Bernstein Will Fight For Third on Sunday

With one day left in the state wrestling championships in Atlantic City, Montville's Taylor Bernstein has a chance to be named the third-best wrestler in his weight class. The 215-pound Mustang will compete for third place on Sunday.

Bernstein got off to a slow start in the morning on Saturday, losing to top-seeded Andrew Campolattano of Bound Brook in a 15-0 final decision.

Heading into his wrestleback match in the afternoon, Bernstein said he wanted to focus on the positive.

“I look at it as ‘I’ve had him,’” he said. “I won't face anyone better than him, so I just have to go out and try to work my way back up to the top and try to get third.”

Bernstein spent the afternoon getting back on track, beating Bergenfield’s Richie Torres with a pin at the 1:25 mark in his first wrestleback match before passing Brandon Hull, of Philipsburg, and Kevin Stadtmueller, of Absegami, in 5-0 and 8-4 decisions, respectively.

He said that his strategy moving forward would be to maintain his aggressive style.

“I got to go out and wrestle and take it one match at a time,” he said. “I want to learn from my mistakes, but not look back.”

The Sunday bout will be a first for Bernstien, who is enjoying his debut trip to the state tournament.

“I didn’t make it last year so the second I came here and saw everyone’s faces it was like ‘wow,’” he said. “It’s a great feeling.”

Montville’s Sal Mastriani (145), of Don Bosco Prep, will also fight for third place on Sunday; he will face Joseph Gaccione, of High Point. The two faced off in a quarterfinal match, with Giaccione knocking off Mastriani in a 6-5 decsion.

Mastriani said he plans to change his strategy to a more conservative style.

“This is the important part of the tournament now,” he said. “Looking forward, I might be a little more cautious, but you still want to be aggressive.”

The rest of the Mustangs were less successful. Parker Meytrott (145) lost in his first wrestleback match to Matt DiGiovanni of Cranford in a 3-2 decision. Matt Intile (152) lost in a quarterfinal match against Devin Geoghegan of Brearlev before eventually being knocked out of the tournament by Francisco Colom of St. Peter’s Prep in his wrestleback match.

Bernstein will face Dean Sullivan of Delbarton for third place on Sunday.