Somerset County Tournament - Wrestling

Star-Ledger, January 12, 2013 10:04 p.m.

By Joe Kania

Five individual champions and a county title weren't enough for Bound Brook coach Shaun Cleary.

Craig De La Cruz (120 pounds), Jeison Arias (132), Emmanuel Soto (145), Josh Ugalde (152) and Isaiah Soto (182) won county titles at yesterday's Somerset County Tournament to help Bound Brook take the team championship over runner-up Watchung Hills at Hillsborough.

"To have five champions is certainly great," Cleary said. "But we need to be able to close the deal in the finals if we would like to be a championship caliber team. We sent 11 kids to the finals, and I thought that each of them had an opportunity to win. There were some real close ones that we lost, so hopefully our kids benefit from the experience and continue to get better day after day."

Watchung Hills 126-pounder Mike Magaldo was named the tournament's Outstanding Wrestler after pinning all three of his opponents. Magaldo opened his tournament by pinning Montgomery's John Isaacs in 40 seconds and went on to pin North Plainfield's Brandan Russo in 3:09 before securing a pin in 3:12 over Bound Brook's Zach Vatalare in the final. Magaldo, a junior, won his third Somerset County title.

"It feels great to win my third consecutive county title," said Magaldo, last year's 120-pound state champion. "Getting the OW means a lot too because there are many great wrestlers here that could've deserved it. Coming into the tournament, my goal was just to dominate and get on and off the mat as quick as possible. I think I achieved my goal."

De La Cruz, Bound Brook's only returning state place-winner, won a title at 120 pounds after winning one at 106 last year. The sophomore opened the tournament by pinning Montgomery's Jake Yu in 1:18 and continued his pinning streak all the way through the finals, pinning Ridge's Ted Caruso in 1:28 and eventually earning a fall over Watching Hills' Jack Donnadio in 4:26 in the final.

At 132 pounds, Arias continued plugging away at Somerville's Nick Wahba, attack after attack, until finally securing a third period takedown to win, 4-3. Arias plowed through his competition to reach the final, pinning Hillsborough's Tanner Johnson before defeating Bridgewater-Raritan's Steve Groski, 13-0.

The Soto brothers helped earn Bound Brook titles in very close bouts. Emmanuel (145) took on Watchung Hills' Anthony DiRosa in the final and scored just one takedown and one reversal, riding DiRosa for nearly four minutes. Soto's victory came after a 31-second fall over Pingry's Bradon Preziosi in the quarterfinals and a 3-1 decision over Montgomery's Louis Colonna in the semifinals.

Isaiah Soto (182) won, 1-0, in the final over Franklin's Kurtis Hewitt. After the two went scoreless on their feet in the first, Hewitt chose down and Soto was able to ride him out the entire period. In the third, Soto was able to escape and score the bout's only points. Soto reached the final by pinning North Plainfield's Estuardo Gonzales in 2:20 in the quarterfinals and pinning Watchung Hills' Ernesto Anazco in 1:59 in the semifinals.