Bound Brook Wrestling: Welcome
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TAFFUR SIXTH AT PENN, MURRAY 4TH AT NAVAL ACADEMY
Two of Bound Brook's college wrestlers took to the mats this weekend and both did well as Nick Murray took fourth at the Navy Classic and Nestor Taffur placed sixth at the Keystone Classic held at the Univesity of Pennsylvania.
Nick in placing fourth defeated three George Mason wrestlers with a combined riding time of about 15 minutes and they pinned a Naval Academy wrestler to make it to the third place match. However, during the third place match something went amiss and Nick was disqualified against former Bishop Ahr grappler Matt Pagan. Nick was tough on top and so-so on his feet as sometimes he's aggressive and other times his reverse gear is in full acceleration.
Nestor was making his second appearance for Boston University as he competed at the University of Pennyslvania. In the first match he defeated the fourth seed from Princeton which set him up for a match with Troy Hernandez, the State runner-up at his weight class last season. Nest lost in a exciting match where he had a tough time keeping his stance and wrestling on the edge of the mat. But he bounced back with wins against wrestlers from Brown and American University, but then fell to Sam Walters of Liberty University by giving up a last second reversal and back points 10-6. This put him back in a match with UPenn's Hernandez for fifth place, but twice he again gave up two takedown's on the edge to lose in overtime. His lessons of the day were to keep wrestling on the edge, and to stay away from the legs for a while.
Either way both wrestlers showed that they score lots of points this season and with some hard work can move up the ladder of Division I college wrestling.
BOUND BROOK COLLEGE WRESTERS KICK OFF SEASON
Nick Murray Wins King College Open
Bound Brook Alumni kicked off their college wrestling season this past weekend and they were led by Nick Murray won the King College Open in Tennessee while reprensenting Virginia Tech. Nick competed at 141 and won four matches on the day to win his title.
In Binghamton, New York both Jesse Harrington and Nestor Taffur took to the mats with Jesse representing Delaware Valley College and Nestor Boston University.
Jesse wrestled at 157 and was 2-2 on the day. He started with a win against Scott Seckler of Bucknell, they pinned Thomas Rispoli of Brockport in a scant :16 seconds. But then things toughened substantially for Jesse as he lost to Daryl Cocozzo of Rutgers 3-2 and Ryan McGarity of Brockport by a 10-9 score.
Nestor competed at 149 and also finished the day with 2-2 record for B.U. In his first match he lost to Kyle Rosser of Lehigh by a 9-6 score, but then responded with a :19 second fall against Kyle Lemmon of Delaware Valley College. Next up he beat Doug Christensen of Southern Maine by 4-2 score, but then was knocked out of the tournament by Zach Kell of Lock Haven by a 12-5 decision.
Both Jesse and Nestor seemed to be unable to control the tempo of the matches and will need on working on staying with their best stuff and using the simple counters to takedowns. Funk in nice, but a good sprawl still says it all!
The final Bound Brook alumnus who started his college career this weekend was Gabe Gleason who competed for NYU at the John Reese Duals in Wilkes Barre. Although wrestling on just three days practice, Gabe finished the day with a 2-1 record. In the first match he fell to Wilkes Nathan White by a 3-0 score. He then defeated Noah Blackwell of Kings by a 4-2 score and then Taylor Ulm of York by disqualification, although he was winning by a 5-4 score with two seconds left.
The college wrestlers continue their season next week as on Saturday Nick Murray travels to the Navy Classic at the Naval Academy and Jesse Harrington will compete at the East Stroudsburg Open. On Sunday Nestor Taffur will be at the Quaker Classic at the University of Pennsylvania and Gabe Gleason has matches against the College of New Jersey on Thursday, and Yeshiva and Ursinus on Sunday.
2009-10 HIGH SCHOOL SCHEDULE NOW POSTED
The Bound Brook Crusaders face some new competition and opponents as the 2009-10 schedule has now been posted. The Crusaders will be attending the Bethlehem Holiday Wrestling classic for the first time this season and the tournament has some great teams such as traditional national powerhouse programs such as Blair Academy, Nazareth and Northampton. The website for the tournament is located at http://www.bethlehemholidaywrestling.com .
New teams on the schedule are some old rivals such as Ridge and old days rival Warren Hills nee Washington in the 1950's.
The schedule can be viewed by highlighting the schedule tab at the left.
BOUND BROOK HALL OF FAME STARTS WEBSITE
The Bound Brook High School Alumni Association has begun a website which is located at http://eteamz.com/bbhshof . Go there and see who has been inducted into the Lifetime Acheivement and Athletic Halls of Fame.
Bound Brook Wrestlers past who have been inducted include past State Champions Mike Sandusky, Mario Gentile and Sal Amato. Also, our founder Mike Schibanoff is a memeber. Also, you can nominate Bound Brook Alumni and staff members you feel deserve this honor by downloading the nomination form on the site.
NATIONAL CHAMPION... AGAIN!
Andrew Campolattano won his third consecutive Greco Roman National Title on Tuesday night when he pinned Josh Lehman of Minnesota in a 1:06 of the first period. All this despite being hurt Sunday night and having no intentions of entering the Greco tournament when he flew to Fargo last week. As he told USA Wrestling after the Championship: "I had to get talked into wrestling Greco again this year."
Now there are those who see Andrew and say that the kid just looks like a great athlete and you know what, he is. But if you think that's the only reason he won, you've one, never seen him play basketball; and two, you just have no idea what makes this kid tick.
For all our young Bound Brookers who hope to be as tough as Andrew someday, here are seven important things Andrew does to be successful:
1. He has great technique. Andrew isn't going to do a lot of big throws and fancy funk, but believe me he can. He has been lucky to be brought up around a lot of tough wrestlers and saw that they won their big matches doing meat and potatos technique. He took note and does the same.
2. He has a great hand fight. In the world of big time wrestling, everything starts with the hand fight. Camp learned while still in junior high to have heavy hands and fast feet and this has served him well. Start every drill at the hands and don't stand still!
3. He is smart and knows the rules. Andrew knows it's important to always know the score and time left on the clock. This helps him stay composed when the chips are down.
4. He has complete confidence in his ability. Andrew never steps on the mat thinking he's going to lose. I cannot over emphasize how vital that is to his success.
5. He has heart. Just because the chips are down Andrew will not lay down. Andrew was often challenged when he was young and failed. But he didn't and hasn't quit. Instead, you can give Andrew a choice to run, or stand and fight. He always stands and fights. It wasn't always this way, he decided to make it this way!
6. He respects the sport and people in the sport. Andrew respects wrestling and the people involved in the sport. Like any young athlete is he has his ups and downs, but in the end he is always respectful to those who want to help him.
7. He loves learning. Andrew enjoys talking about strategy and learning new technique. Any wrestler who wants to be great, must continue to learn and grow in the sport. Be great in every position and learn every style you can.
Now if you do all these things will you match Andrew's accomplishments? Well if life were about wins and losses probably not. But life isn't about wins and losses, it's about learning, growing and getting the most out of the gifts given to you. So YES, you will be as successful as Andrew because you follow sound rules and are doing the best with what you've got.
Congratulations Andrew, you again have proven that when pushed to the wall you will make the right choices, and special Thanks to Coach Doerr for giving Andrew so much valuable time, advice and coaching insight in preparation for this tournament. Your dedication to him and everyone else is not taken for granted!CAMP PLACES THRID AT CANADA CUP
Okay, before you become disappointed that Camp lost a match take stock in what he accomplished Yesterday: Andrew competed in the open division of the Canada Cup finishing with a 5-1 record and placing third. His Bound Brook teammates, who are all New Jersey State place winners finished with a combined 0-8 record.
Andrew started the day with a relatively easy fall against Matthew Yotka of the New England Wrestling Club. He then faced the eventual Champion and Nationally ranked Russian wrestler Tamerlan Tagziev. Andrew didn't get to wrestle too long in this match as he tried some risky defense to a leg lace and ended up giving up a touch fall. He then rebounded by winning three straight matches, including a decision over the 5th ranked wrestler in Canada at his weight Alex Burk. This put him in the third place match against Hofstra assistant wrestling coach and NCAA Division III National Champion Terry Madden. Camp was a litte too big and powerful for Madden and won a two period decision 6-0 and 5-1 which gave him a third place finish in his first senior level tournament. Great job Camp and you've certainly reached another milestone!
The remaining Bound Brook wresters did not show much over the course of the day and all went 0-2. Of the losers, Nick Murray was most notable as he got to wrestle the Canadian National Champion and Olympian Haislan Garcia in his first match. Nick ended up losing but had closed the match to 5-4 at one point with a two point roll through and two point gut wrench. However, in the end Garcia's wrist control and fast shots were too much for Nick and Garcia cruised to the tech fall win. Nick was then defeated by the fifth place finisher and experienced International wrestler Roger Alves.
Also at 66 KG, was Nestor Taffur and he lost a tough decision in his first match to Ali Emkani of Team Impact who eventually finished fourth and then lost to James Mancini who was a runner-up in the Canadian Nationals at 60 KG.
Jesse Harrington wrestled at 74 KG and also went 0-2, despite scoring loads of takedowns. Unfortunately, Jesse didn't have a good grasp of the rules and zero par terre skills and lost to eventual runner-up Sheldon Francis and Teddy Banks of the New England Wrestling Club. In the Banks match Jesse scored loads of takedowns, but just had no game in the top bottom portion of the match. Francis is ranked 5th in Canada at his weight and lost to NCAA Champion and Canadian Olympian Matt Gentry in the Finals.
Andrew Flanagan did not make 74 KG and appeared on the mat twice at 84 KG and lost to the aforementioned Burk and Madden.
Murray, Rob Murray Wins Old Tappan Tournament
Rob Murray is on the clock, tick, tick tick... In other words, Rob graduates from eighth grade this week and his high school wrestling career has officially started, and started successfully on Saturday as he won the 103 weight class in the high school division of the Old Tappan Tournament.
In his first match Rob used a few key tilts in the second period to defeat his opponent from Old Tappan by a 5-2 score. In the Semis he defended his opponent's funk attempts and ended the match with a pin in the second period which put him in the Finals.
In the Finals Rob faced a 103 who placed 4th in the Districts this year and gave up a quick first period takedown. But he escaped and trailed by a 2-1 score at the end of the first. In the second period Rob rode out his opponent getting quite a few one counts on his tilt attempts. Then in the final stanza Rob reversed his opponent with a key hip heist and then rode him out for the last minute for the 3-2 win.
A great job in all by Rob as he has worked hard this Spring and the results have now started to show!
Seniors Announce Their College Choices
Bound Brook wrestling's class of 2009 have all announced their college choices, and as usual they have done themselves proud! Here are this year's seniors and their matriculation plans:
OLEEM O'GARRO- Has been award a New Jersey STARS scholarship which means he will start at Raritan Valley College, and once he obtains his associates degree he is entitled to five tuition-free semesters at Rutgers University to obtain his bachelor's degree. Congratulations Oleem!
HENRY SHAPIRO- Henry was admitted to Rutgers and SUNY-Binghamton and has chosen to matriculate at Binghamton. Come this time next year Henry will be well versed in what a spedie is and how delicious they are, of course he's already been exposed to spedies by wrestling at the 1000 Island Duals.
BEN BENTIVIGNA- Ben is going to continue his college education a Middlesex County College where he may wrestle. All as I can say is that if I was able to double my career win total in one year, I would give myself another year to see if I could keep improving like that.
GABE GLEASON- Has been admitted to NYU and will attend their next year. From what I understand the clincher for Gabe was that he could wrestle for a team whose nickname is the the Violets. That's one mean mascot! But seriously, Gabe was directly admitted to the program he wishes to major in and decided to forgo other scholarships to pursue his first choice of schools.
NESTOR TAFFUR- Has accepted a full scholarship to Boston University. He hopes to pursue a pre-medical based major in Boston and will join Andrew Flanagan as one of two Bound Brook Division I wrestlers in the City of Boston. Nestor is the fourth Crusader in the last five years to accept a Division I wrestling scholarship and the first year value of his package is over $52,000.00, once again proving that student who concentrates on academics and athletics can be justly rewarded. He shows that it pays to forget that part-time job and make your high school academics, and other endeavors whether they be music, engineering or other school activities your full-time job.
CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL OF OUR SENIORS, YOU STUCK IT OUT AND NOW COME THE SPOILS!
CAMP THE TWO TIME CHAMP
TAFFUR PLACES FOURTH
It wasn't easy, but Andrew Campolattano still sports a perfect high school wrestling career as he won his second State Championship on Sunday in Atlantic City. However, he was not the only Crusader to place at the 2009 State Championships, as Nestor Taffur placed 4th to cap a great wrestling career at Bound Brook. Gabe Gleason also finished his career at the State tournament with a loss on Friday night.
Andrew showed the State what he had early and often in the tournament when he defeated Watchung Hill's Evan Dill by fall on Friday night. Then on Saturday morning he faced St. Augustine's Leon White who is a very good athlete. However, Camp's top game was far too good as he tech falled White 15-0 in the second period.
That when set up a huge semi-final as Andrew was to face the wrestler he defeated in last year's State finals was waiting... Jonathan Becker from Bergen Catholic. To say Becker is tough is understatement and Andrew knew Becker would bring a great hand fight to the game. But Andrew found a nice double leg in the first period and was able to do a good job riding Jon for the next two periods. Unfortunately, in the third period Becker had to default to Andrew which gave Camp his second trip to the State final.
After a nap up to the 152 match, Andrew arose for his final against 2007 State Champion Mac Mancuso. Andrew said his legs were a little fatigued going into the match but that didn't stop him from carrying the offense on his feet. Approximately one minute into the first period Andrew got a nice inside single on Mancuso and finished it with a sharp foot sweep. But as they went to the mat Andrew immediately threw his hips under Mancuso for a tilt attempt, however, Mancuso showed his mettle as he hip heisted through the tilt a put Andrew on his back for a two count. Andrew was undautnted though as he quickly reversed Mancuso and rode him out for the rest of period.
Mancuso chose bottom for the second period and reversed Andrew and put the ride on him, but Andrew was able to gain a neutral and go into the third period trailing for the first time in his career at the end of a period by a 6-5 score.
In the third period Andrew chose bottom and escaped with about a minute left, he then immediately went on the offensive and took Mancuso down to take a 8-6 lead. Then he let Mancuso up again and took him down again to finish the match with a 10-7 lead and a second State Title. He finished the year with a staggering 46-0 record and improved his career record to 89-0. For his efforts of beating a State runner-up Champion he was given the honor of being the Outstanding Wrestler of the tournament. The last wrestler to win that award for Bound Brook was Joe Zelasney in the 1960 State Tournament.
TAFFUR FINISHES FOURTH IN THE STATE
Nestor Taffur had a losing record his freshman year in high school.... how things change as on Sunday he placed fourth in the New Jersey State Wrestling tournament, the sixty-eighth Bound Brook State wrestling place winner.
Nest's tournament started on Friday with a tough Ethan Orr from High Point, but Nest was up to the challenge as he used his tough top game to decision Orr 9-3. Then on Saturday morning Nest had his Twilight Zone moment as he led Woodstown's CJ Cobb with four seconds left by 4-2 score. Instead of fleeing on the whistle, Nest stood still and was taken down with no time left. In overtime he failed to finish the winning shot physically and Cobb funked him for the two and the 6-4 win.
That match was enough to break anyone's spirit, but Nest showed real heart as he came back with a couple of great wins including starting with a 14-3 major decision over Frank Crocco of Passaic Valley, a fall in 3:24 over Cody Spatz of Burlington Township and a 11-3 major decision against his nemisis Colin Hewitt of Franklin. Those wins put Nestor in the third place match against Jon Robertson of Long Branch, but Nest couldn't find his take-down offense or top game and lost off a bad shot in overtime by a 3-1 score.
However, for a kid who finished his freshman year with a 15-19 record you cannot be upset as he really grew this past year and proved his mettle with a 45-3 record and a career record of 130-35, which makes him the third winningest wrestler in the history of Bound Brook.
Great Job Nest, your character was on display this weekend numerous times and you showed yourself to be a fighter and class act. It's been a honor to coach you and best of luck in the future wherever you choose to go to school.
GLEASON FINISHES CAREER WITH LOSS AT STATES
Years ago Rod Stewart had a song which was titled "Some Guys Have all the Luck", that song was not written with Gabe Gleason who was eliminated from the State Tournament on Friday by losing 6-0 to Tyler Forbeck of High Point. While Gabe came into the season expecting better, the kid just couldn't buy a break.... Wait, actually he did as right before the start of the season he broke his hip and then during the season had two bouts with sickness which severly affect his ability to perform.
Gabe finished his season on Friday with a 33-3 record and a career record of 127-32 which ties him with Jesse Harrington for fourth on the Crusader all time win list.
Was it the season Gabe hoped for, heck no but he showed he was tough and he stuck it out, and despite all his set-backs qualified for the State tournament and even if it didn't go as planned. In the end, he showed everyone that the music group The Cure was right when they wrote the song "Boys Don't Cry!"
CURRENT RECORDS: 103 George Wohar: 18-19 (Season Complete) 112 Michael DeSantis: 7-22 (Season Complete) 119 Stanley Asiegbulem: 4-4 (Season Complete) 119 Gary Senesoupha: 4-9 (Season Complete) 125 Diego Ovelar: 0-23 (Season Complete) 130 Ricky Ash: 20-11 (Season Complete) 135 Gabe Gleason: 33-3 (Career Complete) 140 Henry Shapiro: 31-9 (Career Complete) 145 Nestor Taffur: 44-3 (Career Complete) 145 Dominick Vatalare: 1-9 (Season Complete) 152 Ben Bentavegna: 25-14 (Career Complete) 152 Ghibran Zapata: 7-26 (Season Complete) 160 Kyle Doerr: 1-0 (Season Complete) 171 Frank Gianotti: 6-18 (Season Complete) 189 Andrew Campolattano: 46-0 (Season Perfect Again!) 215 Oleem O'Garro: 20-18 (Career Complete) 285 Kenny Taffur: 15-9 (Season Complete)