DiGiovanni Named Athlete of the Week

He'd be the first to tell you that the sport he now loves with a passion, is also a sport he almost gave up on.

But Matt DiGiovanni will also tell you that perseverance pays off, and the District 11 champ now has his sights set on the region crown and a trip to the state finals in Atlantic City.

It's a good thing this Cranford Patch Athlete of the Week wasn't too good on the hardwood.

"Well, I was a pretty bad basketball player, so my dad thought, why don't we try wrestling," DiGiovanni said. "He did it a little bit as a kid. I didn't really start enjoying it so much until sixth grade. I really kicked in and it just grew from there."

"Matt's wrestled an incredible year for us," said Cranford head coach Darren Torsone. "He's gotten a lot of bonus points for us in duel meets and some team points in tournaments. He's done a wonderful job for us."

Last week, the senior grappler defeated top-seed Nick Lospinoso of Brearley for the district title at 135-pounds.

Cranford sent seven wrestlers to districts and came home with five titles.

"The team did a real great job," said DiGiovanni. "It was a real great accomplishment for us. In my individual match, I thought I wrestled real well, I knew going out there I just had to push the pace, and wrestle my match. That's what I did. We had a 0-0 first period, but I took that alright, because I knew I'd be able to push through and get the win. In the second it was my choice. I escaped and took him down and rode him out for the remainder of the match."

"This week he wrestled an incredible tournament," Torsone said. "He wrestled a great match, beat him 3-0 and pretty much dominated the whole match."

DiGiovanni drew Lospinoso in the region quarterfinals. He knows it won't be easy to take his foe down again.

"I know I have to have the same mentality and go out there strong, because he's going to be looking for revenge. If I win that, I'll face the No. 1 seed. Whatever happens, I just have to keep wrestling my way through."

"If anyone can pull off back-to-back, it's Matt," Torsone said. "He's very motivated. He's confident in the way he's been wrestling and I'm sure he feels like he can beat anybody right now. He's got a really tough weight class in the regions, one of the toughest weight classes there. He's in a good spot. It'll be interesting to see how it happens."

DiGiovanni has been making it happen for years while soaking up every bit of knowledge along the way.

"My foundation's great through the Police Athletic League. It just taught me hard work and dedication. I just knew if I kept pushing that, and stuck to my guts, I would go wherever I wanted. I'm still going. I'm still a student of the sport so there's a lot for me to do."

"Matt works harder than most people work," said Torsone. "He did a lot of time on his own. He wrestles at club, he wrestles hard in our wrestling room and he's getting better and better each week."

While he'll be focused on his own matches, his mind won't wander too far from his teammates.

"We love each other, we're like a family," DiGiovanni said. "Everybody gets along great. We're just a really tight group of guys."

Winter weather has pushed the region quarterfinals from Friday to Saturday, forcing the wrestlers to compete all the way through to the finals on the same day. It won't only be a tough chore physically, but mentally.

'The tournament is going to be a lot longer," DiGiovanni said. "We have to leave the school at 6:20 (in the morning), it's going to be a real long day. But you just can't let anything get in your head. You still have to wrestle the same amount of matches. You just have to go out there and do your best."

And just like every other athlete, he has his goals right in front of him.

"I'm looking to place in states, that's my goal for high school and then I definitely want to wrestle in college. I'm thinking about trying to be a coach too."