Spartans play big role in Shore's dominance
Menditto captures 145-pound title amid controversy
BY DOUG McKENZIE
Staff Writer

PHOTOS BY JEFFGRANIT staff Above, Ocean's Zac Coulas puts Kittatinny's Derek Valenti on his back during a 125-pound bout on Saturday in Atlantic City. At right, NickMenditto tries to control Southern's Luke Lanno during their 145-pound final. Below, Ocean's Kyle Kiss can't hide his disappointment after falling in the 171-pound final to Camden Catholic's Anthony Trongone.

For years now, fans of Shore Conference wrestling have been touting the overall depth and talent of the conference, with many claiming that the very best wrestling New Jersey has to offer is located right here in the center of the state.

After this weekend's performance at the NJSIAA state wrestling championships in Atlantic City, it's a tough point to argue against.

The Shore Conference had 12 wrestlers reach the finals, with five claiming gold, and a grand total of 28 conference grapplers medaled at Boardwalk Hall.

Ocean's Nick Menditto (145), Toms River North's Matt Oliver (119), Southern's Frank Molinaro (140) and Jackson's Scott Winston (152) and Ken Carney (160) all captured the individual titles, while seven other wrestlers from Region VI claimed second-place trophies.

Menditto will go down as the first state champion in Ocean's history. His win, however, did not come without controversy.

The Spartan senior defeated Southern's Luke Lanno, the top seed, 3-2, without scoring any offensive points. Lanno (40-2), the 152-pound champion at the Beast of the East Tournament in Delaware this year, was leading 1-0 when head bout official Doug Bush called him for stalling with just five seconds left in regulation while the wrestlers were in neutral position.

Many in the crowd of 11,470 booed the call immediately, but the real controversy was yet to come.

After Lanno escaped in the first part of the overtime to take a 2-1 lead, he was attempting to ride Menditto out in the second part of OT when Bush again called him for stalling, this time with six seconds left, again tying the bout. Again, the crowd booed, this time with more vigor.

Menditto, who lost to Lanno, 7-4, in the Region VI championship, was then able to ride the Southern senior out in the third overtime to win the championship.

At this point, the boos were drowning out even the boisterous Ocean Township fans' section, while Lanno, who didn't want to shake Bush's hand following the match, and his coaching staff left the mat area frustrated and angered.

Following the match, Menditto balked at commenting on the official's calls, as he was trying to stay out of the controversy as much as possible.

"I just came down here to wrestle my best, so to win means a lot," he said.

His coach, Ken Hoff, was complimentary of Bush's calls, saying the ref "had a lot of courage to call it," when other refs might not have.

Southern's head coach, John Stout, did not agree.

"The referee made it impossible for Luke to win," he said. "Luke shot and he called him for stalling. Luke got on top of him and he called him for stalling."

JEFFGRANIT staff Monmouth Regional's Anthony Bongarzone controls Paramus' Jon Rizzitello during a 152-pound bout in A.C. on Saturday.

The state title win marked the culmination of a rough two-year stretch for Menditto. After finishing fourth in the state as a sophomore, Menditto did not wrestle in the postseason last year because of a weight problem. Then, earlier this year, he missed most of the regular season with a thumb injury.

Menditto (76-10 for his career) hoped to be congratulating a teammate later in the day, when senior Kyle Kiss took to the mat in the 171-pound final. Unfortunately Kiss, the top seed, was defeated by Camden Catholic's Anthony Trongone, the Region VIII champ and a state runner-up last year, 4-2.

Kiss took the lead with an escape five seconds into the second period, before Trongone went up 2-1 with a takedown with 1:07 left. Kiss escaped to tie the score at 2-2. After Kiss was warned for stalling with 15 seconds left in the second quarter, Trongone took the lead with an escape four seconds into the third, before Kiss was called for stalling with 47 seconds left, ending the scoring for the match.

For his career, Kiss finished with a 139-16 record, and two second-place finishes in the state. He will continue his career at the University of North Carolina.

Jeff Siciliano was another top seed for the Spartans, but was knocked off in the 189-pound semifinals by Tyler Smith of Belvidere, 6-4, in overtime.

Siciliano came back to beat Westwood's Anthony LiSanti, 6-3, in a semifinal wrestleback, before falling to Central's Nick Tenpenny by pinfall in 3:09 of their third-place bout. This was a rematch of the Region VI classic, won by Siciliano, 9-7, on a late takedown.

Ocean also got fifth-place finishes from Andrew Van Dyke (135) and Joey Falco (160), as well as a eighth-place finish from Zac Coulas at 125.

Van Dyke, who lost to eventual champion Trevor Melde, 11-0, in the semifinals, came back on Sunday to win his fifth-place match, 1-0, over Kittatinny's Troy Hernandez.

Falco, meanwhile, lost in the second round, 4-3, to Warren Hills' Chris Hrunka, but went on to win three straight wrestleback matches before falling in the wrestleback semifinals to Dan Zotollo of Paramus, 6-4 in overtime. He then beat Hillsborough's John Mangini, the bracket's top seed, with a pin in 4:41 of their fifth-place match.

"To come down here and take fifth in the state definitely puts a cap on my career," he said. "I finished with the school record in wins and absolutely accomplished everything I wanted to here."

Among the other top performers from the Shore was CBA senior James Beshada, who breezed his way through the 130-pound bracket to reach the final, where he fell to Jefferson's Tyler Milonas, the top seed, 9-1.

Against Milonas, a third-place finisher last year who entered the bout 42-0 on the season, Beshada fell behind on an early takedown and nearfall for a 4-0 deficit. Beshada then scored a point on an escape to start the second before another Milonas takedown made it 6-1. Milonas then scored three backpoints on a double arm-bar, and the scoring ended there, with Milonas claiming the title with a 9-1 victory.

"There were a couple of points in the match that were critical, and he got the better of me in them," said Beshada following the match. "But he's a great wrestler, so if I was going to lose to somebody I'm glad it was Tyler."

Beshada, who nearly scored a takedown on the opening whistle ("I just wanted to show him that I wasn't going to roll over and die," he said) added that Milonas caught him off guard with his aggressiveness early on.

While he fell a win shy of his ultimate goal, Beshada was quick to put his efforts in perspective.

"After I lost in the Region VI semis (to Brick Memorial's Karon Reid) last week, [the] coach and I went back to work, and I just took it one step at a time," he said. "Anything can happen in A.C."

So Beshada, who finishes his career with a 109-23 mark and will continue wrestling for the Merchant Marine Academy next fall, left A.C. on Sunday with no regrets.

"I had a heck of a weekend," he said.

The Raritan High School wrestling program has made tremendous strides under head coach Rob Nucci, and this weekend the Rockets took another giant leap forward with three state place-winners.

The Seidenberg brothers, Dan and Dave, made their presence felt in Atlantic City with second- and third-place showings, respectively, while senior T.J. Mitchell added a fifth-place showing at 125 pounds.

"This is a lot of fun, to have a second- third- and fifth-place finisher in the state in one year. You kind of hope every year can be like this," said Nucci. "We've had three state placewinners in the program's history, so to have three in one year, I think it shows how hard the guys are working and how far our program has come.

"Guys like T.J., and the Seidenburg brothers, they're showing what hard work can do for you."

Monmouth Regional senior Anthony Bongarzone won his first 152-pound match on Friday, 7-0, over Hopatcong's Rich Doehr, before falling to Pennsville's Dustin Deckard in the second round, 2-0. Bongarzone then came back to beat Kingway's Rob Wheldon, 4-0, in the wrestlebacks, before falling to Maple Shade's Kirk Kirazis, 7-2 in overtime. That put him in the seventh-place bout, where he beat Middlesex's Mike Dessino, 3-2.

Bongarzone's teammate, heavyweight Paul Schweighardt won his opener with a pin of Hasbrouck Height's Tyler Blake in 3:50, then knocked off Belvidere's C.J. Triantafyllos with another pin, this one in 2:54. He then fell to Morris Knolls' Zac Walsh, 6-1, and was eliminated in the wrestlebacks with a 3-1 overtime loss to Don Bosco Prep's Mike Farr.

Throughout the weekend's action, local fans were buzzing about the success enjoyed by the Region VI grapplers.

While the region's dominance came as a surprise to those outside of the Shore, many of the conference's elite wrestlers and coaches viewed the results as an affirmation of what they already knew.

"It doesn't surprise me," said Scott Goodale, the head coach of the state's No. 1 team from Jackson. "There were five weight classes where all of our kids placed. Shore Conference wrestling has had a strong tradition, but it's really flourishing now."

Howell head coach John Gagliano pointed out that all of the Region VI wrestlers and coaches were pulling for one another.

"We [Region VI] dominated the state tournament," he said. "At this point, everyone roots for each other."

Beshada echoed that sentiment.

"It's kind of like we had our own little team down here," he said. "I think there were 42 of us, and we all kind of stuck together. It got to the point where we were knocking each other off in the later rounds here.

"The depth in the Shore is outstanding. It's always a war down there."

And facing such quality wrestling throughout the year has obviously paid dividends this year.

"It helps a lot to have that many tough matches throughout the year," said the newly crowned 145-pound champ, Menditto.

It's true what they say - you've got to compete against good competition to become the best.

At this point, local wrestlers don't have to travel very far to do that. The best wrestling in the state is right here in the Shore Conference.

And we've got the medals to prove it.