Bound Brook Wrestling

2011-2012 Bound Brook Wrestling

 

 

As many of you know the Bound Brook wrestling team had a excellent season in which they were crowned the Group I New Jersey State Champions for the first time the illustrious history of the wrestling program. However, long before that accomplishment, this team started winning titles.

 

The first competition was the Battle at the Beach at Indian River where the team would face teams from five states, and a tournament which they had never won before. That changed this season as they won the 23 team tournament by fifty points over their nearest competitor and had everyone, but two wrestlers placed in the top 4 of their respective weight classes.

 

After a few dual meet wins the Crusaders traveled to the Bethlehem Holiday Classic in Pennsylvania. This tournament is ranked as one of the top ten toughest tournaments in the country and although not a perfect competition, the Crusaders placed 7^th out of 30 teams. Although they weren’t close to winning the tournament, it was a tough tournament and they finished ahead of two New Jersey top 10 schools, including the Group IV State Champions Phillipsburg.

 

The Crusaders again traveled to Pennsylvania after the New Year and entered the Zephyr Duals at Whitehall High School which they hadn’t won since they first entered the tournament in 1999. The tournament had some tough teams in Pennsylvania “AA” team finalists Wyalusing, Stroudsburg High School which lost to number 18 team in the Country Easton by 22 points and New Jersey Group IV Sectional Champions Paramus. However, none of these teams could compete with the Brook’s wrestlers as we won the title with a 19 point victory over Stroudsburg in the Finals.

 

After a few more wins and a couple of losses to two New Jersey top ten schools Jackson Memorial and Brick Memorial the Crusaders entered the Somerset County Tournament where Franklin, who was ranked 9^th in the State at the time looked to repeat as Champions and Watchung which finished the season ranked 15^th also looked to contend for the title. Well that was not to be as the mighty Crusaders put on a stellar performance in the wrestle-backs and stormed to a easy County Championship. Our first since 2000.

 

A lot of wins later and a couple more of losses to the number one team in the State South Plainfield and 11^th ranked Timbercreek the Crusaders started the New Jersey Group I Sectional tournament and after storming by Bordentown by a 49-15 score, they faced New Egypt in the Sectional final. Well they were supposed to face New Egypt but they decided they didn’t want a beat down, so they made a excuse, stuck their tail between their legs and headed back to the pine lands of  New Jersey after forfeiting the match. I wonder if their serving Chicken at their season ending banquet.

 

The Sectional title meant the Crusaders were going to compete for a State Team Championship  which they had never won before. No worries, after a exciting match with former Group I and II State Champions Kittatinny where Craig Delacruz and Mike Johnson delivered pins in the last two matches to get the Brook to the Finals, the Crusaders disposed of Hanover Park by a 40-24 score to win their first State Championship and to become the school’s first boy’s State Championship team since the track team in the 1980’s. Wow!

 

With the team season ending with a State Championship the Crusaders next looked at the individual state championship season which begins with the Districts. District 18 would be the first time all year that the Crusaders would wrestle their entire starting line-up and what a job that line did! The Crusaders won the district and thirteen of our fourteen wrestlers placed in the top four of their weights and eleven qualified for Regions. Needless to say we won the tournament by a comfortable margin over group four schools Franklin, Hillsborough, Bridgewater and our rival  Group II Somerville.

 

The eleven Crusader wrestlers headed to Regions continued our standard of excellence as ten of them placed in the top six of Regions and five of them advanced to the New Jersey State Championships. Bound Brook would have easily won the tournament if team scores were kept and we were voted the number one team in our 40 team Region.

 

At States the Crusaders brought two freshman, two sophomores and one junior so maintaining our string of thirteen consecutive years with at least one State place winner looked like a tall order. But fear not, freshman Craig Delacruz continued the string with a fourth place finish at 106 and only lost by the State Champ by a tough 2-1 decision. Freshman Josh Ugalde and junior Emmanuel Soto also placed in the top twelve in their weight classes.

 

In the final Star Ledger poll and Coaches poll Bound Brook was ranked the tenth best team in the entire state and a testament to the hard work put in by these wrestlers all season long. Many wrestlers for the entire off season would wake up at 5:30 a.m. to run up the mountain and flip tractor tires, lift weights five days a week at 5:30 p.m. and then wrestle at 7 p.m. Quite a schedule for the off season and we think it’s this schedule that made our season so fulfilling.

 

In the end the Crusaders only wrestled their full line-up at the end of the season and featured a team where no one was a starter was a senior and seven freshmen were starters. So needless to say we think this is only a beginning.