All the Small Things: Little victories add up to huge win for No. 1 St. John Vianney over No. 3 Southern

HOLMDEL — There is still a long way to go, but through the first week of January it’s clear who is the No. 1 wrestling team in the Shore Conference.

In a rare matchup between new Class A Division foes, reigning NJSIAA Non-Public B state champion St. John Vianney won 8 of 14 bouts with key performances up and down the lineup to defeat two-time defending Group 5 state champion Southern Regional, 33-27, on Wednesday night in Holmdel.

The top-ranked Lancers raced out to a 14-0 lead and won five of the first six bouts before holding off a late rally by the No. 3 Rams. With SJV trailing by three with two bouts left, senior two-time state medalist Matt Gould won by decision to tie the match at 27 and senior three-time state champion Anthony Knox, the No. 1 126-pounder in the nation, clinched the victory with a 21-second pin.

St. John Vianney entered the match ranked No. 3 and No. 4 in the NJ.com and New Jersey Wrestling Writer’s Association rankings, respectively, while Southern entered ranked No. 5/8.

Senior three-time state medalist Patrick O’Keefe delivered a technical fall at 132 pounds, senior Cole Stangle won by major decision at 165 pounds and senior defending heavyweight state champion Rocco Dellagatta received a forfeit to supply the Lancers with critical bonus points. Senior state medalist Jake Zaltsman won a key bout at 144 pounds, as did Gould at 120 pounds to hand the baton to Knox for the closeout victory. Junior Abraham Adu-Amoako also came through with a clutch victory when he outlasted Vincent Esposito, 4-2, in a crucial toss-up bout at 138. The Lancers excelled in some losses, as well, notably sophomore Bubba Gavrish and junior John Saraiva holding Southern state medalists Wyatt Stout and Hayden Hochstrasser to decisions and Julian Zargo avoiding bonus points against Rams standout freshman Cade Collins.

“I think our team did what it had to do,” Gould said. “Guys who were wrestling tough guys knew they had to be stingy, not get pinned and fight off their back, situations like that. And the big guys were going to have to do what they do.”

“It was a complete match all the way from 132 around to 126,” St. John Vianney head coach Chris Notte said. “It’s great to have a team like (Southern) come to our home gym and for us to defend what we stand for as defending Non-Public B state champs and conference champs. They’re a great team, right on our heels. They’re behind us on a piece of paper but any given night that match could sway in any direction. We had a couple guys sick but they returned to the lineup and helped us get a big win tonight.”

Southern was without standout senior Bryce Manera, who was fourth in the state at 132 pounds last season. Head coach Dan Roy said he is “waiting on word” for a timetable on Manera’s return.

 

SJV starts fast

With Manera out of the lineup, Southern had less maneuverability, not to mention being down one of its hammers. His absence came into play immediately when O’Keefe won by 19-4 technical fall in 4:40 over Sam Pari at 132 pounds to stake the Lancers to an early 5-0 lead. Southern could have sent Manera out at 132 if it wanted to, but head coach Dan Roy said he likely would have been at 138 pounds. Instead, Adu-Amoako used a second-period takedown to take the lead on his way to a 4-2 win over Esposito to put SJV up 8-0.

“He probably would have been at 138 because that’s the match,” Roy said. “You take three away from them and give us any kind of bonus points and that’s the match right there. It sucks not having one of your better guys but it happens to everybody. It teaches these young guys that it can’t just be the elite guys that get the bonus all the time.”

“If they have Manera it makes it more of an interesting match,” Notte said. “It would create more reactive movement from us. We can make moves. I know it’s easy to say with a six-point win that with a guy like Manera in the lineup that can tip the scales but with him in there we had some moves to make, too. We have a talented lineup with guys at other weight classes who can come up big.”

At 144 pounds, Zaltsman battled through sickness to earn a 5-1 victory over Southern senior Scottie Sari. Zaltsman scored a takedown in the first period and added a reversal in the second period. The Lock Haven commit was seventh in the state at 138 pounds last season and is a three-time state qualifier while Sari is a two-time state qualifier. Wednesday’s victory was a near duplicate of last season’s Region 7 semifinal bout where Zaltsman won 5-0 over Sari en route to his first region title.

“I felt a little under the weather today so I was a little nervous, but I was still ready to go,” Zaltsman said. “I was excited to wrestle Southern. We haven’t wrestled them ever. I still wanted to wrestle my match and end up on top.”

Three-time state qualifier Dezmond Lenaghan followed with a 7-2 victory over Attila Vigilante at 150 pounds as the Lancers’ advantage grew to 14-0 through four bouts. SJV had yet to allow an offensive point as the match headed to 157 pounds.

 

Southern mounts a comeback

The Rams began to claw back as the match moved through the middle and upper weights but their rally was muted a bit thanks to the efforts of Gavrish at 157 and Saraiva at 175.

Facing Stout, a two-time state medalist committed to the University of Pennsylvania who was fourth in NJ at 144 pounds last season, Gavrish allowed only a third-period escape to one of Southern’s hammers and dropped a 1-0 decision.

The Rams were on the board now trailing 14-3, but Stangle added to SJV’s lead with a 15-5 major decision over Noah Fontana at 165.

At 175, Saraiva limited Hochstrasser to a 7-2 decision to again prevent Southern from earning bonus points. Hochstrasser had been out with a hand injury and didn’t make his season debut until last weekend. He is a two-time state medalist, including third in a state at 165 pounds last season.

“We all have to come together and win our small scenarios,” Notte said. “There’s a bunch of wins in every (bout). There’s the final result but all these little battles lead up to that. Guys like Gavrish and Saraiva and Zargo wrestled tough and put a complete match together. When you wrestle teams like this it’s going to come down to those little moments. Those grind matches, one or two-point matches. Both guys are tired and it’s whoever grinds a little bit more is going to win. I couldn’t ask for any more of these guys than the effort they gave.”

Vianney led 18-6 halfway through the dual with state champions Dellagatta and Knox still in the chamber, but Southern made it a match in a hurry with consecutive falls at 190 and 215. Sophomore Nick Daddona scored a first-period pin over Jaden Pierce at 190 before fellow sophomore Levi Foote continued his strong season by pinning Thomas Foley in 4:41. After being down 14-0 to begin the match, Southern had stormed back to knot the score at 18 apiece.

 

Gould and Knox seal the deal

The entire building knew that lead would be short-lived with Dellagatta lurking at 285 pounds. Southern elected to forfeit to the consensus top-five heavyweight in the country and St. John Vianney was back ahead, 24-18, with four bouts left.

Zargo mirrored the performances of Gavrish and Saraiva by holding one of Southern’s standouts to a decision. Collins was a youth state champion and a Super 32 place-winner prior to high school. After yielding a first-period takedown, Zargo kept Collins from scoring another offensive point. Southern took the three team points from a 5-0 decision but still trailed 24-21 with three bouts left.

Junior returning state runner-up Anthony Mason followed for Southern at 113 and needed just 62 seconds to win by fall over Riley Correal and give the Rams a 27-24 lead with two bouts left. With Knox waiting in the wings as the closer at 126, Southern absolutely had to win at 120. Easier said than done against Gould.

The two-time state eighth-place finisher built a 6-1 lead with a takedown in the first period and another in the second, then won a great scramble for a reversal in the third to defeat Southern sophomore Cash McVey, 8-3, and tie the match at 27. With the No. 1 wrestler in the nation up next, it was case closed.

“I knew I was going to have to man up and do my part at the end there,” Gould said. “Me and Ant were talking before we went out and we’ve been in these situations so many times before. We just had to go out and wrestle and do what we do best.”

Knox needed just 21 seconds to win by fall and give St. John Vianney another marquee victory.

In the span of six days, St. John Vianney has defeated both Christian Brothers Academy and Southern. The win over CBA was part of the Catholic School Duals so the two rivals will square off again in their division match. A win there would give St. John Vianney a stranglehold on the Shore’s top spot.

“It means a lot but we have our eye on the big prize, a state title,” Gould said. “Delbarton, we know they’re tough and we’re going to have to make some adjustments and come back stronger.”

 

Box Score

No. 1 St. John Vianney 33, No. 3 Southern 27

132: Patrick O’Keefe (SJV) tf. Sam Pari, 4:40 (19-4)

138: Abraham Adu-Amoako (SJV) d. Vincent Esposito, 4-2

144: Jake Zaltsman (SJV) d. Scottie Sari, 5-1

150: Dezmond Lenaghan (SJV) d. Attila Vigilante, 7-2

157: Wyatt Stout (S) d. Bubba Gavrish, 1-0

165: Cole Stangle (SJV) md. Noah Fontana, 15-5

175: Hayden Hochstrasser (S) d. John Saraiva, 7-2

190: Nicholas Daddona (S) p. Jaden Pierce, 1:40

215: Levi Foote (S) p. Thomas Foley, 4:41

285: Rocco Dellagata (SJV) by forfeit

106: Cade Collins (S) d. Julian Zargo, 5-0

113: Anthony Mason (S) p. Riley Correal, 1:02

120: Matt Gould (SJV) d. Cash McVey, 8-3

126: Anthony Knox (SJV) p. Hunter Borer, 0:21