Watchung Hills Advances 9 to District Semifinals

Editor's note: The District 12 tournament finals begin at 3 p.m. -- match results for Watchung Hills wrestlers will be Tweeted and posted to the WarrenPatch Facebook page immediately, with complete coverage after the end of the tournament. Sign up to follow the @WarrenPatch tweets, or become a fan of our Facebook page to stay on top of all sports and Warren news.

Watchung Hills wrestler Greg Kaye has done plenty in his life to help others: volunteering at an after-school elementary program and always giving his all to assist the team.

As the wrestling season comes near a close, Kaye is also sacrificing one of a wrestler’s most coveted possessions–his weight class.

With one of the county’s top wrestlers alongside him, Kaye agreed to swap places with friend and teammate Chris Gardner with Kaye moving up to 152 pounds and Gardner falling down to 145 pounds.

“Chris and I are tight,” said Kaye, who was told about the move just over a week ago. “Of course I’d love to wrestle at my typical weight, but I want to help out the team and I’m feeling pretty good right now.”

Both wrestlers managed to outlast their competition as Watchung Hills moved nine individuals onto the semifinals of the District 12 tournament at South Plainfield High School. The semifinal round starts Saturday at 10 a.m. with the finals slated for 3 p.m.

In addition to Gardner and Kaye, Alex Pollera (103), Mike Magaldo (112), Anthony DiRosa (119), Matt Coppola (125), Mike DiVito (140), Keith Kuzmenko (171), and Dominick Urso (285) also moved on.

At first the move to the higher weight class didn’t sit well with Kaye, but the senior co-captain continued to focus on others around him even in the individual competition.

“I don’t think he was too pleased with it, because he probably would have liked more time to bulk up,” Watchung Hills coach Dan Smith said. “I gave him the option to wrestle off with Chris at 145 but he said he would go up to 152, and it looks like it worked out for both of them.”

It’s not the first time Kaye has sacrificed for the team. As a sophomore, Smith remembers Kaye offering to lose five pounds to make a lower weight in case another wrestler didn’t qualify at his spot. With the other wrestler unable to participate, Kaye stepped in and made it all the way to the semifinals, helping Watchung Hills to a Somerset County title.

“He’s a great kid to have on the team,” Smith said. “Greg is the ultimate team player.”

Kaye might be rewarded for his unselfishness, facing a fairly weak 152-pound bracket. Only top-seeded Bryan Sobol posted a winning record this season and Kaye slips into the mix as the second seed.

“I was shocked when coach told me about the change,” Kaye (11-11) said. “After I gave it thought, I saw the bracket and felt I could do just as well. There’s no hostility or anything between Chris and myself. I want Chris to go as far as possible. He’s helped me out so much that helping him out is the least I can do.”

Already a District 12 champion as a sophomore, Gardner is hoping for a third straight trip to the finals. Last year he was defeated by South Plainfield’s Corey Stasenko for the second time. He saw Stasenko again in the wrestlebacks and suffered a third defeat. Fortunately for Gardner, Stasenko remained at 140 pounds this season, so he won’t have to face him in the tournament.

At the 140 pound weight last season, Gardner found himself fatigued and felt a step up was in order. During the dual meet season, the 152-pound class allowed him some flexibility with his weight but considered the move down to 145 at the start of the season.

With the move to the lower weight, Gardner (92-44 in his career) spent his opening match working on his conditioning, taking North Plainfield’s Kevin Guevara the full six minutes to capture an 8-0 decision.

“I wanted to see how I felt, because if I make it to the semifinals or finals, I want to be ready to go the distance,” Gardner said. “With two weeks left in the season, I just want to go all out.”

With host South Plainfield expected to capture its state-record 26th consecutive team title, the battle remains for second place and beyond. Last season, Watchung Hills currently sits in third in District 12 and hopes to climb to second when the final results are read Saturday. The Warriors collected 87 points, ranking 16.5 points behind second place Governor Livingston.

“I think we have a shot to knock off Governor Livingston” Gardner said. “We’re a solid tournament team, but while there’s a team score, much of it is individual. You’re not always thinking about going out and getting six (points) and that takes a lot of pressure off of you.”      

Watchung Hills advanced seven of its nine lightweights with all of its victories by major decision, fall or forfeit. Coppola was part of that run by earning three third period takedowns to cruise to a dominant 16-2 victory over North Plainfield’s 125-pounder Brandon Rosado. Coppola saw Rosado in the opening round of counties and earned a technical fall in that meeting.

Coppola faces second-seeded Tim Terrezza of New Providence in Saturday’s semifinals.

“I kind of knew what I wanted to do going into the match,” said the 18-13 Coppola, who is one of three freshmen or sophomores in the semifinals. “I’m really looking forward to facing Tim. It doesn’t matter to me that he’s a senior or anything. I’m just ready to go.”

Pollera, Magaldo, DiRosa, and Kuzmenko all won by first-period pins for the Warriors, while Kyle Murray and Anthony Carbajal lost by a combined four points at 160 and 215 pounds, respectively.

“There are a few matches I’d love to have back, but otherwise it’s a good night for the first night of districts,” Smith said.

103: Alex Pollera (Watchung Hills) p. Adriel Lazaro (New Providence) 1:19.
112: Mike Magaldo (Watchung Hills) p. Yelsin Varela (Plainfield) 1:56
119: Anthony DiRosa (Watchung Hills) p. Mike Varrone (Middlesex) :46.
125: Matt Coppola (Watchung Hills) md. Brandon Rosado (North Plainfield) 16-2.
130: Dan Smith (New Providence) p. Danny Phillips (Watchung Hills) 4:53.
135: Scott DelVecchio (South Plainfield) p. Craig McInerney (Watchung Hills) 2:40
140: Mike DiVito (Watchung Hills) won by forfeit.
145: Chris Gardner (Watchung Hills) md. Kevin Guevara (North Plainfield) 8-0.
152: Greg Kaye (Watchung Hills) md. Zach Mendel (Middlesex) 9-1.
160: Ryan Dunham (North Plainfield) d. Kyle Murray (Watchung Hills) 11-8.
171: Keith Kuzmenko (Watchung Hills) p. Mark Vinegra (A.L. Johnson) :46.
189: Frank Bozzomo (Middlesex) p. Alex Fornelos (Watchung Hills) 1:49.
215: Andrew Yamakatis (Colonia) d. Anthony Carbajal (Watchung Hills) 5-4.
285: Dominick Urso (Watchung Hills) p. Ryan Baron (A.L. Johnson) 5:41.