Match Goes Down to the Wire, but Absegami High School Wrestling Team Falls in Playoff Opener

For wrestling coach Shawn Scannell , Monday night’s match with Toms River East was a microcosm of how the season has gone for the Braves, right from the opening match.

The first match of Monday night’s playoff match went into triple overtime, with Absegami’s wrestler coming up just short of the victory. In the final match of the evening, the Braves’ wrestler dropped a three-point decision, and fourth-seeded Absegami fell to No. 5 Toms River East, 30-27, in the first round of the NJSIAA South Jersey Group IV playoffs.

The Braves’ Will Sanz dropped the opening bout to Ronald Waters, 2-1 in triple overtime, despite scoring the first point in the second period. Waters tied it at 1-1 in the beginning of the third period, and the two 120-pounders would go on to a triple-overtime battle, won by Waters.

This win helped jump-start Toms River East to a 15-0 lead through four bouts.

However, beginning at 120 pounds, the Braves battled back, beginning with Brandon Goldberg’s 6-1 win over Vince Rotello.

At 126, Mike Jiampetti took an early lead on Mike Veneziano and held on for an 11-8 victory. John Willette then scored a technical fall over Jeremiah Weber at 132 to cut the lead to 15-12, and Frank Meloy downed Antonio Morales at 138 to tie the score at 15-15.

“That’s our strong area,” Scannell said. “They’re seasoned wrestlers and we always expect to gain some ground back. They matched up well with us in the upper weights, which doesn’t usually happen.”

The teams then traded pinfall victories, with Toms River East’s Richard Lewis pinning Absegami’s Ibrahim Diomande at 142 to take a 21-15 lead, only for Absegami’s Nate Ross to score a pinfall over Vincent Avallone at the 3:35 mark of their 152-pound match to tie the match at 21-21.

Wade Moore’s victory over Alvin Mears at 160 gave Toms River East a three-point edge, but 170-pounder Alex Gong’s pinfall over Vito Shriver at the 1:23 mark of the match gave the Braves their only lead of the match at 27-24.

Donald Jacob’s win at 182 tied the match at 27-27. In the final match of the night, 195-pounder Armando Leonor picked up a 3-0 decision to give Toms River East (9-15) the win and a matchup with top-seeded Southern Regional Wednesday night.

Absegami (9-15) entered the season with an eye on individual success, but Scannell also thought his team had a chance to compete for the conference and South Jersey Group IV titles. The Braves had their share of close matches, and, unfortunately for Absegami, their share of injuries.

“We’re banged up,” Scannell said, adding that some wrestlers are out with injuries and some who wrestled Monday night just returned from injury. “We’re not 100 percent.”

The Braves have one match left as a team, on Saturday against Holy Spirit. That is followed by a week off before the road to Atlantic City begins with the district tournament, on Friday, Feb. 17 and Saturday, Feb. 18.

Gong and Jiampetti both made it to Atlantic City last year, and Ross joined them as 30-match winners last year. All three have hopes of making the individual state tournament this year.