ATLANTIC CITY—Only the best of the state qualify for the New Jersey State Wrestling tournament at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City. Cranford sent two wrestlers Friday night: Joe Giaccio (32-2) in the 112 lbs. division, and Joe Brady (33-1) in the 285 lbs. division.
Even though both lost their pre-quarter-final matches, they will go into the wrestle-back brackets on Saturday and have the chance to take third place.
"My number one goal is to place," said Giaccio.
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"Giaccio has never been to states, but he has been wrestling tough the entire season. The goal is to come down and place, by taking it one match at a time," said head coach Darren Torsone. "He is good on his feet, good on the top, good on the bottom. He is a well rounded wrestler. He can be as good as he wants to be, and he can accomplish big things."
Friday night's event included the preliminary and pre-quarter-final rounds of the tournament. Any wrestler who scored a win in the preliminary round was guaranteed at least two more fights, but any wrestler that lost was eliminated.
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Brady and Giaccio were both given byes straight into the pre-quarter-finals. Both also lost their pre-quarter-final matches, with Giaccio losing to Kevin Churchill (35-3) of Newton, 7-0. Brady was pinned by Jonathan Slack (29-4) of Warren Hills, 4:48 into the match.
"Brady has a good stance, he is tough to take, and he is mentally tough," said Torsone.
Brady had been leading in the pre-quarter-final round match after the second period, 1-0.
"I worked on the bottom hard," said Brady. "I went for a double-leg, and picked him up in the air, but he caught me."
He has even more to celebrate with another victory.
"If I win one match it'll be my hundredth win," said Brady. He would be the third in Cranford High School history to reach the 100 win mark.
Brady will be facing Ryan Moskwa (32-4) of Perth Amboy in the first round of the wrestle-backs. Moskwa was pinned in 0:44 in his pre-quarter-final round match by undefeated James Lawson (35-0) of Manchester.
Giaccio will face Jeff Rottingen (37-3) of Ramsey, who is coming off of a pre-quarter-final round loss to Kyle Casaletto (25-2) of Southern Regional, by decision, 5-3.
"I came by myself last year, but now I have a partner this year," said Brady. "It is good to see Cranford getting better."
For continued coverage of Giaccio and Brady during Saturday's action as they try to make it to third place, and as Brady goes for 100th win, check back with Patch.
