Mazzocchi Fights Hard, but Bows Out of State Tourney

Christian Mazzocchi had gotten a good night's sleep, loosened up, and with ten minutes until match time, he paced behind the bleachers on the far side of Boardwalk Hall among the other wrestlers. Ten minutes turned into twenty.  Twenty turned to thirty. He nodded his head. He stretched his arms. He wasn't nervous. He was ready. 

Mazzocchi, a senior, was Madison High School's lone entry Saturday in the NJSIAA State Wrestling Championships in Atlantic City.  He made a name for himself in the 152-pound weight class on Friday when he he pinned his first opponent in 1:20. In the next match, Mazzocchi upped the ante by pinning Collingswood's Brian Hairston in a mere 0:39 seconds. His teammate, sophomore Patsy Davis, was eliminated Friday in the first round against Ricky Carter of Washington Township, so it was up to Mazzocchi to keep the Dodgers alive in day two.

He would have a tough opponent in Delsea Regional's senior Eric Reger. A 30-3 wrestler on the year, Reger was well-rested with a first round bye. When Mazzocchi finally hit the mat to face Reger after a delay, he hoped his work ethic would be an asset against a higher-seeded wrestler.

The match began evenly on the ground, and Mazzocchi mounted Reger's back early on. Both wrestlers scrapped hard for leverage and it looked as if Mazzocchi was controlling the pace. The momentum shifted drastically when he was taken down for two points with 40 seconds remaining in the first period.

In the second, Mazzocchi escaped a choke and flipped his opponent, but Reger scored again to close out two periods with a 5-0 lead.

With the match looking all but over, Mazzocchi performed the way he will be remembered for in Madison wrestling history: with guts and class.

He escaped a choke, got quick points, and with seven seconds to go he found himself within striking distance, trailing 7-5. After the restart, he chased Reger around the mat for a takedown, but to no avail. Reger got the win, and Mazzocchi was only a loss away from elimination.

"I tried. I gave everything...," an out-of-breath Mazzocchi said after the match.  "I wasn't supposed to win, but I tried to. I'm here to win, I'm thinking about the next match and trying to place. I wanted it more. He got it, though. I kept pressing."

"He goes to battle every time he goes on the mat," Madison head coach Steve Healey said after Mazzocchi's first match. "We've got to put it behind us and get ready for the next match. He wore the kid out physically. He needed to score more points, but he ran out of time."

Mazzocchi's never-say-die spirit as a perpetual underdog got him to his next match against junior Colin Hewitt of Franklin Township High School. At 23-1, Hewitt was not accustomed to losing, and he looked to continue his successes against Mazzocchi by exposing a height advantage.

The match began evenly, but Mazzocchi was taken down, albeit out-of-bounds.  He tried to get a headlock on Hewitt but it backfired, and Hewitt put up two points after he took Mazzocchi's back.

He was taken down again in the second, and as the points racked up Mazzocchi found himself down 7-0 going into the third. 

After grappling for the majority of the final period, and now down 7-2, Mazzocchi nearly flipped Hewitt for the pin, but Hewitt held on to get the win.

"That was the one we didn't like stylistically," Healey said after the match. "The styles weren't in our favor. He had a great tournament. He will always be the guy that got us the pin when we needed a pin."

Healey also commented on Mazzocchi's MHS wrestling career as a whole.

"Win or lose, he's going to put you in pain," he said.  "You walk off the mat a wounded warrior whether you beat him or you lost.

While Mazzocchi will head back to Madison earlier than anticipated, he represented the Dodgers well, and has plenty to look forward to. He will be playing lacrosse in the spring, and he is undecided on a college and whether he will wrestle or play lacrosse at school.