, so I was very glad to win it this year. I wrestled Pisauro twice before the final, I knew I was going to have to wrestle hard and get the first takedown and continue wrestling as if I was down, said Giaccio who to 17-0 with the win.
Brady continued his fine season with an 8-2 win over top seeded Matt Tansey of Governor Livingston, avenging an earlier season defeat. Freshman J.P. Christiano had a break through tournament at 145 before being pinned in the finals by Mike Ridge of Scotch Plains-Fanwood. Christiano pinned Dillon Geoghegan of Brearley to reach the finals. Co captain Connor Leahy at 171, junior Julian Campo at 215 and freshman Ian Henry at 105 also finished fourth.
Monday, January 26, 2009
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Brearley - Buena
Brearley Wrestling Coach Brian Luciani has always tried to find the best competition for his team, no matter how far away that might take them. On Saturday the Bears traveled to Buena Township in Atlantic County, hoping to take on Buena Regional, Washington Township from Sewell Township in Gloucester County and highly rated Walkill Valley from Hamburg in Sussex County. While the snow conditions in the northwest part of New Jersey kept Walkill Valley from making the trip, Brearley was able to defeat both the hosts and Washington, raising their record to 8-2.
Like other New Jerseyans, Luciani heard the ominous weather forecast but correctly deduced that the conditions would not be treacherous going south.
“If you want to wrestle sometimes you got to drive. We were fortunate the weather was just cold going down and back and the only snow was in Kenilworth,” said Luciani.
Brearley used its superior depth to beat the hosts 55-15 and hand Washington its first loss, 41-21. The Bears competed without two of their top wrestlers, Kenny Knapp and Khusen Taramov.
“Kenny was ill all week and Khusen needed some rest so everything worked out ok,” said Luciani.
Against Washington, Brearley was trailing 18-9, when Co-captain Joe Lospinoso started the comeback with a pin at 135 in 1:31. Devin Geoghegan put the Bears ahead for good with a 2:15 pin at 140 and his twin brother Dillion extended the lead with a 5-0 decision at 145. Brian Gilligan continued the avalanche with a 34 second pin at 152 and Umar Taramov kept the streak intact with a 13-4 win at 160. Olsi Musaij, filling in for Khusen Taramov clinched the match with a 2:20 pin at 171. Brearley also got victories from Travis Dilts at 215, Anthony Madonia at 103 and Dan Ries at 115.
“It was a long day but very successful. It would have been better if Walkill had come,” added Luciani.
. Cranford’s big match with Governor Livingston came down to the final bout. Trailing 36-33, the Cougars needed a victory from Julian Campo at 215 to gain a tie but he did even better scoring a pin with only eight seconds left in his match, to give the Cougars an exhilarating 39-36 win, raising their record to 6-1 and handing the Highlanders their first defeat. The match was a see saw affair, with heavyweight Joe Brady, suffering his first loss to start the Cougars in a 3-0 hole. Trailing 9-0, Joe Giaccio got the Cougars back in the match with a lighting fast 38 second pin at 105. After Kyle Markovitch suffered a surprising loss at 119 and another loss at 125, the Cougars were down 21-6. Brian Buontempo started the comeback with a 50 second pin at 130 and Matt DiGiovanni closed further with 1:33 pin at 140. Connor Londregan won 8-4 at 145 and JP Christiano had 3:33 pin at 152. Captain Connor Leahy kept the match close with a 3:12 pin at 171.
“We have wrestled well as a team this year. We had one bad match but we bounced back well. The team is also excited with the young talent coming up, and that we have young wrestlers that we help build up the team,” said Leahy, who has taken well to his responsibilities as captain.
“I try to set the pace in practice, and encourage kids that are having trouble and starting off the matches strong,” added Leahy.
Like other New Jerseyans, Luciani heard the ominous weather forecast but correctly deduced that the conditions would not be treacherous going south.
“If you want to wrestle sometimes you got to drive. We were fortunate the weather was just cold going down and back and the only snow was in Kenilworth,” said Luciani.
Brearley used its superior depth to beat the hosts 55-15 and hand Washington its first loss, 41-21. The Bears competed without two of their top wrestlers, Kenny Knapp and Khusen Taramov.
“Kenny was ill all week and Khusen needed some rest so everything worked out ok,” said Luciani.
Against Washington, Brearley was trailing 18-9, when Co-captain Joe Lospinoso started the comeback with a pin at 135 in 1:31. Devin Geoghegan put the Bears ahead for good with a 2:15 pin at 140 and his twin brother Dillion extended the lead with a 5-0 decision at 145. Brian Gilligan continued the avalanche with a 34 second pin at 152 and Umar Taramov kept the streak intact with a 13-4 win at 160. Olsi Musaij, filling in for Khusen Taramov clinched the match with a 2:20 pin at 171. Brearley also got victories from Travis Dilts at 215, Anthony Madonia at 103 and Dan Ries at 115.
“It was a long day but very successful. It would have been better if Walkill had come,” added Luciani.
. Cranford’s big match with Governor Livingston came down to the final bout. Trailing 36-33, the Cougars needed a victory from Julian Campo at 215 to gain a tie but he did even better scoring a pin with only eight seconds left in his match, to give the Cougars an exhilarating 39-36 win, raising their record to 6-1 and handing the Highlanders their first defeat. The match was a see saw affair, with heavyweight Joe Brady, suffering his first loss to start the Cougars in a 3-0 hole. Trailing 9-0, Joe Giaccio got the Cougars back in the match with a lighting fast 38 second pin at 105. After Kyle Markovitch suffered a surprising loss at 119 and another loss at 125, the Cougars were down 21-6. Brian Buontempo started the comeback with a 50 second pin at 130 and Matt DiGiovanni closed further with 1:33 pin at 140. Connor Londregan won 8-4 at 145 and JP Christiano had 3:33 pin at 152. Captain Connor Leahy kept the match close with a 3:12 pin at 171.
“We have wrestled well as a team this year. We had one bad match but we bounced back well. The team is also excited with the young talent coming up, and that we have young wrestlers that we help build up the team,” said Leahy, who has taken well to his responsibilities as captain.
“I try to set the pace in practice, and encourage kids that are having trouble and starting off the matches strong,” added Leahy.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Brearley - Brick
Throughout his successful career as Brearley wrestling coach, Brian Luciani has maintained a philosophy of scheduling the most challenging matches possible for his teams, theorizing that the tough competition will strengthen his wrestlers for the biggest end of the year contests. After defeating Dover and Seton Hall in an opening home tournament the Bears took the long bus ride down the Jersey Shore on Saturday to face two of the top teams in the state. Although the Bears lost 33-30 to Brick Memorial (BM) and 38-30 to Toms River East (TRE), Luciani is confident that his strong team benefitted from the experience.
“We played two well coached and excellent programs. Regardless of the scores our kids will only get better by wrestling that type of competition,” said Luciani.
While not discouraged, Luciani realized that the Bears will need to build on the losses.
“Opportunities were still provided that could have allowed us to still win the two matches we lost, they were able to capitalize on our mistakes and we paid a premium price for those mistakes,” added Luciani.
Against BM, the headline match of the day was a battle at 135 between Brearley’s Kenny Knapp and BM’s Mike Morales, won by Morales 8-1.The two had faced off in the state’s quarterfinals last spring, with Morales also prevailing and Knapp knows that to win the state title he will have to solve his tough opponent.
“Morales is an extremely quick and agile athlete. He keeps constant pressure on you and takes advantage of poor position by his opponent. It was a very good match. Kenny bumped up to wrestle him and showed why he is one of our captains and leaders of our team,” said Luciani.
Sophomore Anthony Madonia helped Brearley to fast starts in both matches with a pair of pins. A district champion last year, Madonia is off to a fast start.
“Anthony has really dedicated himself to the sport this past off season and really wants to make some noise throughout the dual meet season and then attack his goals he set for the post season. He works hard and is improving everyday in the room,” said Luciani.
Fellow sophomore Dan Ries also won twice, pinning his TRE opponent in 3:20 and winning a 3-0 decision against his BM opponent. Senior co-captain Joe Lospinoso also won twice, gaining a forfeit and a 14-1 win. His freshman brother Nick, split his two matches but Luciani is pleased with his progress.
“Nicky is learning what high school wrestling is all about. Last year he was 50-0 and a State Champion but the level of wrestling is much different and there always is an adjustment period. He continues to improve,” said Luciani.
Devin Geoghegan scored a 3:03 pin at 145 for the Bears’ other win against TRE. Umar Taramov had a ten second pin at 160 and his brother Khusen won 9-4 against BM. Travis Dilts was also victorious with a 4:35 pin at 215.
The schedule gets even tougher this weekend with tough matches against Washington Township, Buena and Walkill Valley at Buena, which is located in Atlantic County, over 100 miles away. With a 10 am start to the matches, the bus will leave Kenilworth around the time the roosters are crowing, but for Luciani it goes with the territory of building a strong team.
“Yes, it’s another early bus ride for weigh ins. Only in wrestling does one get this enjoyment.”
“We played two well coached and excellent programs. Regardless of the scores our kids will only get better by wrestling that type of competition,” said Luciani.
While not discouraged, Luciani realized that the Bears will need to build on the losses.
“Opportunities were still provided that could have allowed us to still win the two matches we lost, they were able to capitalize on our mistakes and we paid a premium price for those mistakes,” added Luciani.
Against BM, the headline match of the day was a battle at 135 between Brearley’s Kenny Knapp and BM’s Mike Morales, won by Morales 8-1.The two had faced off in the state’s quarterfinals last spring, with Morales also prevailing and Knapp knows that to win the state title he will have to solve his tough opponent.
“Morales is an extremely quick and agile athlete. He keeps constant pressure on you and takes advantage of poor position by his opponent. It was a very good match. Kenny bumped up to wrestle him and showed why he is one of our captains and leaders of our team,” said Luciani.
Sophomore Anthony Madonia helped Brearley to fast starts in both matches with a pair of pins. A district champion last year, Madonia is off to a fast start.
“Anthony has really dedicated himself to the sport this past off season and really wants to make some noise throughout the dual meet season and then attack his goals he set for the post season. He works hard and is improving everyday in the room,” said Luciani.
Fellow sophomore Dan Ries also won twice, pinning his TRE opponent in 3:20 and winning a 3-0 decision against his BM opponent. Senior co-captain Joe Lospinoso also won twice, gaining a forfeit and a 14-1 win. His freshman brother Nick, split his two matches but Luciani is pleased with his progress.
“Nicky is learning what high school wrestling is all about. Last year he was 50-0 and a State Champion but the level of wrestling is much different and there always is an adjustment period. He continues to improve,” said Luciani.
Devin Geoghegan scored a 3:03 pin at 145 for the Bears’ other win against TRE. Umar Taramov had a ten second pin at 160 and his brother Khusen won 9-4 against BM. Travis Dilts was also victorious with a 4:35 pin at 215.
The schedule gets even tougher this weekend with tough matches against Washington Township, Buena and Walkill Valley at Buena, which is located in Atlantic County, over 100 miles away. With a 10 am start to the matches, the bus will leave Kenilworth around the time the roosters are crowing, but for Luciani it goes with the territory of building a strong team.
“Yes, it’s another early bus ride for weigh ins. Only in wrestling does one get this enjoyment.”
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