North Bergen, St. Peter’s move on to state sectional finals
Hudson County has never been known for its great wrestling programs. In fact, the county only has five active teams, one of which is a co-operative program, joining Secaucus and Weehawken for one team.
However, two of the five are headed to the championship round of their respective NJSIAA state sectionals.
By virtue of their two wins Tuesday night in the North Jersey Section 1, Group IV playoffs Tuesday night in Vernon, the Bruins of North Bergen have moved on to the sectional championship, where they will tangle with Fair Lawn for the crown.
And after defeating Pingry and Seton Hall Prep on Tuesday, the Marauders of St. Peter’s Prep have moved on to the title round of Parochial A North, where they will face Bergen Catholic.
The Bruins will look to capture the school’s fourth-ever state sectional championship and the first since 1992. The Marauders are looking for a repeat performance of a year ago, when they knocked off the Crusaders of BC to earn the school’s first-ever state championship.
Still, it’s pretty impressive that Hudson County will have two of its five teams grappling for state glory.
"They have a good team and so do we," said North Bergen head coach Jerry Maietta, whose team defeated the Marauders earlier in the year. "It’s good to see two Hudson County teams doing so well in the states."
The Bruins had to travel to Sussex County to first face Wayne Valley in the opening round, then had to tangle with host Vernon in the second round. The Bruins rolled through the first match, but then had to deal with facing a team on its home mat.
When the seedings for the state tournament were first announced, it looked as if the Bruins were going to draw the top seed in the sectional and play host to a first round match, with the prospects of only having to win one match.
But when the official pairings were released, the Bruins found themselves on the road and having to win two matches to advance.
"The only bad thing was having to go all the way up to Vernon," Maietta said. "But we were wrestling well, so I didn’t see any problems."
Led by a ferocious bunch of lighterweights, the Bruins rolled to the first win and then jumped out to a 28-0 lead on Vernon in the semifinals.
"Was it that much?" Maietta asked. "I didn’t even realize. When the match is going on, I am so oblivious to everything. I knew we had jumped out to a convincing lead, but I had no idea it was that much. That’s been our strength all year. We held true to that form."
Alex Brito (103 pounds), Elmer Garcia (112), Lou Ravelo (119), Randy Colilla (125), Ron Palmieri (130), Lou Marroquin (135) and Omar Sharif (140) all won their respective matches for the Bruins against Vernon, and the team then cruised to a 32-24 win over the host school. The victory set up a showdown with undefeated Fair Lawn for the sectional title.
"We’re really wrestling well and I hope we’re peaking at the right time," said Maietta, whose team now owns an impressive 20-1 record. "Fair Lawn is a very good team, but it’s good that it will be in our gym. We’re past the first hurdle and we have one more to go. It’s different for our kids, because none of them have been in this position before. I’m interested to see how we respond."
The Marauders have been in this position before, having knocked off Bergen Catholic last year to win the state sectional title. But the cast of characters is totally different. There’s a new coach in Rick Gronda, replacing Keith Kelly. There is basically an entirely new lineup, filled with eight sophomores.
"Keith did a great job in establishing the program," said Gronda, who was a District 16 champion for the Marauders in 1989, one of three Gronda brothers (Doug, 1986 and Dan, 1990, the others) to earn district championships at the Prep. "So the transition for a new coach wasn’t a major job. Keith did a great job in laying the foundation and I’ve tried to carry that tradition. It was easy to pick it up and run with it."
However, the Marauders didn’t have it as easy as their Hudson County brethren. Their semifinal showdown with Seton Hall Prep went back and forth, with the lead changing hands six times over the final six matches. It wasn’t like that when the Prep faced Seton Hall in the regular season, when Seton Hall gained a victory.
"The first time we lost to them, we were down 15-0 after the first three matches," Gronda said. "This time, we’re tied at 6-6. I think that gave us a little momentum and something to hold on to."
When Prep heavyweight Anthony Mercun took his 10-11 record to the mat for the final match of the semifinal, the Marauders trailed, 31-29. But Mercun went into overtime with his opponent, Mike D’Amico, and managed to gain a takedown 25 seconds into the extra session for the win, giving his team a thrilling 32-31 victory.
"If anyone deserves that big win, it’s Anthony, because he works his tail off trying to get better," Gronda said. "I think it’s a tribute to his work ethic and the work ethic of the entire team."
Another huge win came from sophomore 152-pounder Adrian Bermudez, who won via a pin in 3:20 in his first-ever varsity match. What a way to make a debut – winning by pin in a state sectional semifinal.
"We had our young guys step up," said Gronda, who wanted to credit assistant coaches Anthony Verdi, Mike Fusco and Ed Roselle. "I’m really proud of them all."
Gronda will get a chance to have a little more Prep pride if they can defeat Bergen Catholic and move on to the overall state championship this weekend.