Caldwell Wrestling Pins Boonton for State Sectional

A special night is built on special performances, some of them unexpected.

James Caldwell High School’s wrestling team experienced all of it Friday night in front of a packed and roaring crowd in its own gymnasium.

The Chiefs (13-7) knocked off Boonton 36-34 to win the North Jersey Section 2 Group 1 title – the first under Gary Garamella in his 12 years as head coach.

“It was great,” said Garamella, who led the Chiefs to three sectional finals before Friday. “It was great for our school, great for our kids, the gym was electric. The way our kids battled back. It was awesome.”

The teams split 14 bouts and the very last one was the one that won it.

Caldwell 125-pounder junior Nick Rodgers’ (22-7) pinned senior Mason DiGiacapo in 3:38 to clinch the match. Rodgers quickly took his opponent down on a dump, then went to an arm bar for the fall.

“He was in control the whole match,” said Garamella.

The start of the match was also very important. Freshman Ray Iodice got it started with a 10-8 victory at 130 pounds. Iodice, 11-16 on the season, rallied for the victory.

Senior Steven Saldutto (5-15) delivered another big win for Caldwell. Saldutto, who hadn’t wrestled at 171 pounds since Jan. 10, bumped up from his regular spot in the lineup to 171 and beat junior Kevin Wright 10-8. Caldwell trailed 22-9 before Saldutto delivered to get the momentum back to the home team.

"That was another exciting match,'' said Garamella. "Steve gets a reversal and puts the kid to his back to win by two. It was an awesome match."

Another early move Garamella made was to bump the team’s regular 145-pounder – senior Jason Kratsch (25-5) – up to 152 pounds and away from Boonton senior 145-pounder Eric Fajardo, 27-2. Both earned their teams six points with falls.

“It was too close a match to go head to head there,” Garamella said.

Though the standouts are obviously important, Garamella’s unheralded athletes were vital.

Boonton moved ahead once more when senior star Marlon Duque (23-4) won by fall at 189 and junior 215-pounder Vin Coiro (17-10) followed his teammate with a sudden victory over Caldwell senior Windsor Guzman (21-6).

Coiro’s win gave Boonton a 31-12 advance, but Caldwell senior 285-pounder Matt Bader (18-12) cut the Bomber lead to 31-18 by pinning senior Joseph Carey (9-6) with three seconds left in the second period. 

“Matt’s good,” Garamella said. “His problem was that he was a first-year wrestler last year. He had one varsity match because he was behind (state tournament qualifier) Dan Pierce. Dan was the varsity guy, but Bader hung in there and wrestled during the summer.”

Sophomore Mike Dalla Riva (22-7) sustained the Chiefs’ momentum with a 25-second fall. Caldwell trailed 31-24.

Boonton’s last win came when sophomore Branden Georgina rallied to beat junior Joey Schloman 10-7 at 112. That gave Boonton a 34-24 lead, but Caldwell capped the milestone night when junior 119-pounder Vincent Deleva had a first period fall as the home team crept to within 34-30.

That was followed by Rodgers’ clinching fall that earned the Chiefs a trip to the state group semifinal against North 1 champ Kittatinny Sunday morning at the Poland Springs Center in Toms River.

The winner of that match will meet the winner of the other Group 1 semifinal between Paulsboro and Roselle Park in the afternoon for the group title.

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