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PERTH AMBOY – It could be the newest seasonal cross-training craze in wrestling.
“You got to bend at the hips,” Perth Amboy coach Rob Morales said. “Bend at the knees and use your hands and shoulder. That’s a good exercise. It makes you sweat, but hopefully you don’t get hurt.”
Plus, it serves a dual purpose – shoveling.
“Be careful, it’s cold out there,” Morales said with a laugh.
Most area teams were hit with a timeout with no practices last Thursday and Friday because of the snow that cancelled extracurricular activities. Enter the shoveling and whatever exercise that could easily be done at home.
The action resumed over the weekend and some Greater Middlesex Conference stars were on display at Saturday’s annual Joe Dimario Quad, which honors the former Spotswood football and wrestling coach.
Here’s a look at South River’s Kyle Baszak, North Brunswick’s Kenny Abode, J.F. Kennedy’s Aaron Coleman and Perth Amboy’s Joe Pacheco and their respective teams.
South River’s Upperweights Lead The Way
In the marquee match of the day between undefeated wrestlers, South River’s Kyle Baszak dropped to 182 for the first time this season and defeated Abode 7-3.
Rams coach Bobby Young said they’re not sure what weight Baszak (12-0) will wrestle in the GMC Tournament on Jan. 26 and Jan. 27. But things aligned for him to get the tough match. Simply, Baszak had been sick for a couple days and lost a few pounds, meaning that he could easily weigh in at 182. A runny nose is never fun, but that was at least one positive to a stuffed-up week.
The senior mustered enough strength to pull out a tight match, hitting a five-point move off a scramble.
“It was definitely a good challenge,” said Abode, who is now 8-1. “It was a good win for him, definitely. So I give him a lot of respect.”
Area football fans are familiar with Baszak as he helped the Rams go undefeated in the regular season for the first time in 16 years as a receiver/running back and linebacker. Last season on the mat, Baszak finished 30-6 with a District 17 title and a fifth-place finish in the GMCT.
In December, he won the East Brunswick Bear Invitational and placed second in the Edison Classic dropping a 5-4 decision to Arthur Johnson’s Sebastian Iakouchevitch, who went 33-6 last season.
“He’s just an athlete,” Young said. “That’s what he is. He’s a great kid. He comes from a great family. … He’s been working out hard. Putting a lot of time in and it’s showing on the mat. And it showed in football, too.”
He has good company in the wrestling room. Fellow seniors Dan Colon (160) and Brandon Szerszen (182) each won Edison Classic championships, and Mark Pacheco (138) was second.
“They’re really working hard in the room,” Young said. “Getting better every day. Everyone’s feeding off everybody, so it’s good.”
Szerszen, who also plays shortstop for South River’s baseball team, said the upperclassmen have been pushing the newer wrestlers and helping them with technique. Guys like freshman Stephen Baszak (106) and sophomore Issac Cruz (113), who each took third at the Edison Classic, have shown potential.
“The younger guys are looking up to us,” Szerszen said. “So we need to do the right thing. … We push ourselves. We work to get better every day. Kyle and I go at it all the time. At the end of the match, we’re still best buds but we work each other."
Abode Feels Fresher At Higher Weight
Expect North Brunswick’s Abode to be in the mix down the stretch. On Dec. 27, he won the Bear Invitational and was named the Outstanding Wrestler for the upper weights after beating Hopewell Valley’s Maxwell Ronollo 6-4 in the final. He also claimed a Kearny Holiday Tournament title on Dec. 16 and all his other wins have been by pin, technical fall or major decision.
Last season, Abode went 27-5 at 170 with a third-place finish in the GMCT and a fourth-place finish in District 18, losing by a point in the consolation match. That helped fuel him in the offseason and said that he has pretty much “trained non-stop.”
He could have made 170 again this season. But instead cutting a lot of weight, Abode decided to wrestle at the next weight class of 182.
And how does he feel?
“Fresher," Abode said. "Better. Stronger. ... It’s better going up a weight class. I don’t feel as drained. Not as tired. Definitely better for me.”
Abode said he’s stronger than last season and is quicker on his feet as he feels at home at 182.
“I definitely feel like I’m one of the smaller 182s, but with my speed I’m definitely a lot faster,” he said. “So I can outwork a lot of them. They get tired fast. They’re big dudes.”
North Brunswick veteran coach Mark Salge also agreed that the weight class is better for Abode, who’s been setting the pace for the Raiders. Salge noted that, “He’s become a leader this year.”
Other North Brunswick wrestlers off to good starts include Cesar Lopez (132), who won the Kearny Holiday Tournament and took second in the Bear Invitational. Additional Raiders who placed at one or both of the tournaments include Christopher Rodriguez (126), Alexander Angeles (145), Axel Lucero (152), Armando Hernandez (160) and John Helstowski (220).
JFK’s Coleman Strives To Improve
Saturday, J.F. Kennedy 138-pounder Aaron Coleman earned two wins to give him 99 in his career. But the senior sat out a match. One of the reasons was to make sure he doesn’t surpass the match limit a wrestler can have. Another – perhaps more important – reason was because his mother couldn’t attend the quad, and naturally she wants to be in attendance for the milestone.
Coleman, who committed to NCAA Division I Bloomsburg (Pa.) in December, has had much success through the years. He’s a two-time GMC and a two-time district champ. Besides training and wrestling year-round, Coleman isn’t afraid to seek out the best competition. For example, at the Laker Holiday Tournament on Dec. 29, he went up to 145 pounds “just to get the better and stronger guy.” He beat Hanover Park’s Sean Conley 3-1 in sudden victory. Conley was a District 11 champ and Region II runner-up last season at 138.
“I just want to improve,” said Coleman whose sophomore brother Ian is on the team. “So if I have to go up to wrestle the stronger guy, better guy, I’ll go up and wrestle him.”
On Dec. 16 and Dec. 17, he went 3-2 at the prestigious Beast of the East at the University of Delaware.
“He has a really great attitude about wins and losses,” Mustangs coach Nick Cilento said. “He’s not necessarily worried about wins all the time. Although he does care about wins, but he wants to improve. He looks at it like, I’m better off losing and getting better – that gets me closer to my goal then winning and not wrestling as well. And that’s a great mentality to have in a wrestler. He definitely gets the big picture and that, of course, comes from his parents. He was always like that, even since he was a freshman. His parents are really involved. His father Pete was a wrestler so he really gets the sport and understands it.”
Pacheco's A Pound For Pound Contender
Perth Amboy’s Joe Pacheco was likely one of the strongest pound-for-pound wrestlers at Saturday’s quad. He got a pin at 113 pounds in 33 seconds and received two forfeit wins.
“He’s got man strength,” Perth Amboy coach Rob Morales “Let me tell you.”
Morales said the senior regularly competes in practice – and holds his own – against 126- and 132-pounders. Last Wednesday against South Brunswick, he weighed in at 106 pounds for the first time this season. He intends to wrestle at that weight in the championship tournaments. At 113, Pacheco (10-1) won a Bear Invitational title and took fifth at the Morris Knolls Tournament.
Last winter, he went 29-7 and was a runner-up at 106 at the GMCT, District 20 and Region V, dropping decisions in each of the finals. Morales said he’s been trying to get Pacheco to use his strength more during matches and to "let loose."
“It’s something we’ve been working on for the last three years and hopefully it’s clicking,” said Morales, adding that Pacheco loves working out with his teammates. “He’s having fun. He loves the team.”
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