Bound Brook Wrestling

Bound Brook did that in the semifinal at the Pine Belt Arena, routing perennial powerhouse Paulsboro 59-9, leaving many to wonder if the Raiders had ever experienced such a loss.

The momentum was carried into the final, but they were facing Hanover Park, a team riding its own crest of accomplishment after surprising Kittatinny 31-30 in the other semifinal.

The two-time Somerset County Tournament champs won 21 of 28 bouts for the day, but there were certainly momentum changers like sophomore 138-pounder Nick Accetta’s 4-3 overtime victory in the final. That came after Hanover Park had run off three straight close ones. Bound Brook beat Hanover Park in last year’s final after the Hornets had beaten Paulsboro in the semis.

“A couple of things didn’t go our way and Hanover Park came to wrestle; they wanted a Group I state title, they came to wrestle us,” said Bound Brook coach Shaun Cleary, who will have 11 starters returning next season. “Once Nick pulled that overtime one out that really really helped us out, I needed that, we needed that. He came through for us and changed the momentum of the match as well.”

Bound Brook got behind Accetta’s victory and capped its title victory with four wins – pins by senior 145 pounder Emmauel Soto, junior 152-pounder Ryan Doerr and sophomore 170-pounder Andrew Gombas and sophomore 160 pounder Joshua Ugalde’s 1-0 with over Anthony Bassolino.

“It seems like it could be like business as usual,” said Cleary. “But we take it as the way we wrestle. We want to wrestle well every single time we get on that mat and when wrestle bad even if we win and we wrestle bad it’s unacceptable. We want to wrestle well in all 14 matches we go out there.

“We really got after it. But there were a few matches that didn’t go our way and there are a few guys have to make corrections before the state tournament.”

Sophomore 120-pounder Craig De La Cruz dropped an ultimate tiebreaker loss to Anthony Cefalo, who won the state title at 106 last year. De La Cruz was fourth. Junior 285 pounder S. Michael Johnson dropped an utlimate tiebreaker loss to junior Nick La Shell. But those kinds of matches are what Bound Brook has been looking for to prepare for the next three weeks.

Bound Brook opened the semifinal with a victory that Paulsboro has dealt out countless times on its way to 28 state championships. The Crusaders had five falls, three major decisions and two technical falls.

“Paulsboro is an unbelievable program, so I’m really happy with what we did,” said Cleary. “The kids came to wrestle and they wrestled really hard. We got in on our hand fight, we got heavy hands, we got in on our man, we were pushing them all over the mat and we dictated the pace of those matches, which is exactly what we teach our kids to do.”