Golden Eagles Report: Wrestling Team Set for Shore Conference Tournament

The Central wrestling team has faced a challenging schedule so far, and its 7-8 record reflects the difficulty level. It’s a challenge, however, that may have been the preparation the Golden Eagles needed for the Shore Conference Tournament.

Central hosts Freehold in the preliminary round of the SCT at 6:30 p.m. today, with the winner advancing to face second-seeded Ocean on Thursday at 5 p.m. The Golden Eagles are coming off the weekend quad meet at Jackson Liberty, where Central lost to the host Lions, 51-25, and to Kingsway, 41-31, but beat Toms River North, 45-33. Senior Jalen Ramos is on a roll at 132 pounds, with pins in eight of his last 11 bouts.

In girls basketball: The Golden Eagles have played a very challenging schedule so far this season, resulting in four losses, just one of those being a loss in Shore Conference Class B South. Coach John Truhan, who notched his 250^th career victory just before Christmas, has challenged his team with the likes of St. Joseph Hill Academy and at the Boardwalk Classic in Wildwood.

A two-point loss to Lacey, 44-42 on Jan. 6, means the Golden Eagles need to avenge that loss this Friday in Bayville. A victory will give them a shot at the division title.

In boys basketball: Central has struggled from the start this season, with victories coming few and far between. Football star Kalyph Hardy, who joined the basketball team at the start of the season, has left the team.

The Golden Eagles (4-8, 3-3) did notch a victory on Friday over Brick, and will be looking to build on the positives as they take on Class B South opponent Pinelands, as well as Toms River East, before facing off with Lacey at the end of the week.

In swimming: The Golden Eagles, who clinched Class B South titles for both the boys and girls teams, fared well at the Ocean County Championships. Junior Evan Mahoney set meet records in the 200 individual medley and the 100 breaststroke, and anchored the 400 freestyle relay team, which took third. He won the 200 IM in 1:59.42. The previous mark of 2:00.03 was set in 2006 by Alex Gornitzky of Toms River North. His 59.04 was more than one second better than the mark of 1:00.42 that he set last year. Michael Capona, Thomas Hrabal and Anthony Domanski also swam legs of the 400 freestyle.

On the girls side of the championships, Polina Dineva and Maeve Burg finished fifth and sixth in the 50 freestyle. Dineva was eighth in the 100 butterfly, and anchored the team’s third-place finish in the 200 freestyle relay, with Burg, Juliett Mueller and the Courtney Mahnken.