GLHS Wrestling Falls to Brearley in State Semifinals

A single spotlight shone over the mat, amplifying an already-electrified atmosphere at David Brearley High School as two wrestling powerhouses were about to face off for the right to meet Delaware Valley in the North II, Group II State Sectional Championship on Friday.

For the Governor Livingston Highlanders, winning would mean overcoming their only loss of the season to the same Brearley team that was fighting for the right to try to win its fifth consecutive state championship.

Things did not go as the Highlanders had hoped, as Brearley was able to dominate the latter half of the event to win, 46-19.

“They were the better team, and I knew coming in that we didn’t match up great,"said Highlanders’ head coach Rick Iacono. “We didn’t get a pin at heavyweight, and that hurt us. They wrestled smart. They thought they could beat us on their feet, and they did; they dominated us on our feet.”

The Highlanders did, however, get a 1-0 victory out of junior heavyweight Tony Manganiello. In fact, things were looking good for Governor Livingston after Jon Mele (103) followed up Manganiello’s effort with a 33-second pinfall victory, which was then followed by a major decision in favor of the Highlanders’ Ryne Morrison (112), who won his match by a score of 9-1.

After taking a 13-0 lead, things got tougher for Governor Livingston. The Highlanders watched as Brearley defeats via decision of Anthony DeFranco (119) and Linton Benitez (130) bookmarked a pinfall defeat of Ryan Hoy (125) in 1:41. Those three matches shrunk the Highlanders’ lead down to 13-12.

Governor Livingston got a temporary lift from all-time wins leader Mike Stepien (135), who captured an impressive pinfall victory in 51 seconds over Brearley’s Andrew Scarillo. That win, however, would be the last of the night for the Highlanders, as the Bears went on to win the last seven matches of the evening.

“I know we just had a hard loss right here, but we’re gonna keep our heads up and keep going forward," said Stepien.

Pat Eichner (160) came close to picking up a huge win for Governor Livingston, but came up just short by being on the losing end of a 3-2 decision to put the Bears up 30-19 with just three matches remaining.

Ryan Dobbs wrestled at 171 for Governor Livingston, but was defeated via pinfall in 3:11 to clinch the match for Brearley.

Shane Haddad (189) and Zach Heisler (215) then closed out the evening, wrestling outside of their usual weight classes. Haddad usually wrestles at 171, and Heisler, who replaced Matt O’Sullivan at 215 on Wednesday, usually competes at 189.

“I took a shot up top, and it didn’t work," said Iacono. “No matter what happens, blame must be assigned. Tonight, I’m sure someone will blame me, but that’s OK.”

Up next for the Highlanders (15-2) will be a quad meet on Saturday at Madison that will also feature Morristown and Plainfield. Afterwards, the team will prepare for Districts and Regions, which will take place over the course of the following two weekends.

“Hopefully we perform better, rebound off this loss, and hopefully we place high in the districts and beat South Plainfield," said Stepien. “That’s our next goal.”

Still, it’s a disappointing loss for a team that, with an upset over Brearley, would have been a strong candidate for a state championship.

“We’re improving. I know that tonight was the first time this year that the kids were disappointed," said Iacono. “I think that they had the dream of moving on.”

Either way, Iacono is confident that his team will grow stronger from this defeat in the end.

“We’re gonna take from it what you’re supposed to take from it. You can’t be successful if you don’t fail. We didn’t fail tonight, because you can’t fail in an event. Success and failure are a process; we didn’t fail here tonight, we lost," said Iacono. “We’re gonna improve from it, because if we don’t do that, then the defeat has no benefit. You can only benefit from losing. You can’t benefit from winning, because when you win, you think you’re better than you are.”