Cranford Wrestlers Earn Five District Titles (With Highlights VIDEO)

It was a day to remember for the Cranford wrestling team and its fans, as five Cougars captured district championships at Westfield High School Saturday afternoon.

"The kids came to wrestle," said coach Darren Torsone. "Every kid from top to bottom really wrestled. They all went six minutes. They all went out looking to win. They didn't care who they were wrestling, what school they were from, they wrestled tough."

Joe Giaccio captured his third consecutive district title when he defeated Anthony Madonia of Brearley in 5:32. The junior also defeated Matt McDuffie of Scotch Plains and Dan Tibere of Linden on his way to the first-place medal.

"It feels good but I'm just focused on regions right now," said the junior. "I expected to win, I expected to tech him and just went out and did it."

"Joe Giaccio wrestled an incredible match against a state qualifier," said Torsone. "He worked the entire six minutes to get that win and we're proud of him."

At 130, Kyle Markovitch ran the table to capture the district championship for the third straight year when he edged Allen Phillips of Brearley in a spirited match which went to overtime thanks to a bit of controversy. The score was 4-3 in regulation and Markovitch thought he had won. After a lengthy discussion, Phillips was awarded a point that never made the scoreboard and overtime was on. Markovitch wasted no time in winning the crown.

"I actually didn't know what was happening at all," said Markovitch. "I actually kept my head together. I knew if I had to go out there, I would have to get a takedown. I just tried to stay calm. I didn't want to get upset or angry. I wanted this district title again, so I knew I had to do whatever it takes."

"It was an unbelievable match," said Torsone. "That was the best I've seen him wrestle. The kid was real good. He got a tough draw with having to go back out there after a bad call by the ref, but he showed some guts by going out and winning another time."

The 135-pound weight class saw Matt DiGiovanni sweep his three bouts en route to the title, taking care of Nick Lospinoso 3-0 in the final. He had earlier defeated Danny Walsh of Rahway and Jawan Gaines of Scotch Plains to advance.

"I knew the match was going to be a big part on the feet," said DiGiovanni, who is now 28-5. "I knew what I had to do. I had to go out there aggressive, make sure he didn't lull me to sleep with anything. He still got in some real good shots, but I knew how to defend it and I knew I had to keep my feet moving."

This victory was special for DiGiovanni.

"It's a real nice win,"he said proudly. "The past two years I've lost in the finals and that just stinks for so many reasons. I knew I could get it this year. He won the counties so I really wanted to take that back from him and win the district."

"That's the best I've seen him wrestle," said Torsone. "He wrestled a really tough kid. It looked to me that he controlled the match. He wrestled tough on top, tough on his feet and controlled the match."

Seniors Julian Campo and Joe Brady didn't disappoint, earning titles with a pair of solid efforts.

Campo, at 215, beat Brearley's Greg Rice before disposing of Rahway's Urayoan Garcia in a 10-6 decision.

"I just went out there, I knew it was going to be a good match, I've been waiting for it all year," Campo said. "I knew it was going to be a good one. I gave it all I had and came out on top. This was my last year to be district champ. Last year I lost against him, so I had to give it my all."

"Campo has been wrestling great as of late," said Torsone. "He'll continue to wrestle tough. That was a tough kid that he wrestled. Great job by him."

Then it was Brady's turn at 275, where he took a comfortable 8-2 decision over Laziek Jones of Rahway. The senior said he was not about to be denied.

"Early on in the week, I almost wasn't able to wrestle in the districts," Brady said. "I had a cyst on my tonsil and the doctor said I might have to get it drained. No activities for a month or so. This is a blessing just to be here and go on the mat. My conditioning could be better. I missed five days of practice. It shows what five days means in the wrestling world. I just rested up, sat on the couch, couldn't eat anything, so I lost 15 pounds."

What was the key to his victory?

"I wrestled him before," Brady said. "I just went out there, wrestled smart and conservative, I needed to get my points and I did it. It's a big deal. I'm here for a reason and that's to win the states."

"Brady just dominated his match," said Torsone. "He took the kid down and dominated the entire six minutes. He did an awesome job."

The crowd was abuzz throughout the 189-pound final, thanks to the outstanding effort by Errol Petgrave, who took Brearley's Khasan Taramov to the brink before losing by a 13-11 decision. Petgrave will move on to regions after his impressive runner-up performance.

"I'm just as surprised as anybody else," Petgrave said right afterwards. "I had fears in my head, which way is he gonna pin me, hope it doesn't hurt too much, but I just kept myself together. I had everybody cheering for me out there. The last four seconds just motivated me."

Petgrave has come a long way in just one year.

"During the first match last year, I was gassed in the second period," he said. "I never thought I would get this far."

"Errol Petgrave, heart," said Brady. "That's all I saw in that match was heart, because he went out there and he didn't care who he was wrestling. He went out there and wrestled him."

Brian Buontempo also advanced to regions after taking an entertaining 13-8 decision over Ralph Stadtler of Elizabeth in the consolation round. That win allowed him to take home a third-place medal.

"I had to wrestle (Troy) Skibitsky in the semi-finals," said Buontempo. "I wrestled pretty good. I lost by one point (2-1). "It was mostly on our feet. It came close though. I got the Elizabeth kid onto his back in a scramble towards the end and that's when I cemented it. I'm very happy with the result."

J.P. Christiano was the runner-up at 152, losing to No. 1 seed John Balboni of Brearley 5-2. Christiano had beaten Ellis Opoku of Westfield 7-0 and Daniel Castro of Linden 11-6 to make the final. His second-place finish allows him to advance to regions next Friday.

At 160, senior Chris Keim got off to a strong start with an 8-3 decision against Chris Tomasso of Westfield. Keim then lost by technical fall to eventual champ Dillon Geoghegan and Rahway's Tim Disney.

As successful as the day was for the Cougars, they still finished second to Brearley for the team title in District 11. That didn't seem to bother the wrestlers in blue all that much.

"We just took the heart from them today," Giaccio said. "We showed we wanted it more. Come the third period they were gassed. We pushed through it to dominate them. I think this is a message sent throughout the region/district area. Nobody expected Cranford to beat the heart of the lineup of David Brearley and that's pretty much what we did."

Download the movie