Mat Rats finish second at League Championships

Brick Recreation Mat Rats I finished second in the Jersey Shore Junior League championships for the second straight year to three-time champion Jackson on Saturday at Jackson but still has plenty of fond memories.

"The kids again stepped it up," said Mat Rats coach Joe Favia.

"I'm always proud of our wrestlers," said Pete Anderson, who coaches the Mat Rats II team and helped on Saturday. "This year it was great wrestling with all these kids and two-thirds of them will be returning for next season so we'll be competitive for the next couple of years. We saw some kids come into their own with certain moves polished up."

TheMat Rats I won their semifinal, 59- 32, over Toms River and then lost to Jackson, 56-28. It was the most points Jackson yielded all year. Jackson had allowed only 74 points all season prior to that bout.

BrickMat Rats I had finished second to Jackson for the second straight year during the regular season, but they did not face each other when Jackson was unable to make an early season matchup between the two teams.

In the semifinals, Mat Rats opened up an 11-6 lead by winning five straight bouts. DanWatson at 140 pounds sealed it with a pin early in the second period for a 50-32 lead. In that five-bout stretch, Conner Mulligan at 68 pounds and Dean Sherry at 80 pinned their opponents and Joe Ghione at 72 won a major decision. Later in the contest, Anthony Maimone (90) won a major decision and Brendan Dowd (107) pinned his opponent. For Dowd, it is his first season of competitive wrestling.

Against Jackson, Mat Rats I fell behind, 44-10, before chipping away at the lead belatedly as Chris Jarvie pinned his opponent at 130 pounds,Watson won a decision at140 and heavyweight Jesse Lyon decisioned his opponent. Joe Ghione pinned his opponent at 72 pounds while Sherry and Maimone lost close decisions after losing decisively to those same opponents the previous weekend in the Jersey Shore Junior League's individual championships.

"What I like is how in those upper weights, the guys didn't give up even though the match was pretty much decided," said Favia.

Jackson took a 16-10 lead and then reeled off eight straight victories en route to its big lead.

Giovanni Ghione closed the season with a pin against Toms River and amajor decision against his Jackson opponent. It was only the third time all season that Ghione allowed points to his opponent, a total of six over an unbeaten season. His brother - Joe - had a pin and major decision. Lyon also finished unbeaten after he won his two bouts via pin and decision. Watson and Vin Favia at 122 also won both of their bouts.

But the season is not over for many wrestlers in the program. Some, including Vin Favia and Lyon, are competing in the state championships next month while others onMat Rats III are participating in the Barnegat Bay League individual tournament at Central Regional on March 2.