Wall upsets Ocean 32-24 and advances to finals

By Walter J. O’Neill, Jr.

Justin Penta (top) is the 113-pound wrestler from Ocean Township who took the 3-0 decision over Omar Carrillo of Wall Township.

Ocean Township High School had the second seed in the NJSIAA Central Jersey, Group 2 team wresting tournament. With that ranking, they hosted the quarterfinals and semifinals with four of the eight schools in that group. The other four schools were over at top seed Rumson-Fair Haven for those quarters and semifinals.

Twenty minutes after third seed beat sixth seed Raritan in Ocean Township for that quarterfinal match, they caught the end of the Spartans beating seventh seed Manasquan. That set up the semifinal between the Crimson Knights and Spartans of Ocean Township.

Both programs have a long history of producing great teams and strong individual wrestlers. This season is reminiscent of those glory days for each school. Ocean entered the match with a 17-3 record and are 2-2 in the Shore Conference B division, while Wall came into the semifinals with a 16-4 overall record and are 2-2 in the C division.

Ocean is unique as they have two sets of brothers making up five of the 14 wrestlers on varsity. Dominic, Michael and Jake Volek are the brothers that wrestle between 138 to 157 pounds for the Spartans. Then there’s Daniel Farina at 215 pounds and his little brother Justin at 132 pounds. And at 106 pounds is Michael Apicelli, who is related to head coach Cippy Apicelli.

Wall Township is also unique this season. Out of their 14 wrestlers in the team tournament, two were freshman, four were sophomores, three juniors and five seniors. Both Wall and Ocean have very strong youth programs with athletes making big contributions during their first years of high school.

Starting weight was 144 pounds where Ocean sent out Dominic Volek. He scored an easy 19-4 technical fall win over Joseph Marti.

During the 150-pound match Ocean had Michael Volek on the mat against Michael Boulard of Wall. Volek, who is called “Boomer” by his teammates, is a two-time Regional 6 finisher and looked to be in control with a 4-0 lead with just seconds remaining in the second period. However, he was too high on Boulard who was able to escape and turn Volek to get the pin. That was a huge momentum swing for the Knights.

Up next was the third Volek brother Jake, facing Parker Quinn of Wall at 157 pounds. This was a battle, but unfortunately for Volek, he lost 7-0. And Wall was increasing their lead.

The fourth match of the night was at 165 pounds. Wall had Jeremy Marsella getting a pin victory over Jevante Pinnock.

Going into the 175 pound match, Wall Township was up 15 to 5 on the Spartans. Ocean won the next three consecutive matches. Josh Calixte scored a 5-4 decision over Joe Donofrio of Wall at 175. Nicholas Allen then took a technical fall 18-2 win over Christopher Solano of Wall at 190 pounds. Then big Dan Farina had to use all three periods to earn the 5-2 win at 215 pounds over Sean Cosme of Wall.

Ocean was now down 15-11 entering the 285-pound heavy weight match. For the Spartans it was Abimael Andre who started fast and strong. But over the six minutes of the match Eric Clauburg had more energy and captured the 7-4 decision.

Wall took the 106-pound match with Bryson Jarosz getting a 7-2 decision on Apicelli. With five matches left, Ocean needed to get some much needed points.

Justin Penta, 113-pound wrestler from Ocean Township, had an exciting match with Omar Carrillo from Wall. When the third period ended, Penta had a 3-0 decision.

Wall Township took the 120-pound bout with Charles Mahoney beating Christopher Tenas 6-1.

Ocean picked up the much needed points for a pin victory at 126 pounds. That’s when Steven Perez put Lucas Silvestri on his back. Now there were only two matches left.

Wall jumped out to a 29-24 lead after Ben Waitzel scored a 19-4 technical fall win over Alex Falco of Ocean. The match and trip to the finals came down to the 138-pound match.

The last match of the night had Mason DiStefano of Wall Township taking an 11-7 victory at 138 pounds over sophomore Justin Farina. That victory propelled Wall into the finals on Wednesday night, where they will travel and face defending state champions, Rumson-Fair Haven.

Bulldogs of RFH are the top seed in the Central Jersey, Group 2 bracket and ranked fifth overall in the state. They currently hold a 25-1 overall record. They hosted the other half of the bracket on Monday night, where they crushed Delran, the eighth seed, 60-14 in the quarterfinals. That setup a semifinal match with fourth seed Point Pleasant Boro, which Rumson-Fair Haven won 46-22.

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