WRESTLING TEAM AT CHRISTMAS BREAK WITH ONLY ONE LOSS
Dec. 22, 2007
St. Benedict’s wrestling team hardly looked like an undefeated team after falling behind by 25 points against Staten Island’s Msgr. Farrell Friday night.
Yet, the Gray Bees managed to stay unbeaten by recording a decision, a technical fall and three pins to close out an improbable, 38-37, victory in Staten Island.
St. Benedict’s, however, couldn’t play possum for a second straight outing when it gave up the first 15 points and never recovered during a 41-27 setback to powerful Don Bosco Prep on Saturday at home in Dalton Gym.
“For us to come from behind two days in a row is asking too much,” said St. Benedict’s coach Mike DiPiano Jr. “But we go into the break with just the one loss and that isn’t bad.”
St. Benedict’s stands at 7-1 at the Christmas break and won’t return to action until the Parsippany Tournament on Friday.
DiPiano’s squad would have never fallen into such a big deficit if the Gray Bees weren’t without the services of Patrick Hunter. The 125-pounder missed each of the last two matches with a stomach virus.
Despite Hunter’s absence, the club fashioned a furious rally against Msgr. Farrell. Trailing 37-12, Ahmad Ismail started the comeback with a 4-3 decision at 145 pounds.
Turtogtokh Luvsandorj picked up the pace with a technical fall at 152 pounds before Kevin Dufresne and Bagna Tovuujav each recorded second period falls at 160 and 171 pounds, respectively.
Chris Johnson capped the five-bout surge with a must-have pin in 52 seconds at 189 pounds in the final bout of the evening to give St. Benedict’s the one-point margin of victory.
“Even though we were down, we still knew we had enough fight in our upper weights,’’ DiPiano said. “Everyone came through and did what they had to.”
There was no such luck against Don Bosco Prep. The school from Ramsey won the two toss-up bouts and got a huge revenge victory by Nick Vetterlein, the reigning Region 2 champion.
Vetterlein pinned the Gray Bees’ Kevin Dufresne just one week after suffering a 6-5 setback to the 160-pounder in the Beast of the East tournament.
“They were tough down low and that’s where we’re young,” said DiPiano. “It definitely would have been closer at the end if we had Pat (Hunter).”
--By Ron Jandoli
ST. BENEDICT’S CROWNS THREE CHAMPIONS IN CARUSO INVITATIONAL
Dec. 1, 2007
Bagana Tovuujav, Kevin Dufresne and Pat Hunter each came away with titles for host St. Benedict’s in the season-opening Caruso Invitational on Saturday.
But none of the talented trio was particularly happy with their effort.
Tovuujav, a two-time All-America, and Dufresne, who fell one victory shy of All-America status last year at Nationals, each came away with their second straight Caruso Invitational titles at 171 and 160 pounds, respectively.
Hunter, in contrast, was making his St. Benedict’s debut after a successful run in the NJSIAA tournament for South Plainfield the last two seasons. The senior claimed the 125-pound crown to garner his first of what promises to be numerous medals for the scrappy veteran in a Gray Bees singlet.
Hunter, however, wasn’t in a celebratory mood after posting a 9-4 victory in the semifinals and an 11-7 verdict in the championship match.
“I didn’t feel like myself and wasn’t in a zone today,” said Hunter, who placed second in the NJSIAA tournament at 112 pounds last year after finishing third at 103 as a sophomore at South Plainfield. “But I guess the positive is that if you don’t wrestle as well as you like to and win, it’s okay. I’m just not satisfied.”
Tovuujav, a native of Mongolia, who was third in the National Prep tournament last winter at 171, is looking to better his performance this year at the same weight. The senior raised his career record to 90-18 with a major decision and a fall in his two bouts Saturday.
Tovuujav went after Joe Eder of Maryland’s McDonogh High off the opening whistle in the final. He reached for an inside knee move – something he said he worked on all the time in his homeland – and put the outmatched Eder to his back in just 33 seconds.
“This year, I have one goal and that’s to win nationals,” said Tovuujav. “I didn’t wrestle good in my first match. Was too excited – too many mistakes (a 13-3 victory). I knew I was gonna work harder in the second one and came out and did much better.”
Dufresne was all set to take on Kramer Whitelaw of McDonogh in the finals. But Whitelaw, who beat Dufresne in the Nationals to deny him All-America status last year, was beaten in the semifinals by Ryan Doorman of Peddie.
Doorman provided a challenge Dufresne wasn’t quite ready for and it showed. The St. Benedict’s senior couldn’t finish off many shots, but did, however, manage to score the only takedown of the bout and prevailed, 3-1.
“I was a little disappointed about not meeting (Whitelaw),” said Dufresne, “and I wasn’t sharp in the final. I’m not real happy with the way I performed. There’s a lot of room for improvement.”
Notes: St. Benedict’s, which won the Caruso team championship last year, placed third this time around with 167.5 points. McDonogh, which was ranked 29th in the nation by Amateur Wrestling News, won the tournament by edging out 16th-ranked Wyoming Seminary of Pennsylvania, 233.5-228.
St. Benedict’s had runner-up finishes from Rob Ranalli (112), Turtogtokh Luvsandorj (152) and Olushola Brown (215). Chris Johnson placed third at 189 pounds.
“I’m back here with my family,” said Mike Caruso ’63, the most decorated wrestler in St. Benedict’s history. “The standards that were set and molded here are what we became later on.”
“But once you leave St. Benedict’s, you’re back here everyday in your heart. All my life, the lessons I learned here are an integral part of my daily rituals.”
“It’s exciting to see all the wonderful people who never forget where they come from,” said D’Alessandro ’52. “You may leave St. Benedict’s, but it never leaves you. That’s what everybody here believes and it’s that special bond that makes us one big family.”
“John Allen was one of the greatest coaches in the history of New Jersey. He’s been a mentor to me,” said Mike DiPiano Sr. H ‘82, the long-time athletic director, who built a legendary coaching career of his own while at the helm of the Gray Bees program for 20 years.
Current coach, Mike DiPiano Jr., who, like Allen, was relatively young by coaching standards when he took over the reigns of the St. Benedict’s program, is as astute as anyone when it comes to knowing about the tradition and history of the Gray Bees program. Mike Jr. wrestled for his dad and was a two-time state Prep champ and twice was an All-American.
Tovuujav, however, was the story. The three-time All-American, who placed third in the National Prep Tournament a year ago, had been pinned by Peltier last year in the state Prep Championships and again this year in the prestigious Beast of the East Tournament.
Tovuujav took that aggressiveness into his latest match against Peltier, but still found himself behind in the third period, 3-1. He managed to pull off the victory by scoring a late reversal and then using a counter in overtime for the a takedown to secure the thrilling, 6-4, decision.