Kenny Knapp’s final quest for his first state wrestling title came to an end in the semi final round on Saturday March 7 in Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City when he fell 6-2 to Jordan Beverly of Point Pleasant Boro but although the Brearley senior was not able to match 2008 graduate Jesse Boyden as state champion, he will still leave a legacy as one of the most consistent and classy wrestlers in the school’s rich history. Knapp fought off the disappointment of his semi final loss to win his wrestleback semi final over Derrik Russell of Jackson and won his third place match over James Green of Willingboro 3-1 on Sunday March 8, an improvement of two places over last year. Ironically, Knapp had defeated both Russell and Green earlier in the tournament and the final victories provided a fitting ending to his career according to Brearley coach Brian Luciani
“Kenny has been an integral part of our team and he has met the challenges placed before him his entire career and he has met them head on with great success. He is the epitome of class and I along with the team am very proud of him. Kenny has truly been an ambassador to the sport. It has been a great pleasure to be his coach and watch him develop,” said Luciani.
In his third place match against Green on Sunday, Knapp got a takedown with: 32 left in the first. Green escaped in the second period and it ended with Knapp leading 2-1. Knapp escaped at the beginning of the third to open a 3-1 advantage, which he adroitly held to the end.
In his only loss of the six weekend matches against Beverly in the semi finals, Knapp was in immediate trouble as Beverly scored a takedown 20 seconds into the first period for a quick 2-0 lead. Beverly earned an escape point 19 seconds into the second to take a 3-0 lead before Knapp cut the deficit to 3-2 on a takedown with 45 seconds left in the period. Beverly, who escaped late in the second, got another takedown with 45 seconds left in the third to seal the victory.
Knapp, who lost in the quarterfinals a year ago, got through that round this time when he outscored Green 5-2. Knapp escaped early trouble early in the match against his aggressive opponent and got a takedown right before the first period buzzer for a 2-0 lead. In second period Knapp added an escape and another takedown for a 5-0 lead and cruised form there. Knapp had begun his quest Friday night March 6 in the pre-quarterfinal round by whitewashing Russell 11-0.
Senior Umar Taramov also got to the quarterfinals with a tidy 9-3 win over Anthony Sherman of Toms River East. Taramov’s championship quest ended in the quarterfinals when he lost a tough 3-1 decision to Preston Keiffer of Eastern. The match was scoreless through the first period, but in the second Keiffer escaped for a 1-0 lead. Taramov tied it in the third with an escape but was taken down with a minute left and couldn’t make any progress from there. Taramov won his wrestleback matches against Zach Agostino of Egg Harbor 6-4 and Dan Soffer of Somerville 4-2 in four overtimes but lost the semi final wrestleback to Mike Dessino of Middlesex 10-8 in what was a rematch of their region final the week before that Taramov had won 4-2. Taramov’s final match of a distinguished career ended in defeat Sunday when Keiffer defeated him 7-0 in the fifth place consolation match, relegating Taramov to sixth place, but not detracting from a superb career.
“Umar has been an excellent addition to our team. He has really developed into an all around excellent wrestler that combines what he likes from the Russian style to incorporating our American style into what he does. He always gives 100% and always leaves everything on the mat,” Luciani said.
Luciani was hoping that sophomore Anthony Madonia could enhance what has been a breakout sophomore season by winning his first match in the preliminary round Friday and making it through to wrestle Saturday. Madonia obliged by defeating Andrew Hewitt of Franklin 4-2. Madonia was pinned in 1:35 by the state’s second ranked wrestler Nick Sausman of Camden Catholic in the pre-quarterfinal round Friday night. Madonia was ousted in the first round of wrestlebacks by Justin Colon of Belleville 11-5 but still had a breakthrough season.
“Madonia has really stepped up his game and now that his goal of making it to the tournament has been met, we wanted him to win a round and get some footing in AC. He has shown how hard work over the summer can pay huge dividends,” said Luciani.
Fellow sophomore Dan Ries followed the same pattern as Madonia winning his preliminary match over highly rated Connor Melde of Bergen Catholic 6-3 before falling 6-3 in the second round to Corey Kozimor of Hackettstown Ries also lost his first round wrestleback when he was pinned by Zach Huxford of Jackson.
Before the tournament Luciani described Ries as “like a machine, he is constantly getting better and better. He can beat anyone he wrestles as long as he stays focused.”
Cranford heavyweight Joe Brady saw his fine season end in the preliminary round when he was pinned by Mike Dwyer of Cinnaminson in 3:31.
Monday, March 9, 2009
Monday, March 2, 2009
Regions
Regardless of their Algebra aptitude, every New Jersey high school wrestler understands the formula R * WC * Q = AC. R stands for the 8 regions consisting of four districts that are arranged geographically.. WC is 14 weight classes ranging from 103 to 285. Q equals three qualifiers from each weight class in each region. Multiply the three together and you get 336, which equals the amount of wrestlers that qualified for this weekend’s state championships which begin Friday March 6 in Atlantic City (AC) and continue with the eventual crowning of 14 champions on Sunday March 8 . The difference between being one of those select 336 and being on the outside looking in can be agonizingly miniscule.
Of the sixteen area wrestlers who participated in the regions which began Tuesday February 24, five are still alive in their quest to join Jesse Boyden of Brearley (2008) and Pat Hogan of Cranford (2006) as recent state champions, while two others fell one point short.
Senior Kenny Knapp of Brearley who is no stranger to the Atlantic City hoopla, claimed his third straight region title and was named the outstanding wrestler, winning at 130 pounds after taking the 103-pound title as a sophomore and the 119-pound title last year. Knapp will be making his fourth consecutive trip to the state finals, having placed second as a freshman at 103 in 2006.
In the finals, Knapp scored two takedowns on Westfield's John Barnes in the first period to take a 4-1 lead into the second period and held on for a 5-3 victory to secure his third straight region title. It was the first time in his brilliant career that Knapp had not faced a South Plainfield wrestler in the region finals. Second seed Nick Heilmann of South Plainfield had lost to Knapp in each of the last two seasons in the region final, but was upset in the semi finals by Barnes. In the semi finals Knapp made quick work of Erik Gobbo of Delbarton, pinning him in 1:18 and in the quarterfinals he also pinned Chris Roberts of Johnson in 2:38. Knapp improved to 30-4 for the season and 145-19 for his career.
Senior Umar Taramov repeated his 160 pound title by nipping top seeded. Mike Dessino of Middlesex 4-2. Dessino was the defending 152 pound champion. Tarmov had outlasted Dawud Hicks of Plainfield 10-5 in the semi finals. Taramov took care of Anthony Pizzuta of Parsippany 18-6 in the quarterfinal round.
Sophomore Dan Ries will be returning to Atlantic City and nearly qualified as a region champion, but lost to fellow sophomore Lou Mascola of Seton Hall Prep 5-4. It was a much closer match than the previous week, when Mascola won the district final 10-4. As a second place district finisher, Ries had to wrestle an extra match on Tuesday, defeating Tristan Bundy of Scotch Plains Fanwood. In the quarterfinals Ries dominated Rochelle Hinton of Rahway 19-2 with a technical fall in 5:08. In the semi finals Ries took care of Jeff Canfora of Delbarton 3-1.
Sophomore Anthony Madonia will be the only first time state qualifier in the Brearley quartet. Madonia was pinned by Tyler Hunt of South Plainfield in 1:13 in the finals but had already punched his ticket to Atlantic City by scoring late to edge Patsy Davis of Madison, 2-1. In the quarterfinal round on Friday night Madonia pinned Adam Sabo of Hanover Park in 2:11.
Cranford junior heavyweight Joe Brady will be the only Cougar making the trip, although he came within point of winning the region title and gaining a coveted first round bye into the round of 16. In the finals Brady was edged 4-3 by Conor Sweeney of Seton Hall Prep. The top seed, Brady won one of the longest matches of the weekend when he scored on an escape in the fourth overtime to edge. Christian Bollin of Middlesex 4-3.
Cougar sophomore Joe Giaccio just missed joining Brady in Atlantic City. After improving his record to 28-0 with an impressive 7-2 victory over Dan Pisaro of Roselle Park in the quarterfinals, Giaccio suffered his defeat of the season in Saturday morning’s semi finals when he was edged 4-3 by Steve Godine of Whippany Park. Giaccio bounced back to win his first wrestleback 8-2 over Travis Bach of Parsippany. In a back and forth match Giaccio fell short 6-5 to Rich Szeliga of South Plainfield.
Brearley junior Khusen Taramov, who finished seventh in the state last year, narrowly missed a return visit losing a 3-2 decision to Mike Lomio of Hanover Park in the consolation match for third place at 171. Taramov, the second seed, had suffered a 3-2 upset loss to Mike Wagner of South Plainfield in the quarterfinal round and had to win two wrestleback matches to qualify. In the semi finals he pinned Tyler Selby of Seton Hall Prep in 3:22.
Senior Travis Dilts of Brearley pinned Urayoan Garcia of Rahway in 4:13.in the quarterfinal round before losing in the semi finals 5-1 to Mark Wroblewski of Watchung Hills. Sophomore Devin Geoghegan won his quarterfinal match before being pinned by Nick Bach of Parsippany in the semi finals.
Sophomore Kyle Markovitch, like Giaccio was defeated by a Delbarton wrestler, Jeff Canfora who won the quarterfinal match up 7-3. Also losing in the quarterfinal round was Allen Phillips of Brearley who was edged by Ryan Sacco of South Plainfield 4-3 and Dillon Geoghegan. Julian Campo of Cranford also lost in the quarterfinal round at 215 to Wroblewski. Matt DiGiovanni of Cranford was pinned by Anthony Caselli of Roselle Park in 5:16 and Connor Leahy lost 10-5 at 171 to Mike Lomio of Hanover Park.
Of the sixteen area wrestlers who participated in the regions which began Tuesday February 24, five are still alive in their quest to join Jesse Boyden of Brearley (2008) and Pat Hogan of Cranford (2006) as recent state champions, while two others fell one point short.
Senior Kenny Knapp of Brearley who is no stranger to the Atlantic City hoopla, claimed his third straight region title and was named the outstanding wrestler, winning at 130 pounds after taking the 103-pound title as a sophomore and the 119-pound title last year. Knapp will be making his fourth consecutive trip to the state finals, having placed second as a freshman at 103 in 2006.
In the finals, Knapp scored two takedowns on Westfield's John Barnes in the first period to take a 4-1 lead into the second period and held on for a 5-3 victory to secure his third straight region title. It was the first time in his brilliant career that Knapp had not faced a South Plainfield wrestler in the region finals. Second seed Nick Heilmann of South Plainfield had lost to Knapp in each of the last two seasons in the region final, but was upset in the semi finals by Barnes. In the semi finals Knapp made quick work of Erik Gobbo of Delbarton, pinning him in 1:18 and in the quarterfinals he also pinned Chris Roberts of Johnson in 2:38. Knapp improved to 30-4 for the season and 145-19 for his career.
Senior Umar Taramov repeated his 160 pound title by nipping top seeded. Mike Dessino of Middlesex 4-2. Dessino was the defending 152 pound champion. Tarmov had outlasted Dawud Hicks of Plainfield 10-5 in the semi finals. Taramov took care of Anthony Pizzuta of Parsippany 18-6 in the quarterfinal round.
Sophomore Dan Ries will be returning to Atlantic City and nearly qualified as a region champion, but lost to fellow sophomore Lou Mascola of Seton Hall Prep 5-4. It was a much closer match than the previous week, when Mascola won the district final 10-4. As a second place district finisher, Ries had to wrestle an extra match on Tuesday, defeating Tristan Bundy of Scotch Plains Fanwood. In the quarterfinals Ries dominated Rochelle Hinton of Rahway 19-2 with a technical fall in 5:08. In the semi finals Ries took care of Jeff Canfora of Delbarton 3-1.
Sophomore Anthony Madonia will be the only first time state qualifier in the Brearley quartet. Madonia was pinned by Tyler Hunt of South Plainfield in 1:13 in the finals but had already punched his ticket to Atlantic City by scoring late to edge Patsy Davis of Madison, 2-1. In the quarterfinal round on Friday night Madonia pinned Adam Sabo of Hanover Park in 2:11.
Cranford junior heavyweight Joe Brady will be the only Cougar making the trip, although he came within point of winning the region title and gaining a coveted first round bye into the round of 16. In the finals Brady was edged 4-3 by Conor Sweeney of Seton Hall Prep. The top seed, Brady won one of the longest matches of the weekend when he scored on an escape in the fourth overtime to edge. Christian Bollin of Middlesex 4-3.
Cougar sophomore Joe Giaccio just missed joining Brady in Atlantic City. After improving his record to 28-0 with an impressive 7-2 victory over Dan Pisaro of Roselle Park in the quarterfinals, Giaccio suffered his defeat of the season in Saturday morning’s semi finals when he was edged 4-3 by Steve Godine of Whippany Park. Giaccio bounced back to win his first wrestleback 8-2 over Travis Bach of Parsippany. In a back and forth match Giaccio fell short 6-5 to Rich Szeliga of South Plainfield.
Brearley junior Khusen Taramov, who finished seventh in the state last year, narrowly missed a return visit losing a 3-2 decision to Mike Lomio of Hanover Park in the consolation match for third place at 171. Taramov, the second seed, had suffered a 3-2 upset loss to Mike Wagner of South Plainfield in the quarterfinal round and had to win two wrestleback matches to qualify. In the semi finals he pinned Tyler Selby of Seton Hall Prep in 3:22.
Senior Travis Dilts of Brearley pinned Urayoan Garcia of Rahway in 4:13.in the quarterfinal round before losing in the semi finals 5-1 to Mark Wroblewski of Watchung Hills. Sophomore Devin Geoghegan won his quarterfinal match before being pinned by Nick Bach of Parsippany in the semi finals.
Sophomore Kyle Markovitch, like Giaccio was defeated by a Delbarton wrestler, Jeff Canfora who won the quarterfinal match up 7-3. Also losing in the quarterfinal round was Allen Phillips of Brearley who was edged by Ryan Sacco of South Plainfield 4-3 and Dillon Geoghegan. Julian Campo of Cranford also lost in the quarterfinal round at 215 to Wroblewski. Matt DiGiovanni of Cranford was pinned by Anthony Caselli of Roselle Park in 5:16 and Connor Leahy lost 10-5 at 171 to Mike Lomio of Hanover Park.
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