By Rich Fisher | Correspondent
The Christian Brothers Academy wrestling team has a bit of an offbeat lineup, but that certainly didn’t make for an off day at this year’s districts.
Quite the contrary, in fact, as it was another banner showing for the Colts of Lincroft.
Despite having a string of three straight district championships snapped, CBA still had plenty to celebrate after its District 24 performance at Freehold Township Feb. 18. The Colts finished second to Ocean by four points (171-167) but had four individual champions – one more than last year – and got nine through to Region 6, which is the same amount as last year.
“It was really an amazing day,” Coach Russ Witt said. “The kids wrestled really, really well. Every year we go into it and we just try to maximize our potential as a team. This year we did that. We didn’t walk away with the trophy but I’m as proud of this team as I was of the team last year and every other team before that.”
Heading into the event, Witt wasn’t concerned with winning a fourth straight team title.
“I don’t try to think about that,” he said. “As coaches we’re just really trying to get our wrestlers to perform at their max potential. I think they did that. I thought going into it we would have to try to advance nine if we were going to be in the hunt for it and we did. We just needed another match or another bonus here or there and we would have been right there.
“I’m not disappointed at all, if anything I’m really thrilled. Each of these wrestlers have their own story and it was really just special to see them go out and achieve their goals.”
And they’re being achieved with some guys in the lineup that aren’t your usual mat rats who started grappling when they were old enough to crawl. As Witt noted, all four champions have a different tale to tell.
Junior Richie Koehler, the 113-pound winner, is the constant – a three-year starter and state place-winner as a sophomore last year. (Koehler received the No. 1 seed in this weekend’s Region 6 tournament at Brick Memorial).
At 106, senior Nick Schutzenhofer could not crack the starting lineup until last year because he was behind Koehler and state champion Sebastian Rivera. This year’s he’s a champ.
Christian Recantini, who won at 145, didn’t become a starter until this year. And at 182, Junior Sam Houstan won what Witt called “an epic match” by defeating Nottingham’s Pat Williams in an ultimate tiebreaker match. Houstan is a rugby player who only wrestles in-season and didn’t start the sport until freshman year.
“You don’t hear too many stories like that,” Witt said. “A lot of these kids wrestle year round. He starts wrestling as a freshman and is a district champ.”
As a No. 2 seed, Houstan was the lone Colt champion not to be top-seeded. His match against Williams, who beat him earlier this year, had the gym jumping.
“He had to come from behind,” Witt said. “(Williams) took two injury timeouts, we took bottom, got out, and forced it into overtime. It went back and forth in overtime and (Williams) scored first. He had his choice and picked bottom. It’s tough to ride a guy for 30 seconds but Sam ended up riding him out and getting the W.
“It could have been anyone’s match. Both guys showed a lot of heart, they both walked off the mat and you could tell neither guy had anything left to give. Both kids wanted it, both kids got after it and it was really exciting to watch as a fan and as a coach.”
CBA had one second-place finisher who just missed winning it all, as 195-pounder Cameron DiGiorgio dropped a 3-2 decision to Freehold Township’s Eric Quartey. Winning their consolation matches to take third were 126-pounder Sam LaCorte, 138-pounder Ethan Diamond, 160-pounder Derek Smith and 170-pounder Ryan McGuiness.
McGuiness, one of just two seniors advancing, is only a second-year wrestler who plays goalie for the CBA lacrosse team.
“He just came out and I’ll tell you what, he’s just really developed and come into his own,” Witt said. “And Cam DiGiorgio is a rugby guy and he finished runner-up.”
It is those type of two-sport athletes that makes Witt smile, even though he lived wrestling throughout the year.
“It’s not a traditional team where guys are wrestling year-round,” the sixth-year coach said. “That’s part of our philosophy. We accept anyone that honors their commitment to their own goals or the team goals. Whether you want to come in and do one push-up, or be a state champ, we’ve got a wide range of athletes and that makes it exciting.
“As a coach you know what you’re going to get from your club guys. But some of these guys who are new to the sport, it’s just fun to watch them develop and grow and just love the sport.”
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St. John Vianney finished third in District 19 with 144.5 points and also had four champions in Tyler Pepe (106 pounds), Nick Caracappa (170), Josiah Walker (182) and Steven Giannios (220). Jack McLafferty (138) also got through with a second-place finish.
Donovan Catholic had a nice day in District 26, getting three champions in Christiaan Dailey (138), Conor Panzarella (152) and Sal DiSalvo (195), and a third-place finisher in Cael Rankin (106).
Holy Cross had two District 25 champions in Chase Mullarkey (106) and Avery DiNardi (152), a runner-up with Bobby Cristella (285) and a third-place finisher in Connor Mullarkey (113).
Also taking second in District 24 were Notre Dame’s Joe Schneider (126); and Red Bank Catholic’s Ethan Byrne (132) and Steve Cmielewski (170).