Long Branch Grapplers Set Sights on State Tournament

Photo above: Long Branch head coach Dan George

LONG BRANCH – The Green Wave wrestling team completed another successful regular season by winning the Shore Conference Class B North championship for the second straight year and third straight season they have won at least a share of the title.

“It was exciting to win the B North title,” Long Branch head coach Dan George said. “The kids worked hard in the off-season and this was an inexperienced group that put it all together. We beat two very good teams in Wall and Ocean in order to win it. It was challenging and we were a little bit of a dark horse, so it made it that much more special.”

It is also the seventh time in the last nine seasons they have at least won a share of the Class B North title. Since 1980 Long Branch has won its division 20 times including four co-championships.

In this year’s Shore Conference Tournament, Long Branch (16-4, 6-0), ranked eighth in the Shore Conference was the No.5 seed in the tournament. They defeated Saint Jon Vianney 46-18 in the round of 16 in a dominant showing as the Green Wave had pins from Andy Hernandez at 126 pounds, Jovanni Gomez at 138, Danny Mullen at 145, Lamont Reid at 182, John Tomlinson at heavyweight and Jason Hernandez in the 113-pound weight class. Mike Shohet recorded a major decision at 170 pounds while Joey Jasio (220) and Mike Jones (120) each registered a win by decisions, 5-0 and 9-4 respectively.

Due to weather related issues, the first three rounds of the tournament were postponed until Friday and the semifinal and final matches took place on Saturday. After beating St. John Vianney in its first match Friday afternoon, Long Branch advanced to the quarterfinals later in the evening to face fourth seed and eventual tournament runner-up Jackson Memorial (15-4, 5-2). The Jaguars are ranked second in the Shore Conference and No.6 in the state.

In that quarterfinal match with Jackson Memorial, the Green Wave jumped out to a 6-3 lead after the first three matches but lost the next five and fell behind by an insurmountable 22-6 score eventually losing the match 35-15. The bout was much closer than the score indicated as the Green Wave lost five decisions by one point and two by two points, including three 1-0 decisions.

“We actually improved in the loss to Jackson Memorial and we were hoping we might steal one against them,” George said. “We competed tough and were in the middle of it. We lost five decisions by one point and two by two points; we really battled. If we split those, we win the match.”

Long Branch has won the Shore Conference Tournament three times with the most recent win coming in the 2010 season, the third of three straight tournament championships.

The Green Wave closed out the regular season with two impressive wins, easily defeating Monsignor Farrell (N.Y.) 44-22 and Central Regional 46-24 on Wednesday, February 4.

There’s still a lot of wrestling remaining in the season with the real meat-and-potatoes portion of the season on the horizon. The NJSIAA sectional and group tournaments commence February 9 and culminate February 15. Then it’s on to the districts, regions and states with the state championships March 6-8 in Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Hall.

Long Branch is seeded No.3 in the upcoming Central Jersey Group III sectional tournament and will face No.6 seed Somerville (13-9) on Monday, February 9 at Long Branch (rescheduled to Tuesday 2-10-15 @ Long Branch 7:00 p.m.). If they advance they’ll travel to No.2 Cranford (15-2). Cranford is ranked No.24 in the state, while Long Branch is ranked No.18.

The Green Wave may be a little underrated heading into the state tournament and probably should’ve been seeded higher. Their four losses this season are against No.1 Bergen Catholic, No.5 St. Peters Prep, No.6 Jackson Memorial and No.7 Howell Township; no slouches there.

“We weren’t disappointed in the No.3 seed in the sense of power points,” George said. “You kind of know where you’re going to be. We’re in a tough section with South Plainfield and Cranford. Cranford beat CBA and gets the bye and home match. So we’re in a tough spot and have to go on the road if we win Monday. We need to be physically and mentally ready to go.”

In program history, the Green Wave have three state group titles (2008-10), five state sectional titles (2008-11, 2013) and ten district team championships, with the most recent coming in the 2013 season. They’ve also had nine individual state champions with Nick Visicaro being the most recent in 2010 at 160 pounds.

Long Branch will be well represented as a team as well as individually in the post-season tournaments. They’re led by junior Joey Jasio (20-2) at 220 pounds, junior Lamont Reid (19-6) at 170 pounds, senior Andy Hernandez (19-5) at 126 pounds, junior Mike Shohet (18-9) at 160 pounds, junior Danny Mullan (17-9) at 145, senior Jason Hernandez (16-5) at 113 pounds, senior Justin Farnsworth (16-10)) at 106 pounds, junior Jiovani Gomez (12-11) at 132 pounds, John Tomlison (10-4) at Hwt. and junior T.J. Conlon (12-10) at 120 pounds.

“We’re battlers and grind stuff out,” George said. “We got some no-name kids that have wrestled their tails off. They practice hard and they’re fighters. We’ve won one championship, now we’re going after another. Our expectations are to win a sectional title and if we can do that it sets us up for a group title.”

Follow @getmready