A valiant bid to win a state wrestling championship for Bridgewater-Raritan High School junior Trent Levash came to an end on Friday afternoon.
Woodstown High School senior heavyweight Mateo Vinciguerra, the No. 2 seed, opened his bout against the seventh-seeded Levash with a quick takedown as part of a dominating first period, which ended with a two-point near-fall and a five-point lead. Vinciguerra then launched the second period with an emphatic takedown before pinning his way into the semifinals in 2:16 at the State tournament on Friday, March 13, at Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City.
Despite his loss, Levash can still stand on the podium with a victory next in the fourth round of wrestlebacks against senior Jason Gross, the No. 12 seed from Saint Joseph Regional High School in Metuchen.
After winning his first two bouts of wrestlebacks, Bridgewater-Raritan junior Matt McCann, the No. 13 seed at 165 pounds, can also follow suit with a victory against 10th-seeded junior Justin Bullock of Mount Olive High School.
This point in the tournament, known as the blood round, where a loss would completely deny a wrestler a state medal one victory short of the podium, will begin at 6 p.m. Friday, March 13, in Atlantic City.
McCann's path to the blood round was launched in the second round of wrestlebacks Friday morning with a 1-0 victory by decision against 14th-seeded senior Ryan Willi from Middletown High School South.
After a scoreless first period, McCann's escape from the bottom position to open up the second period ended up being the bout's only scoring, but Willi continued to threaten to get on the scoreboard, collect the go-ahead takedown, and even pin McCann multiple times in the third period. Clinging to a 1-0 lead after two periods, McCann was able to keep Willi on the floor for just over the entire first minute of the third period until both wrestlers eventually slid out of play at 5:08.
Willi then managed to counter with multiple takedown and pin attempts, but McCann was able to roll upright and stay off the ground for the entirety of the final 52 seconds to survive and advance courtesy of the bout's lone point.
His next foe was a familiar one in 11th-seeded junior Lukas Katsigiannis of Pope John High School in Sparta, who edged McCann last week in the Region 4 semifinal round, 5-3, before McCann won the rematch on Friday morning when it mattered the most.
McCann and Katsigiannis wrestled to a scoreless tie after one period before McCann opened up the scoring with an escape at 2:17. His takedown at 3:37 then capped off his four-point run to open the second period, but a key escape by Katsigiannis got him back to within a takedown at the end of the second period. Leading 4-1 after two periods, McCann was able to maintain that breathing room until an escape by Katsigiannis drew him to within 4-2 at 5:24. However, McCann was able to hold on for the remainder of the bout to pull off the upset victory by decision, 4-2, and eliminate Katsigiannis from podium contention.
This means two out of Bridgewater-Raritan's three wrestlers who started the weekend in Atlantic City will extend their seasons until at least Friday night, but 113-pound senior Andrew Adell did not go down without a fight.
Despite a valiant fight by the 28th-seeded Adell against Bergen Catholic High School freshman Anthony Riotto, the No. 6 seed, Adell was eliminated in the second round of wrestlebacks after Riotto's 9-2 victory.
Riotto broke a scoreless tie before the first period horn at 1:52, when he collected the go-ahead takedown and remained ahead for good. Two more takedowns at 2:47 and 3:00 resulted in the only other damage, as Adell made Riotto work for all six minutes of what proved to be his final bout as a Bridgewater-Raritan High School wrestler. Neither wrestler scored in the final period before Riotto eventually ran out the clock, and Riotto can clinch a podium spot later Friday night with a blood-round victory against Lower Cape May High School's eighth-seeded Tristian Rosemeyer.