Local wrestlers compete at GMC tourney

If Monroe's wrestlers had any thoughts about finishing among the elite teams in this past weekend's Greater Middlesex Conference tournament, that notion was put to rest Friday night after the opening round.

PHOTOS BY JEFF GRANIT staff Above: Monroe's David Saley (top) has control of Gino Schifano of Sayreville during their 145-pound quarterfinal match at the GMC Wrestling Tournament at Piscataway High School on Jan. 31. Left: Monroe's Mark Tyson goes against Perth Amboy's Joel Perez in the 215-pound weight group. The Falcons advanced only five of 14 possible wrestlers to Saturday's quarterfinals, denying them any possibility of garnering enough points to finish high in the standings. The team championship was actually wrapped up that evening as South Plainfield advanced 12 wrestlers. The Tigers put their signature on the crown by finishing with 242.5 points, almost doubling the 127.5 points managed by second place Perth Amboy.

Of those teams in this area, Sayreville finished highest in the team standings with 115 points, good for fifth place, while Old Bridge placed seventh with 101.5 points. Monroe managed a tenth place with 79.5 points, followed by South River's 40.5 points (12th place), East Brunswick's 38 (14th place), and Spotswood's 12.5 points (16th place).

"It was disappointing that we didn't advance more wrestlers to the Saturday quarterfinals," said Monroe coach, Allen Rushing. "We suffered a couple of losses we hadn't anticipated on Friday night and that kind of took the wind out of our sails. We thought we should have finish higher."

Evidence that the Falcons are a better team than what they showed in the GMCs is the fact they have already wrapped up the GMC White Division regular season title. They are currently 10-10 in dual meets wrestling against many quality programs throughout the conference as well as teams from around the state.

"We have an outside chance of qualifying for the Central Jersey Group III team championships," Rushing said, "but we'll have to wait on that. We also can look forward to the Districts coming up later this month. Hopefully, we'll do better then. We had good success last year."

That is also the attitude of Sam Emburgia, the GMC Tournament top seed at 125 pounds, who was upset by Edison's Jeff Peterson in the semifinal match via a pin at 2:57. Emburgia had to settle for third place as he shut out Ryan Sacco of South Plainfield, 6-0.

"He didn't wrestle like he knew he could," Rushing said, "and got caught. He was actually up 6-2 and was cruising along."

The top finisher for the Falcons was 145-pounder, Dave Saley, who was the only Monroe wrestler to make it to the finals. Saley succumbed to Eric Norgard of Middlesex, 6-2 in the final match.

Other Falcons to place included Mark Tyson who finished third with a 6-5 decision

over Seth Yocum of South Plainfield; Hunter Pignola who finished fourth at 171 pounds, and Chris Garibaldi who placed sixth at 152 pounds.

"Sam and Dave are both juniors so the experience they get in the Districts and hopefully beyond will serve them well next year," said Rushing.

In other final round action, South River's Adam Mongelli lost a 3-1 decision to J.F. Kennedy's Tom Hogan to prevent him from winning in the 135 pound title, but that should not prevent the Ram senior from becoming the most accomplished wrestler in school history. Mongelli's current career record stands at 107-20, and he needs six victories to eclipse the South River career mark of 112 held by Tom Noto. Mongelli could become the all-time winning Ram when the team competes in a quad meet in Lakewood this weekend.

South River's Ryan Rizzo was the only other Ram to place in the GMCs, finishing fifth at 189 pounds.

For East Brunswick, 189-pounder Rimoun Hanna placed fourth; 119-pounder Matt Paribello placed fifth; Ryan Dalton, the Bears' 152 pounder, finished sixth and Brett Kamin, 160 pounds, placed sixth.