Twp. wrestling primed to have a big season
Coach feels this is his best team in many years
BY WAYNE WITKOWSKI Staff Writer
John Battista, who moved down a weight class for Brick Township's wrestling team, is eager for a shot at returning to the NJSIAA Tournament as a senior this year.

"I like this weight class better. I'm not the tallest guy in the world," joked the 5- feet, 10-inch Battista, who moves down to 189 pounds from 215 pounds where the defending District 23 champion finished 33-5. He was third in Region VI and then won one of his three state championship bouts.

Battista said he "worked on my offense a little bit" over the summer when he did some serious training for the Shore Thing wrestling club. "I want to come in the top eight this year," said Battista.

And he is a part of a team that coach Matt Opacity said is "the best team in my four years. It's a pretty well balanced team and the most depth we've had. We have a large number of student-athletes out and returning athletes."

Last year's team finished an impressive 12-9 in the fiercely competitive Shore Conference A South, a conference regarded in recent years as one of the best in the state.

"I agree 100 percent with what coach Opacity said," Battista commented on the team looming as the strongest under Opacity. "We just can't take any days off. We have to keep working hard."

Although many returnees carry valuable experience, only four others had winning seasons last year, including sophomore Corey Rackliffe, who was 15-9 at 103 pounds, senior John Fritzsch, who was 7-6 at 171, junior Kevin Watson, who was 15- 12 with nine pins at 189 and junior Kevin Johnson, who was 12-3 at 140. Ray Johnson, Kevin's older brother, also carries a lot of hopes for the team for his senior season as he comes off a 7-11 campaign in the fiercely contested 160-pound class.

They will be the nucleus that Opacity's veteran coaching staff of assistants Mike Berardinelli and Dennis Hill will mold to make up for the loss of graduated standouts Joe Lindenbaum, Matt Murin and Kevin Senkarik, a district runnerup to Brick Memorial's Don Miller.

"We got a lot of experience on the varsity level, even though they were freshmen and sophomores last year," said Opacity.

And he has another bright freshman prospect he can add to the battle-tested mix in Connor Brennan, who can wrestle at either 119 or 125 pounds. His brother

- Dan - was 10-13 as a freshman last year. Dan wrestles at 145 pounds.

They're preparing hard for next Saturday's opener - the Colt Classic at Christian Brothers Academy. They'll compete in the Hawk Classic at Manchester on Dec. 28.

Although they'll be hard-pressed to dethrone two-time defending district champion Brick Memorial, which also is

loaded with experience, there's enough talent to point toward hitting double-figures in the win column in dual meets again. Certainly, there is proven skill on both ends of the lineup.

Mike Brancaccio was 12-13 as a freshman at 112 pounds and senior Alex Gori, out for the team for the first time last season, won nine of 22 bouts at 119.

Mike Triano, a junior, was 13-16 with 10 pins at 112 last winter and can go to 119. Two seniors tackle the next weight classes - Geoff Miller was 3-8 at 130 and Nick Iacoves went 10-18 at 135 last year. Matt Firreno, a junior, was 6-7. He can compete at 145 or 152. Matt Cuccinello, a senior, was 6-13 last year and looks sharp at 152. Matt Bartolotti will look to surpass the six wins he had last season (with 11 losses) as the heavyweight.

Opacity hopes others on the team follow the lead of Battista, who he said "looks the best so far." And coming off the season he had last season, who could dispute that?