New Year, New Expectations: Giovanetti Ready to Wrestle in AC

Last season was a tremendous disappointment for Ridgewood's wrestling star Brandon Giovanetti. He had to settle in the fifth and sixth slot at the 119 lbs. grouping in the state individual regions. He says things will unfold differently this year.

The top three wrestlers in each weight class make the state finals in Atlantic City so at that point he was just wrestling for pride.

Moving up to 130 this season, Giovanetti would not settle anything less than a trip to Atlantic City, this time as a participant as opposed to a mere spectator. And he was able to punch that ticket on Saturday as the Maroons junior wrestler grabbed third place at 130 pounds at Region 2 at Hackensack High School.

In the battle for the last spot to Atlantic City, the Ridgewood wrestler defeated one of last year's foes, one he fell to – Paramus' Joe Rizzitello. It took overtime but Giovanetti won 3-1 and is Atlantic City bound this week.

"The key to Brandon’s success will be him being aggressive and getting to his offense first in his matches," said head coach Torre Watson. "Brandon is wrestling very well right now and when he is aggressive and takes it to his opponents for three periods we believe he can wrestle with anyone left in his bracket."

Before taking third place in the regions, Giovanetti lost a tough match to Glen Rock/Saddle Brook's Matt Jacobson, 2-1, in the semifinals. Jacobson would go on and win the Region 2 title.

This battle with Jacobson continued the tango between the two wrestlers.
Giovanetti had defeated Jacobson in the District finals and it came with a rare pin in overtime. "He tried to grab me around my waist," said Giovanetti, recounting the district battle. "I was able to get his head and put him on his back."

With the overtime pin, Giovanetti was named the Most Outstanding Wrestler at the district meet in Fair Lawn.

The win at the districts avenged a 7-2 loss to Jacobson at the Bergen County Tournament back in December. He was disappointed with his sixth place finish in the Bergen County Tournament. The poor performance just gave him added incentive since that point in the season, he said.

"I have improved a lot since then," said Giovanetti of the loss in December.

Giovanetti's strength, Watson added, is in the neutral position. "Brandon is a very skilled wrestler in all areas but he is probably most effective from the neutral position." 

"He is a strong wrestler and very quick as well. He has a very nice shot and had done a great job this season on seeing the window of opportunity to score on his opponents and taking advantage of this small window as much as possible."

For Giovanetti he will make the most of his trip to Atlantic City this weekend.