Maroon Wrestling Launches Tonight

The grueling part is just about over.

With its season opener tonight verse Manchester Regional, the Ridgewood High School wrestling team transitions from its taxing preseason regime to the "ebb and flow" of regular season competition.

"Training really is a bear. It's the toughest out of any scholastic sport," head coach Torre Watson said. "When we battle day in and day out, it becomes tedious."

However, the training's paid off, as Watson is "excited" for the season. "We've worked hard. They've been consistent, which helps," he said.

A strength for Ridgewood, nine of the 14 weight classes will be filled with experienced wrestlers, Watson said.

"We have a handful of kids who've been around for a few years."

Watson pointed to seniors Jimmy Vezalino, Andrew Gramaglia, Ryan Giovanetti, Sam Pietrantuono and Bob Franklin as experience veterans. He also spotlighted seniors Christian Rota and Zach Marchlik.

As for juniors, Kyle Gibson, Gordon Ruffin, and Pat Mooney return for their third season with the team. Sophomore Brandon Giovanetti, Ryan's brother, competed last year, as well.

In his fourth year as head coach, Watson's has watched the seniors come full circle.

"A father of one of the boys said to me last night, 'You're a senior, too," Watson said. "This is my first class through as head coach."

Watson has been with the program for nine years total and also is an assistant coach for the football team.

"The staff I have I'm very happy with," Watson said. "These are very high character guys, which is a positive. They mesh with the kids, and the team is flourishing."

Most of his staff has a background in wrestling, he said.

With numerous matches a week, Watson said nothing really jumps as more important than other ones.

"We don't have too many matches where they don't mean anything," he said, noting most are conference, state sectionals, or district matches. He is excited for both the back-to-back Don Bosco (Dec. 22) and Garfield (Dec. 23) contests.

A typical week for the team consists of Monday and Tuesday practices, a Wednesday match, a Thursday practice, and a Friday or Saturday match.

"I like to look at it like a baseball pitcher: you need to have a short memory," Watson said. "If you do well, excellent, but you have to get up again for the next day."

Conversely, unlike football player who must wait a week to avenge a poor performance, wrestlers can "turn around and battle again" shortly after, Watson said.

He's not the only one ready to battle.

"My mom's pretty excited. She's a classic mom, and doesn't miss to many matches," he said.

Watson wants people to come out and "experience" the intense atmosphere created by the wrestling gym's rock climbing wall.

"When people walk by the 'cave', they usually stop for a while," he said.

Ridgewood hosts Manchester tonight at 7 p.m. at the high school. The team travels for tournament action in Mahwah Dec. 19 at 8 a.m.