Complete lineup of Spartans now in the mix

All season long we've been hearing the same thing about the Ocean Township wrestling team - wait until they're healthy.

While the Spartans have put together a solid season, head coach Ken Hoff's squad has been taking on one of the Shore's most difficult schedules minus two of its best wrestlers, Jeff Siciliano and Nick Meditto, both of whom were top-four finishers in the state last year in their respective weight classes, for much of the season.

Now they're both back, and just in time for the 16-team Shore Conference Tournament, which began last night with quarterfinal-round action.

Ocean (12-3), who got a key win over Brick Memorial, 35-28, on Saturday with both Meditto and Siciliano recording key wins, got the sixth seed in the tournament, making the Spartans one of the more dangerous six seeds in recent memory.

As such, they opened last night against 11th-seeded Freehold Township, fully expecting to get a shot at fourth-seeded Howell later on. Howell (16-0 and ranked fifth in the state) beat Ocean earlier this month, but with the Spartans missing some key grapplers. The Spartans entered last night's action licking their chops at the prospect of both avenging that defeat to the Rebels, while also knocking them from the ranks of the unbeaten.

JEFFGRANIT staff Ocean Township's Zac Coulas takes a shot on Howell's Cody Fobes during their thrilling bout in a Jan. 10 match in Ocean.The two were expected to meet up again last night in SCT action.

Last night's winners advanced to the SCT semifinal round, scheduled for Saturday at Southern Regional.

All year long the Ocean team promised it would be ready to prove its might in the postseason. Last night was their first chance to do just that.

Long Branch, which shared the Class B championship with Wall and Ocean, was awarded the seventh seed, and traveled to Southern to take on Toms River East last night. With a win, the Green Wave would have gotten a shot at the host Rams, the second-ranked team in the state.

While the Green Wave wrestlers were not expected to have much of a shot against a loaded Southern team, their reemergence this season as one of the top teams in the Shore was solidified with the high seeding.

Shore Regional was the only other local team to get an invite to the SCT, though a first-round match-up with Jackson, the top team in the state, is hardly inviting. Nonetheless, the Blue Devils of head coach Zach Miers are enjoying a solid season at 7-6, and were looking forward to locking horns with one of the elite programs in the nation last night.