PISCATAWAY - Sonny Amato was not worried even though Rumson-Fair Haven was leading Caldwell by just six points entering the final bout of the NJSIAA Group 2 championship match.
Senior and returning state qualifier Elijah Bayne was the wrestler who was on the mat at 120 pounds to cllinch the Bulldogs' second consecutive Group 2 championship.
"Perfect guy to have. He is the guy to have,'' Amato, Rumson-Fair Haven's defending 144-pound state champion, said about Bayne. "He's very good in those situations, mentally and physically. ''
Bayne pinned Yankee Mabee in the second period to put the finishing touches on the Bulldogs' 40-28 win Sunday at Rutgers University's Jersey Mike's Arena.
"As you saw, with all that throwing around, he stayed mentally focused,'' Amato said. "He's one of our better wrestlers.''
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Also, Sunday, Southern won its third straight NJSIAA Group 5 championship with a 58-18 rout over outmanned Bridgewater-Raritan and Brick Memorial denied its 10th group championship. The Mustangs were defeated 45-30 by Delsea in the Group 3 final. It was Delsea's fourth straight Group 3 title.
Bayne said it was the first time all season, where a match came down to him in the final bout.
"At first, there was a lot of pressure when I went out there,'' Bayne said. "Once I stepped on the mat, I knew what my job had to be and I knew I had to get it done for the team.''
Bayne built a 5-1 lead on a takedown in the first period and two back points in the second before he put Mabee to his back with an arm bar.
"My game plan going out there was to do my job and get it done as fast as I could,'' Bayne said. "I love getting on top and I love working that bar (arm bar).''
Rumson-Fair Haven was missing one of its best wrestlers
The match was still in the balance heading into the final bout because Rumson-Fair Haven (28-1) forfeited at 215 pounds, even though two-time state qualifier Conor Delaney, who is 32-1 on the season, weighed in.
Rumson-Fair Haven head coach Eleazar DeLuca was tight-lipped about why Delaney did not wrestle for the second match in a row. Delaney did not wrestle in the Bulldogs' 57-24 win over Middle Township in the Group 2 semifinal.
"Why do you need to know that? "I can't tell you that. It's a private matter,'' DeLuca said, when asked why Delaney did not wrestle. "He'll be good to go for districts.''
The forfeit created at least a nine-point swing, if not more.
Caldwell closed to wihtin 34-28 headed into the final bout on a pin at 106 and a 7-4 win by Carmine Sipper at 113 over Eamon Fry in a matchup of returning state qualifiers.
How Rumson-Fair Haven built its lead
Rumson-Fair Haven had built its lead on pins by Amato and returning state qualifier Matt Smith (heavyweight) and a win by technical fall by returning state qualifier Luke Dougherty (190).
Amato's pin started a four-bout, 18-point run that also included a forfeit to Cole Pangborn at 165 and decisions by returning state qualifier Mario DelVecchio (150) and Walker Skove (157).
"It was a lot closer than I expected. I give all respect to Caldwell and props to their coaching staff,'' Amato said.
But, it in the end, it was a special season for Rumson-Fair Haven.
In addition to repeating as Group 2 champions, the Bulldogs defeated Group 5 champion Southern, Group 3 finalist Brick Memorial, Group 4 champion North Hunterdon, Group 4 finalist Phillipsburg and Non-Public A semifinal St. John Vianney within a 13-day span in January.
"We train hard, and it shows,'' Amato said.
Southern makes school history
According to Southern head coach Dan Roy, it is the first time Southern has won three straight group championships in any sport.
Southern had to overcome adversity during the season. It wrestled the last five weeks of the season without returning state third-place finisher Hayden Hochstrasser (175) and returning state fourth-place finisher Bryce Manera (132).
Roy said Manera will not be entered in the District 26 Tournament due to an ankle injury. Roy said Hochstrasser's status for districts was still uncertain. Hochstrasser did weigh in Sunday at 184.3.
"We really wanted to get this,'' Roy said. "We've been talking about winning a third straight since last summer. It was tough with the injuries this year, trying to stay positive. We just kept wrestling and had kids that stepped up along the way.''
Coming together as a team
Senior 157-pounder Wyatt Stout, who is a two-time state top six finisher, said the wrestlers talked it over after the Rams' loss to Rumson-Fair Haven on Jan. 28. That was Southern's third defeat in a 20-day span. All of the defeats came while wrestling short-handed.
"We took losses that we should not have taken,'' Stout, who recorded one of the Rams' seven pins Sunday. "We all just came together as a group collectively and said, 'We've got to get our stuff together'. We can't be losing.''
Southern won eight straight after the Rumson-Fair Haven defeat. Its five state tournament wins were by an average of 49.4 points.
"Being able to ovecome adversity made us tougher overall,'' Stout said.
"It's great that I had seniors that were able to take on that role (leadership) and help these younger kids and kind of keep the team together,'' Roy said. "It's hard doing it by yourself. You've got to have good leaders. I just feel like the kids really pulled together at the end.''
Roy said the defeats to Group 2 champion Rumson-Fair Haven, Non-Public A semifinalist St. John Vianney and Shore Conference Class A champion Christian Brothers Academy may have benefitted his team in the long run, even though Southern is a program that never likes to lose to anybody.
"When you get a couple of losses like that, some of the pressure comes off,'' Roy said. "Wrestling good competion enables you to find out what you need to work out. I think we were able to coach these guys up for the end of the year, once we were able to evaulate what's going on with each kid.''
Southern took control early
In addition to Stout, the Rams (18-3) received pins from returning state runner-up Anthony Mason (113), returning state qualifiers Cash McVey (126) and Scottie Sari (138), 2023 state qualifier Noah Fontana (157), Levi Foote (190) and Caleb Counts (heavyweight). Freshman Cade Collins (106) had a technical fall.
Delsea too much for Brick Memorial
Delsea's firepower in the middle weights was too much for Brick Memorial.
The Crusaders (21-2) built a 33-0 lead after six bouts, which was too much for Brick Memorial's firepower from 190-106 to overcome.
"I'm so proud of these kids and the way they've gone about their business,'' Brick Memorial head coach Mike Kiley said. "These kids all bought in. They hang out with each other. They have great senior leadership with Harvey (Harvey Ludington), Gavin (Gavin Martin). Ben (Ben Szuba). I think seniors are what get you to these type of matches. We had that senior leadership. That's a credit to those guys.''"Ja
The match started in a bad spot for Brick Memorial (14-5) at 126 pounds, which meant a trip through some weights where the Mustangs have struggled all season before the match hit their firepower.
A key result was the second bout at 132 pounds where Delsea's three-time state qualifier Gage Summers pinned returning state qualifier Gavin Martin early in the third period. Martin was winning 6-2 in the second period.
"I would have liked to have started a little bit higher, like 165, but it is what it is,'' Kiley said.
Kiley was perturbed Delsea coach Tom Maxwell decided to forfeit to two-time state champion Ludington at 215. Ludington weighed in at 190 with two-time state qualifier Trey Tallmadge and was bumping up to 215.
Delsea had two returning state qualifiers in Sal Marchese and Alex Grippo weighed in at 215. Marchese bumped up to heavyweight to wrestle two-time state qualifier Ben Szuba. Szuba came from-behind to defeat Marchese 10-6. Grippo did not wrestle
"Harvey wanted to wrestle here,'' Kiley said. "This (wrestling in a state group final) is something high school gets excited about. He's definitely hurting they didn't send a guy out.''
GROUP 2
Rumson-Fair Haven 40, Caldwell 28
126: Joaquin Duque (RFH) tf. Dom Holler 4:58 (17-2)
132: Anthony Barrett (C) tf. Henry Marshall 3:20 (19-3).
138: Solomon Soriente (C) tf. Andrew Newell 3:12 (20-5)
144: Sonny Amato (RFH) p. Rocco Conforti 2:28
150: Mario DelVecchio (RFH) d. Nicco Capaldo 9-4.
157: Walker Skove (RFH) d. Ben Lattimer 6-0.
165: Cole Pangborn (RFH) by forfeit.
175: Andrew Fonseca (C) d. Ryder Izzo 9-2.
190: Luke Dougherty (RFH) tf. Jake Simone 4:38 (19-3).
215: Michael Mignone (C) by forfeit.
HWT: Matt Smith (R) p. Qays Rabah :57
106: Matt Ruane (C) p. Luke Eberhard 4:48
113: Carmine Sipper (C) d. Eamon Fry 7-4
120: Elijah Bayne (R) p. Yankee Mabee 2:41
GROUP 3
Delsea 45, Brick Memorial 30
126: Greyson Pettit (D) tf. Kson Young 4:58 (24-6)
132: Gage Summers (D) p. Gavin Martin 4:28.
138: Zavier Stokes (D) p. Logan Cromen :37.
144: Cameron Pote (D) md. Frank Bongiovanni 11-3.
150: Jamar Dixon (D) p. Jack Marotta 1:46.
157: Riley Boos (D) p. Elvin Corona 1:42.
165: Malachi Saint-Vil (BM) d. Charles Six 12-9.
175: Joel Anderson (D) p. Garrett Scott 1:41
190: Trey Tallmadge (BM) p. Greg Sawyer 1:16.
215: Harvey Ludington (BM) by forfeit.
HWT: Ben Szuba (BM) d. Sal Marchese 10-6
106: Santino DiMatteo (BM) p. Reid Lightfoot 2:53.
113: Paul DiMatteo ((BM) by forfeit
120: Amari Vann (D) p. Michael Napolitano 2:33.
GROUP 5
Southern 58, Bridgewater-Raritan 18
113: Anthony Mason (S) p. Lucas Pelc :58.
120: Andrew Adell (B) p. Hunter Borer 1:33
126: Cash McVey (S) p. Zachary Stouffer 1:24
132: Sam Pari (S) md. Matt Marsigliano 11-2
138: Scottie Sari (S) p. Logan Levine 1:51
144: Vincent Esposito (S) md. Douglas Hesse 11-3
150: Attila Vigliante (S) d. Matthew McCann 4-1.
157: Noah Fontana (S) p. Andres Herrea-Ramos 1:13.
165: Wyatt Stout (S) p. Christopher Castro :48
175: Matthew DiEduardo (B) p. Nicholas Daddona 5:18
190: Levi Foote (S) p. Lerrod Smalls 2:20
215: Trent Levash (B) p. Sean Dupnak 2:45.
HWT: Caleb Counts (S) p. Gabriel Medina-Coello 2:19.
106: Cade Collins (S) tf. Akeo Diaz 15-0