No matter what the format, the Christian Brothers Academy, Lincroft, wrestling team knows how to win a Shore Conference Tournament championship.
CBA won the SCT for the second straight year on Jan. 28 at Middletown High School. As expected, it came down to the Colts and St. John Vianney, Holmdel. CBA amassed 196 points and four individual champions, while the Lancers garnered 180 points and two champs.
Last year, CBA won the tournament when it was held in bracket fashion, where teams wrestled dual matches to decide a champ.
Billy Ashnault, who has brought the Colts to elite status in his fifth year as head coach, feels the format doesn’t make a difference as long as his team is in the winner’s circle.
“Both are really good,” he said. “It’s the same result; you’re trying to do your best, hopefully the outcome is positive for each individual in return for the team. It feels good obviously, to win it again. The guys deserve it without a doubt. Our schedule’s been very tough this year from the start. So, winning anything and competing like the guys did is definitely rewarding.”
Along with taking the team title, CBA also had the tournament’s most noteworthy story when 10th-seeded freshman Bobby Duffy won the 113-pound title by taking a 3-1 overtime decision over last year’s SCT and state runner up Patrick O’Keefe of SJV in overtime.
“Bobby Duffy had a great tournament, beating a state finalist in the finals,” Ashnault said. “I knew he was capable of doing that. It was more something he needed to believe in and do it. He wrestled a great match and hopefully that propels him to being a state champ this year.”
Pretty impressive stuff, being a 10th seed in the SCT and now being touted as a state champ by his coach.
“He could be very confident,” Ashnault added. “He’s been tested this year wrestling a tough schedule – out of state competition, state competition. He’s battled with everybody. I don’t see why it couldn’t happen.”
Also winning championships were Julian George (144 pounds), Tyler Barrett (150) and Zander Silva, who’s ranked No. 2 in the state at 157.
“Pretty much all of those guys are seniors, I’ve had them since they were freshmen,” Ashnault said. “They wanted win a Shore Conference title and go out on top in their senior year, so this was just another stepping stone for them as we make our way to the postseason.”
CBA had two second-place finishers in Anthony Lawrence, who fell to St. John Vianney’s Jasiah Queen in the 165-pound final, and Rob Centerino (215). Nick Stump was third at 175, while AJ Falcone (126) finished fourth.
SJV had a repeat champion in sophomore Anthony Knox at 120, while the Lancers’ Matt Gould (106) was a finalist.
“Obviously we were the top two teams,” Ashnault said. “We pulled ahead pretty good and stayed ahead and ended up winning the tournament.”
The Colts entered the SCT under .500 with a 7-8 record but were still ranked No. 7 in the nj.com Top 20 as their schedule has been one of the state’s most challenging. Their losses have been to three out-of-state powerhouses, along with St. Joe’s of Montvale, Bergen Catholic and St. Peter’s Prep and Southern Regional. Those four teams were ranked 2-3-4-5 in the state as of Feb. 2.
Despite the losses, CBA got what it wanted from those matches.
“The whole point of wrestling a tough schedule is getting battle tested,” said Ashnault, who served as Rutgers Director of Wrestling Operations for six years before coming to CBA. “You gotta wrestle everybody. You gotta put these guys in the best position to achieve their goals. They achieved them [in the SCT], and you just want to try and keep that going forward.”
Next up for CBA is Don Bosco in the first round of the NJSIAA Non-Public A tournament. CBA is seeded sixth and is in the same bracket with St. Joe’s and Bergen Catholic. Should they manage to pull some upsets and reach the final, they would likely face Delbarton, ranked No. 1 in the state.
It will provide the Colts with some more tough competition prior to the District 21 tournament, which begins the following week. CBA is a heavy favorite to win the team title, and Ashnault says the goal is to get all 13 of his wrestlers through to the regionals, and then to the state meet in Atlantic City.
It’s a far cry from when he took over and CBA won just three dual meets in 2018-19. Asked if he has the program where he wants it to be, Ashnault said, “There’s a big difference between that first year and now, going from three wins to being ranked near the top of the state. But I don’t really have an answer to where we want to be. We just want to be the best we can.”
And in the Shore Conference Tournament, they were the best that any team could be.