Barnegat Avenges Loss to TR East, Advances in SCT Wrestling Tournament

Sometimes things fall into place just when you need them to.

Matt Frigon got a key victory at 220 and Nick Fogarty clinched the match with a decision at 113 as Barnegat beat Toms River East, 28-27, in the preliminary round of the Shore Conference Wrestling Tournament at Barnegat on Tuesday night.

The outcome was decided on the third criteria, the number of bouts won, after the teams wound up tied at 27. Barnegat won eight of the 14 bouts. The victory sends the Bengals into the SCT’s Round of 16 for the first time in the school’s five-year history and avenged the three-point defeat that Barnegat suffered at the hands of the Raiders 10 days earlier. Barnegat will wrestle third-seeded Howell on Thursday at 5 p.m. at the Rebels gym with the hope of advancing to the quarterfinals.

Tuesday’s victory was one that happened because Barnegat got the matchups it wanted and won the bouts it needed.

“As soon as we saw the seedings on Sunday night and saw that we were matched up with them again, we knew we had the opportunity to beat Toms River East,” Barnegat coach Kevin Karp said. “My assistant coaches came up with a really good game plan to do that.”

Part of that plan involved bumping several wrestlers up a weight class this time around, he said, to create matchups that were more advantageous.

“We won at 113 and 126 this time, and those were bouts we lost last time,” Karp said, crediting his assistant coaches – Chris Aviles, Ryan Dalon and his brother, volunteer coach Ryan Karp – with coming up with the plan that allowed Barnegat to find the right matchups..

Fogarty had the toughest task, as the last wrestler on the mat for the Bengals. With Barnegat trailing 27-24, Fogarty had to win. The junior lost a decision to AJ Curtis in the Jan. 14 match, but Tuesday night he faced Jacob Maher, who wrestled at 106 when the teams met the first time.

“He beat me as a sophomore,” Fogarty said. “It felt great to clinch the win for my team.”

After a scoreless first period, Fogarty got aggressive in the second, scoring a takedown and back points as he and Maher battled to hard for control. He then stayed out of trouble the rest of the way for the 5-2 decision.

“I was looking for the cradle,” Fogarty said, but more importantly, he was looking for the win.

Toms River East (4-11) opened the match with victories in four of the first five bouts. Vincent Rotella earned a 10-4 decision over Barnegat’s Zack Massa at 120, Mike Veneziano scored a 9-3 decision over Joe Mandara at 132 and Antonio Morales earned an 8-2 decision over Rich Schmaltz. When Rich Lewis pinned Ethan Tonnessen at 145 pounds, the Raiders led 15-3. Rob DiCandia’s 5-1 decision over Ryan Wasilick was the only Barnegat win in the stretch, but it was key; DiCandia lost by technical fall to Mike Veneziano the first time around.

“We gained points at some weights but lost them at others,” Toms River East coach Warren Reid said. “Some of the guys who pinned last time didn’t pin this time.”

The Bengals answered with six straight victories, starting with Ed Santiago’s 11-3 major decision over Wade Moore at 152. Moore beat Chris Stoma in the last meeting, but this time Stoma bumped up to 160, where he scored a 12-3 major decision over Alex Austin. Ryan Kirk at 170, Greg Moran at 182 and Matt Schofield at 195 all repeated victories from the previous meeting.

“Once we got to the upperweights we knew we could win,” said Schofield, the team’s lone senior. “(This victory) is good for our team and good for our school.”

Important among those upperweights was Frigon’s bout at 220. While he scored a pin in the previous meeting, Toms River East sent out a different opponent this time: Ronald Waters. Beating Waters was a challenge, Frigon said.

“He was stronger than me,” Frigon said, and Waters was quick, nearly catching Frigon on his back twice in the second period. Leading 1-0 on an escape going into the third period, Frigon kept Waters at arm’s length for much of the period. Waters took a couple of shots to try to bring Frigon down, but Frigon fought them off. Finally, Waters took a shot with less than 30 seconds left in the bout.

“Go for the ankle pick! Go for the ankle pick!” shouted spectators and Karp, and Frigon responded, grabbing Waters’ right ankle and driving him to the mat for the last-second takedown. The win gave Barnegat a 24-15 lead, which was crucial because Raiders scored two straight pins by heavyweight Fernando Perez and 103-pounder A.J. Curtis to take the lead.

“They told me to keep my elbows in and watch for the ankle pick,” Frigon said. “He took a bad shot and I capitalized.”

And now the Bengals are hoping their success will earn them a spot in the South Jersey Group II tournament for the first time.

“Take nothing away from Toms River East; they came out with a really good game plan,” Karp said. “But our kids worked hard. They deserved this.”

Bout-by-bout results

Match started at 120

120: Vincent Rotella (TRE) d. Zack Massa, 10-4

126: Rob DiCandia (B) d. Ryan Wasilick, 5-1

132: Mike Veneziano (TRE) d. Joe Mandara,  9-3

138: Antonio Morales (TRE) d. Rich Schmaltz, 8-2

145: Richard Lewis (TRE) p. Ethan Tonnessen, 1:42

152: Ed Santiago (B) md. Wade Moore, 11-3

160: Chris Stoma (B) md. Alex Austin, 12-3

170: Ryan Kirk (B) md. Paul Lomakin, 22-8

182: Greg Moran (B) d. Donald Jacob, 2-1

195: Matt Schofield (B) d. Armando Leonor, 8-5

220: Matt Frigon (B) d. Ronald Waters, 3-1

Hwt: Fernando Perez (TRE) p. Zack Andrews, 1:58

106: AJ Curtis (TRE) p. Devin Durante, 3:04

113: Nick Fogarty (B) d. Jacob Maher, 5-2