No. 1 CBA keeps rolling with convincing win over No. 3 Southern

STAFFORD — With championship season on the horizon, the Colts are riding high.

Top-ranked Christian Brothers Academy won nine of the 13 contested bouts and held an 18-6 advantage in bonus points when it handled No. 3 Southern with a 45-21 Shore Conference Class A Division victory on Wednesday night. The shorthanded Rams, ranked No. 3 but missing a pair of senior state medalists, were no match for a CBA squad that is rolling heading into the conference and state tournament stretch.

Juniors Bobby Duffy (132) and Jimmy Jakub (150), sophomore Brock Oizerowitz (175), and senior Jacob Howland (Hwt) each won by fall while sophomore Paul Kenny (126) and senior A.J. Falcone (165) won by technical fall and freshman Cael Dutton (120) and junior Tyler Palumbo (215) secured major decisions. The Colts earned bonus points in eight of their nine victories, but the lone decision was one of the night’s best as junior Will Sakoutis defeated two-time state qualifier Scottie Sari, 6-2, at 144 pounds.

“Momentum is important in this sport and it looks like we’ve got it rolling in the right direction now,” CBA head coach Billy Ashnault said.

CBA has now clinched at least a share of the powerful Class A Division championship, which features five state-ranked teams, four of which are in the top 10. The Colts can win the title outright with a win over Brick Memorial (No. 6 in the Shore/No. 18 in NJ) in their final division match.

Southern, the reigning two-time NJSIAA Group 5 champion, was without two of its hammers in seniors Bryce Manera (132) and Hayden Hochstrasser (175). Manera, a Bucknell commit, was fourth in the state at 132 pounds last season and Hochstrasser, a West Point commit, was third in the state at 165 pounds. Southern head coach Dan Roy said he is still waiting on an update to their respective injuries and that “it’s possible” both will return this season.

“We’re just waiting on follow-up appointments and waiting to see what’s going on,” Roy said. “I just don’t know. It’s possible they come back, I just don’t know the time period yet.”

CBA’s win was so thorough, however, that even with Manera and Hochstrasser in the lineup it probably wouldn’t have changed the final result. One of Southern’s five wins came by forfeit at 106 pounds where CBA freshman Sean Kenny did not wrestle. Kenny faced Southern freshman Cade Collins earlier this season at the Powerade Tournament and won by fall in the first period. Kenny missed Wednesday’s match after a tough Escape the Rock tournament where he placed fourth and had a tooth come flying out after a hard mat return.

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Junior Anthony Mason, a returning state finalist, staked Southern to a 6-0 lead when he pinned Kellen Duffy with six seconds left in the first period at 113 pounds. It was all CBA from there with Dutton earning a major decision at 120 and Paul Kenny, third in the state at 113 last season, working a 19-3 technical fall early in the third period over state qualifier Cash McVey. That put the Colts ahead 9-6, a lead they would not relinquish. Duffy pinned Sam Pari in the first period at 132 pounds before Southern’s Vincent Esposito won a thriller, 11-4 over state qualifier Randy Jenks at 138 pounds, with a late takedown and three back points to preserve a 5-4 lead he held before a frenetic closing sequence.

CBA continued to build on its lead at 144 pounds where Sakoutis edged Sari, 6-2, in the latest matchup of their burgeoning rivalry. Sari went up 2-0 in the second period with a reversal but an escape and a takedown by Sakoutis later in the period gave him the lead for good. It was the third meeting in the last two seasons between Sakoutis and Sari. Last season, Sakoutis scored a key 3-1 decision during CBA’s 30-28 victory. This year, Sari beat Sakoutis 7-3 at the Powerade Tournament before Sakoutis returned the favor Wednesday night to give the Colts an 18-9 lead through six bouts.

“He got me in Powerade, so I was happy to get this one,” Sakoutis said. “He’s a great wrestler, but I think I’m better. I just want to keep working hard. That’s my mentality, just grinding guys and making them tired.”

“Will does everything right. He works hard, gets good grades; he’s a really special kid,” Ashnault said. “A win like he had tonight is something he deserves for himself.”

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Jakub’s pin of James Romano stretched the lead to 24-9 at 150 pounds. Southern senior two-time state medalist and UPenn commit Wyatt Stout earned the Rams’ third win with a 9-2 decision over Brendan Boyer, a returning state wrestleback round four advancer, at 157 pounds. The match was put out of reach over the next two weights with Falcone providing a technical fall and Oizerowitz, a returning state medalist, looking dominant with a 27-second pin at 165 and 175, respectively.

With CBA leading 35-12 with just four bouts remaining, Southern needed four straight pins to win. Rams sophomore Levi Foote earned a 7-3 decision over Jarred O’Neill at 190 pounds, but without bonus points CBA had the match clinched up 35-15 with three bouts left. Palumbo and Howland added bonus-point victories at 215 and heavyweight before the forfeit to Collins wrapped up the night.

The schedule within the Class A Division is unforgiving. Add in high-powered out-of-conference dual meets and tournaments and the season is a relentless grind that can beat teams up. CBA faced its share of adversity earlier in the season but is now mostly healthy and wrestling as well as ever with the most important part of the season coming up.

“We’re feeling great, just rolling,” Sakoutis said. “We have great coaches behind us and that’s a huge piece of our success right now. Obviously, this (division) is a goal for us, we want to get this team title. All of our work is paying off. But our main goal is to focus on the postseason and getting guys on the podium.”

“We have this schedule to get these guys ready for the end of the year,” Ashnault said. “That’s the goal, but having momentum in dual. meets, to have these guys come together as a team, that’s the most important thing in this sport. Guys looking at their teammates and wanting to get better for them.”

 

Box Score

No. 1 CBA 45, No. 3 Southern 21

113: Anthony Mason (S) p. Kellen Duffy, 1:54

120: Cael Dutton (CBA) md. Hunter Borer, 12-4

126: Paul Kenny (CBA) tf. Cash McVey, 4:07 (19-3)

132: Bobby Duffy (CBA) p. Sam Pari, 1:33

138: Vincent Esposito (S) d. Randy Jenks, 11-4

144: Will Sakoutis (CBA) d. Scottie Sari, 6-2

150: Jimmy Jakub (CBA) p. James Romano, 2:44

157: Wyatt Stout (S) d. Brendan Boyer, 9-2

165: A.J. Falcone (CBA) tf. Noah Fontana, 5:22 (20-4)

175: Brock Oizerowitz (CBA) p. Nick Daddona, 0:27

190: Levi Foote (S) d. Jarred O’Neill, 7-3

215: Tyler Palumbo (CBA) md. Sean Dupnak, 12-2

Hwt: Jacob Howland (CBA) p. Caleb Counts, 4:48

106: Cade Collins (S) by forfeit

Records: at Southern (8-2); CBA (7-3).