Ridgewood Wrestlers Beat Tough Teaneck Squad

TEANECK—The Highwaymen had home field advantage, but Ridgewood claimed the Teaneck gym as its own last night, dominating the entire match, leading in team points from the opening match at 125 pounds to the final match at 119 pounds.

Coach Torre Watson explained that "This is a very tough week for us, we had a good practice Monday and North Bergen on Tuesday. Unfortunately we ended up losing last night to a very tough North Bergen team. I told the team the best way to bounce back from a tough loss is to get a win."

The Maroons responded.

After seven matches the score was 28-6. Teaneck came back within seven points of tying, but heavyweight Jimmy Uzzalino didn't allow a comeback, quickly deflating whatever hope Teaneck had with a 41-second pin. The remaining matches were won by Ridgewood making the final score 50-21. 

Two matches stood out as real battles, coming down to the last few seconds to decide the victor.

The 140-pound class was a true battle of wills. Ridgewood's Justin Gramaglia was on the defense the entire match, but the carelessness of Teaneck's Oluwadamilarie Ayorinde allowed Gramaglia to stay in contention. He gave away four penalty points for clasping while attempting to bring Gramaglia to the mat.

With 40 seconds to go in the final period the score was seven to seven, in neutral position. The first one to score a take down would win. Teaneck' Ayorinde wanted it more. He hit Gramaglia with a double leg take down and swung around to assert control with 10 seconds left, winning the match, 9-7.

The evening's second grueling match was at the 171-pound weight class. It was the second time Ridgewood's Zack Boswick wrestled Teaneck's Nat Leer. Last year Leer came away with an 11-8 victory. Boswick was hoping to defeat him the second time around.

A sole takedown by Leer was first period's only score. The second period began with Boswick on bottom. Leer scored an additional two points by putting Boswick on his back for a two count. In the final period Leer put Boswick in a position he could not escape, pinning him with 31-seconds remaining in the match.

It was a tough loss for a young wrestler, but Boswick fought Leer with all he had, putting meaning to the cliché phrase, "leave it all out on the field."

Watson said after the match, "There are victories in losses." It should be noted that Leer won sixth place in the BCCA tournament.

The Maroons prevailed against a tough Teaneck team, and as Watson said, "This sport, unlike any other sport, exposes your weaknesses and highlights your strengths." The men of the Ridgewood wrestling team exhibited true strength against Teaneck.

Team Score: Ridgewood 50 Teaneck 21

125: Brandon Giovanetti (Ridgewood) over Jarod Gulgieri (Teaneck): Pin in 3:40

130: Ryan Giovanetti (R) over Michael Senchi (T): Pin 3:24

135: Brandon Sananbria (T) over Jason Gibson: Minor 6-5

140: Oluwadamilarie Ayorinde (T) over Justin Gramaglia: Minor 9-7

145: Teaneck FORFEIT

152: Bobby Franklin (R) over Khamesher Smith (T): Major 10-1

160: Teaneck FORFEIT

171: Nat Leer (T) over Zack Boswick: Pin 5:29

189: Zack Preschel (T) over Gordon Ruffing: Minor 4-2

215: Michael Abatayo (T) over Ari Speteris: Pin 5:29

Heavyweight: Jimmy Uzzalino (R) over Isaiah Pickens (T): Pin 0:41

103: Will Montgomery (R) over Ammani Pittman (T): Pin 0:56

112: Teaneck FORFEIT

119: Sam Meyer (R) over Josh Lewis (T): Major 9-0