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MK's Rosenberg, Ramadan 3rd at Region 1
to qualify for state tournament in Atlantic City
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DENVILLE - The limo is ready ... Rosenberg and Ramadan are back in the room ... and McKowen is telling the both of them about that bagel and HUGE piece of crumb cake he had for breakfast on Tuesday.
To explain:
The limo has been Morris Knolls High School wrestling coach Larry Rizzo’s ride to Atlantic City for all 14 state qualifiers he has had in his seven years at Knolls. And not to worry taxpayers, the Booster Club picks up the tab.
Morris Knolls' 103-pounder Jan Rosenberg and 119-pounder Adam Ramadan became Rizzo’s 13th and 14th qualifiers when they placed third in their respective weight classes at the Region 1 Wrestling Tournament that ended Monday, March 1, at Wallkill Valley High School.
Their third-place finishes enabled them to qualify for the NJSIAA’s State Wrestling Tournament in Atlantic City that starts Friday, March 5, and runs through Sunday, March 7.
Steve McKowen, the Eagles' 125-pounder, placed fourth at the Region 1 tourney and failed to qualify ... but he’ll be joining his two teammates in the limo when they take the trip to Atlantic City later this week.
And, if Rosenberg or Ramadan or both of them come back with a medal, McKowen can take pride in his role in the success because he and Ramadan have been workout partners all season and McKowen will continue to train with them both this week.
He’ll be a little heavier than his usual wrestling weight, however ... all because of that bagel and that HUGE piece of crumb cake he feasted on Tuesday morning on the way to school.
Rosenberg, a sophomore who was top-seeded at 103 for the Regions, earned his trip to Aycee with a 5-4 victory over No. 2 seed Joe Cruz of Hopatcong in the consolation bout for third/fourth place.
Rosenberg, who beat Cruz, 3-1, for the District 2 title after losing to him in the regular season, got two first-period takedowns and took a 4-1 lead into the final period where, according to Morris Knolls coach Larry Rizzo, "... he got a little too conservative and took three stalling calls resulting in two penalty points for Cruz - not exactly how I like to see it go."
It was not the way the Hopatcong fans wanted to see it go, either, as they in turn heckled Rosenberg and got on the officials to hit Rosenberg with yet another stalling call.
"The Hopatcong fans are very knowledgeable and they expect to see the wrestlers go good and hard for six minutes," Rizzo said. "Jan did pick it up, however, and was able to hold off Cruz for the rest of the bout."
It's hard to blame Rosenberg for being cautious, however, since he was very disappointed when he lost a 3-2 decision to Tyler Kozimor of Hackettstown in Sunday’s semifinals, a wrestler he had beaten twice before this season.
Rosenberg will take a 33-6 record into state competition.
Ramadan, a senior and the No. 3 seed at 119, advanced when top-seed William Gould of High Point stopped wrestling with the score 7-2 in Ramadan’s favor early in the third period. After waiting a few minutes, it was determined Gould could not continue to wrestle and Ramadan was awarded the bout on an injury default.
"I was told that Gould had difficulty breathing and had blacked out," Rizzo explained. "Unfortunately for him, he could not continue ... but I don’t want people to think that Adam won because the boy got hurt ... Adam had a 7-2 lead and was in control of the match at the time it was halted.
"It was difficult on Adam, though, because he couldn’t allow himself to feel happy when the bout was stopped ... he had just beat the top-seed and he couldn’t celebrate.
"Adam's win ranks right up there as far as bright spots in my coaching career ... it's close with David Arbeleaz' victory in 2007. Adam is a great student and person and he deserves this victory."
Ramadan, a senior, hopes to improve upon his season record of 31-7 at Atlantic City.
McKowen, the No. 7 seed at 125, was beaten twice by No. 2 seed Garrett Scrivani of Kittatinny at Wallkill, the first time was a pin in the quarterfinals and the second time was in Monday’s consolation bout, a 15-2 major decision that ended McKowen's fine season with a final record of 33-6.
"Somebody asked me if I was disappointed that we didn’t come out of the last two days of the Regions with all three of our wrestlers moving to Atlantic City," Rizzo said. "Honestly now, how can I be disappointed with the season Steve McKowen just had and the fact he finished fourth in the regions.
"It's the same with Luke Homeijer at 171 ... he was working out and injured his shoulder after he had won his preliminary bout on Tuesday. He couldn't continue and had to forfeit his quarterfinal bout. A tough break, sure, but he, too, had a great season."
Rizzo said the toughness of the region plus the way the schedule had to be changed because of the weather took its toll on all the wrestlers.
"Now, I don’t want to say our region is better than others, but I think we have the most depth in all our weight classes," Rizzo explained. "I don’t think you can say the same thing about Regions 2, 3 and 4 ... and that makes a big difference.
"Because of the snow and the two extra practice days (Friday and Saturday), Sunday was a gruelling day. Monday was bad because the kids had to go through a whole day of school before going out to wrestle their most important match of the season to date.
"Wrestling three tough matches Sunday takes a lot out of you physically and all the waiting around between bouts takes it out of you mentally. Wallkill has two mats, which means there is a lot more waiting for the kids, too ... that's where the mental toughness comes in.
"Everything considered, it was a tough tournament for all the wrestlers ... that's why I'm so proud of my kids for all that they accomplished."
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Second-Round Wrestlebacks -- Sunday, Feb. 28
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109 - Jan Rosenberg, Morris Knolls, def. Johnny Walker, Mendham, 6-5 (3 OTs)
No. 1-seed Rosenberg's win sets up a rematch of the District 2 title match won by Rosenberg over Hopoatcong's Joe Cruz, the No. 2 seed here who beat Lenape Valley's No. 4 seed Matt Benvenuto, 13-3, to reach the 3-4 consolation. Rosenberg beat Cruz for the district title, but this time, the winner moves on to Atlantic City and the loser's season ends.
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119 - Adam Ramadan, Morris Knolls, dec. Jeff Nichols of Wayne Valley, 5-3 (OT)
No. 3 seed Ramadan faces top-seed William Gould of High Point, who was upset in the semifinals, in Monday's battle for the third and final qualifying spot in the weight class. While Ramdan was edging No. 8 seed Jeff Nichols of Wayne Valley, Gould beat No. 6 Derek Conrad of Kittatinny, 10-7.
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125 - Steve McKowen, Morris Knolls, pinned R.J. DeGeorge, Pequannock, 0:52
McKowen, the No. 7 seed, got his second quick pin of the tournament when he put away No. 4 seed R.J. DeGeorge in less than a minute. McKowen got a 26-second pin win in the prelims. McKowen next faces No. 2 seed Garrett Scrivani of Kittatinny in the consolation bout for third place. Scrivani survived No. 5 Chris Benvenuto of Lenape Valley, 9-8, to get there.
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145 - Rob Smith, Randolph, pinned Cody Sternlicht, Morris Hills, 5:05
Sternlicht, the No. 5 seed, was stopped by the No. 3 seeded Smith, who now gets Oliver Brukardt of Phillipsburg in the third-fourth consolation bout. Brukardt is the No. 1 seed who was upset in the semifinals and won his wrestleback over No. 7 seed Rajonie Hammond o DePaul with a 1:15 pin.
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Hwt. - Peter Wolmart, Randolph, pinned Brian Grise, Morris Hills, 2:19
Grise, the No. 5 seed, got caught and pinned by No. 3 seed Wolmart early in the second period. Wolmart now faces No. 4 seed Joe Yarosz of Morris Catholic for third place while No. 2 seed Jonathan Slack and No. 7 Ryan Fazzi of P-burg battle for the title.
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First Round Wrestlebacks
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125 - Steve McKowen, Morris Knolls, def. Rylan Watson, Phillipsburg, 6-5
No. 7 seed McKowen edges No. 6 seed Watson and will face No. 4 seed R.J. De-George of Pequannock in the second round of the wrestlebacks.
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145 - Cody Sternlicht, Morris Hills, def. Demetrious Rotsides, Roxbury, 3-1
Sternlicht, the No. 5 seed, defeats No. 8 seed Rotsides to move into the second round of the wrestlebacks where he will face No. 3 seed Rob Smith of Randolph.
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160 - Peter Klimek, Kittatinny def. Joey Casale, Morris Hills, 13-7
Casale, the No. 8 seed, bows to Klimik, the No. 5 seed, and is eliminated from further tournament action.
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171 - Kevin Bracken, Lakeland, wins by forfeit over Luke Homeijer, Morris Knolls
According to an e-mail from the site, Homeijer did not wrestle today because he injured his shoulder in a practice session and could not complete. Bracken, the No. 6 seed, moves on to the second round of wrestlebacks.
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Hwt. - Brian Grise, Morris Hills, pins Steve Giraldo, Hackettstown, 6:42 (OT)
Grise, the No. 5 seed, hands the top-seeded Giraldo is second loss of the tournament and will face No. 3 seed Peter Wolmart of Randolph in the second round of the wrestlebacks.
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Semifinals
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103 - Tyler Kozimor, Hackettstown, def. Jan Rosenberg, Morris Knolls, 3-2
Rosenberg and Joe Cruz of Hopatcong, the No. 1-2 seeds in the weight class, are beaten in this round and drop into the consolation-semifinal wrestlebacks. If both win, they will be wrestling each other for third place and the final qualifying spot for Atlantic City.
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119 - Dan Haines, Hopatcong, def. Adam Ramadan, Morris Knolls, 8-5
No. 3 seed Ramadan goes down to the consolation-round semifinals and will have to win two more bouts there to nail down the third and final Atlantic City qualifying spot in his weight class. Haines, the No. 2 seed, will batle No. 5 seed Dylan Thorsen of Belvidere for the championship. Thorsen pinned top-seed William Gould of High Point in their semifinal.
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Quarterfinals
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103 - Jan Rosenberg, Morris Knolls, def. Michael Spadola, Wayne Valley, 9-2
Rosenberg, the No. 1 seed, knocked off No. 8 Spadola and will meet No. 5 seed Tyler Kozimor of Hackettstown in the semifinal round on Monday, March 1. Kozimor beat No. 4 seed Matt Benvenuto of Lenape Valley, 5-3 in overtime. Advancing from the other bracket were No. 3 seed Justin Bellis of High Point and No. 2 seed Joe Cruz of Hopatcong.
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119 - Adam Ramadan, Morris Knolls, def. Derek Conrad, Kittatinny, 2-1
Ramadan, the No. 3 seed, joined his teammate Rosenberg in the semifinls as he defeated No. 6 seed Derek Conrad of Kittatinny, 2-1. Ramadan's semifinal opponent is No. 2 seed Dan Haines of Hopatcong, who beat No. 7 Kevin Antero of Newton, 5-0, in their quarterfinal. Also advancing were top seed William Gould of High Point and No. 5 Dylan Thorsen of Belvidere.
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125 - Garrett Scrivani, Kittatinny, pin Steve McKowen, Morris Knolls, 4:52
McKowen, the No. 7 seed, goes into the wrestlebacks where he will meet No. 6 seed Rylan Watson of Phillipsburg. Scrivani, the No. 2 seed, faces No. 3 seed Zach Dipini of Wallkill Valley in the semifinals. Top seeeded Corey Kozimor of Hackettstown and No. 4 seed R.J. DeGeorge also advanced and meet in the other semifinal.
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145 - Chris Burdge, Kitatinny, pin Cody Sternlicht, Morris Hills, 2:29
Sternlicht, the No. 5 seed, will now face No. 8 seed Demetrious Rotsides of Roxbury in the first round of wrestlebacks. No. 4 seed Burdge goes on to meet top-seed Oliver Brukardt of Phillipsburg in the semifinal round. No. 3 seed Rob Smith of Randolph and No. 2 seed Joseph Gaccione of High Point also advanced to the semifinals.
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160 - Matt Artigliere, Warren Hills, def. Joey Casale, Morris Hills, 13-7
Casale, the No. 8 seed, moves down to the wrestlebacks where he will face No. 5 seed Peter Klimek of Kittatinny. Top-seed Artigliere faces No. 4 Miguel Burgos of Hopatcong while No. 2 seed John Guzzo of High Point and No. 3 seed Evan Bowlby of Wallkill Valle advanced to the other semifinal.
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171 - Michael Amada, Mount Olive, won by forfeit over Luke Homeijer, Morris Knolls
Homeijer, the No. 7 seed, had to forfeit because it was reported he injured a shoujlder during a practice session earlier in the week and was advised not to compete. No. 2 seed Amada faces No. 3 seed John Secor of Pompton Lakes in one semi while top-seed Ryan Callahan of Wallkill Valley faces No. 5 Mike LaBell of Lenape Valley in the other.
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Hwt. - Joe Yarosz, Morris Catholic, def. Brian Grise, Morris Hills, 12-5.
Grise, the No. 5 seed, goes to the wrestlebacks where he will face top-seed Steve Giraldo of Hackettstown, who was upset by No. 8 seed Ryan Fazzi of Phillipsburg, 2-1 in overtime. No. 3 seed Peter Wolmart of Randolph and second-seeded Jonathan Slack of Warren Hills also advaced to the semifinals.
