Shore grapplers look to overcome tough start First-year coach has seen his team lose several close dual meets BY VIN RAPOLLA Staff Writer SCOTT PILLING staff Shore Regional’s Max Springman works over an opponent during a recent tournament at Matawan High School. Entering his first year as the Shore Regional wrestling coach, Zach Miers certainly had some tough expectations to meet. With Miers replacing a respected coach in Rich Santangelo, the Blue Devils were the preseason pick in the Shore’s Class B Central race, coming off an 11-10 campaign last winter. Early on, things didn’t go as planned, as the Blue Devils struggled to post wins, losing a number of close dual meets, while performing well in several tournaments. Now, the Shore team is looking to turn their season around with the start of the second half of the season. The Blue Devils, who improved to 3-7 with an impressive 71-10 win over Holmdel on Saturday, faced off against Colts Neck last night and have a quad meet in Matawan this upcoming weekend. It’s time for the Blue Devils to start winning some tough matches if they hope to meet their preseason expectations. “We’re at a pivotal point in our season where we can really turn some things around,” said coach Miers “Our dual meet [record] doesn’t really tell our story. We’ve lost a couple close ones, and we have scored a lot of points in the tournaments we’ve been in. It’s been tough going, with most of our matches coming down to the last match.” This year’s team is carried by its middle weight classes, while Miers fills some of the gaps in his lineup with younger grapplers. The team is led by junior 119-pounder Vinny Riccardi, who is currently 15-3 coming off a 25-win season. Riccardi’s mark puts him near the top in the Shore’s individual rankings, which is headed by Point Beach’s Matt Rega at 13-0 and Raritan’s T.J. Mitchell at 13-1. Among the other middle-weight grapplers who make up the strength of the Shore team are senior 125-pounder Billy Goldberg, senior Jed Fister at 130, senior Eddy Motte at 135, as well as much improved senior 152-pounder John Callery and senior captain Tim Walden at 171. The Blue Devil lineup also features a strong contingent of underclassmen, led by sophomore 140-pounder Max Springman, junior Pete D’Arcangelo, junior 160-pounder Mike Polizois and junior Jim Freudenberg at 189. Shore also starts a pair freshman in 103-pound Jeff Hayet and 112-pound Scott Clayton — both of whom have impressed Miers with their improvement over the course of the season. With a number of winnable matches still looming on the Blue Devils’ schedule, Miers is confident that his team can put together the kind of season they were hoping for. It hasn’t been the smoothest start for Miers, as being a first-year coach he has put a lot of pressure on his shoulders, especially with his squad coming into the season as the team to beat in the division. “We were real excited for this year. We had been picked to win the division, and it was a lot of pressure for the kids and a first-year coach,” said Miers. Thus far, Keansburg has been the division’s top team, as the Titans improved to 9-1 (and 5-0 in the division) with a 49-23 win over Red Bank on Saturday. Point Beach has also been solid, wrestling to a 5-4 mark (3-1 in the division) Although it’s been a rough start for Miers and his team, the coach and his wrestlers remain positive about this season’s potential, with the postseason tournaments rapidly approaching. “I can’t say enough how hard they’ve been working. They’ve all put their time in and they all know what it takes to be competitive,” said Miers. “Hopefully we can make a push, and get some kids into the regions and maybe even states.” And meet some of those lofty expectations.