LIVINGSTON, N.J. - Livingston head wrestling coach Pat Trabucco hoped on Friday night at the the District 14 state quarterfinals that he would get all his 13 wrestlers into the semi-finals today.
But what you want and what you get are two different things.
Still, for Trabucco, the Lancers were able to get nine of 13 wrestlers into the semi-finals. Newark Academy saw five wrestlers advance.
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"After tonight the team aspect is over," said Trabucco about Saturday. "It is now individuals. If we wrestle, the way we should the team title will come with it."
With the nine wrestlers advancing, Livingston made a big move in defending its team title. Last season, the Lancers nipped Queen of Peace, 163-159, for the District 14 title. This year, though, Queen of Peace is not in the district so Livingston should have a leg up today when the team title is announced.
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For Newark Academy, a team that is not as deep, head coach Jay Gerish was looking to get five wrestlers into the semi-finals, but just fell one short. The Minutemen have had a big year that included qualifying for the Non-Public North B state team meet.
Before the night started, Livingston had four wrestlers move on to the semi-finals without hitting the mat as they were either a first or second see in Jason Estevez (2nd seed in 112), P.J. Farinella (1st seed at 119), Anthony Parisi (1st seed at 189) and Michael Silverberg (1st seed at 215).
In addition to the Lancers four automatic berths, Keith Arlotta (125), Julian Estevez (135), Brad Krosser (140), Brandon Bright (145), Brent Ratner (160) qualified for today's semi-finals.
For Newark Academy Michael Kaplan (103), Joseph Gerish (130), David Werner (140), Alex Jilla (145) and Brian Knierim (152) moved on to the semis.
One of the surprises for Livingston was Ratner at 160, who only had a 1-4 record.
"I just went out there to win," said Ratner who wrestled mainly junior varsity this season. "My practices were a lot harder than this."
Ratner replaced junior Matthew Mellhourn, who blew out his knee in the state dual meet team tournament.
"He (Ratner) has nothing to lose," said Trabucco, who added that his team practices hard during the season for conditioning that comes in handy now.
For Newark Academy's Werner, the meet is big. Werner missed the districts the first three years because of a myriad of injuries.
"The realistic goal is to make the regions," said Werner about being in the top three at 160. "I need to be aggressive and try to stay low," he said about advancing today.
