Brick Memorial's Moore Finishes on a Positive Note

It was a positive ending to a long season for Brick Memorial’s Matt Moore.

The junior, who missed all of December and half of January thanks to a broken collarbone, finished off his trip to the NJSIAA Individual Wrestling Championships in Atlantic City with a 3-0 decision over Nicholas Gaeta of Nutley to take seventh place at the 195-pound weight class.

“It feels good after being out with an injury early in the season,” said Moore, who missed all of December and half of January with a broken collarbone. “It’s great to get something out of the season.”

Moore returned to action for the Mustangs in a dual meet against Toms River North on Jan. 18, pinning his opponent. He recorded a pin and a decision in his next two bouts before Brick Memorial started its run through the Shore Conference Tournament and the state team tournament. Moore played a key role in the SCT championship victory over Howell, winning by major decision to put the match out of reach, and had a key pin when the Mustangs beat Southern Regional in the Group IV semifinals.

“It felt great to contribute to the team,” he said, but he looks forward to next year, when he hopes to get back to Atlantic City.

‘”After wrestling the first two days I was pretty beat up and tired, so it was great to end with a win,” said Moore, who finished 20-4 for the season.

Moore’s teammate, sophomore Joe Ghione, didn’t fare as well, falling to Joe Trovato of Paramus in a 1-0 decision at 106 to finish sixth for the second year in a row. Trovato scored on an escape in the second period and controlled Ghione, the Region VI champion, the rest of the way.

Senior Evan Berti (145) won his preliminary round bout on Friday night, beating Christian Stackhouse of Riverside 5-3, but lost in the prequarterfinals to Corey Stasenko of South Plainfield, 7-4. He was knocked out of the tournament Saturday morning.

Juniors  Anthony Miller (182) and Tyler Richardson (170) both were eliminated on Friday night.

In other results:

Toms River South’s BJ Clagon became the first Toms River South champion since 1984 when he pinned South Plainfield’s Tyler Hunt in 1:37 to win the title at 138 pounds.

“This is unbelieveable,” said Clagon, a junior who finished the season 41-0 and was voted the outstanding wrestler of the championships. “It’s everything I’ve worked for since I was a little kid.”

Clagon’s teammate, Ken Theobold, was pinned in 54 seconds by Alexander Richardson of St. Peter’s Prep in the 145-pound final when Richardson caught him in a cradle.

While finishing as runner-up was a disappointment for Theobold after he upset T.J. Miller of Camden Catholic in the semifinals on Saturday, the Indians’ senior acknowledged that finishing as a state runner-up was an accomplishment.

“I made it to the state finals, which not a lot of people can say,” Theobold said.

Lacey’s Lex Knapp, the school’s first state finalist since 1997, lost to Brandon Hull of Phillipsburg, 7-2, in the title bout at 220 pounds.

Toms River South’s Kevin Corrigan, the Indians’ third wrestler in Atlantic City, finished his trip with a 9-1 major decision over Christian Innarella of Delbarton during Sunday mornings consolation finals to take fifth place at 113 pound..

Toms River East’s Richard Lewis beat Manchester’s Jesse Meaney in the fifth-place bout at 132 pounds, 5-4, when Meaney was issued a stalling warning with 14 seconds left and then penalized for stalling seven seconds later to break a 4-4.

Lewis, who had been wrestling from the bottom the entire third period, had nearly escaped several times and felt confident he was going to escape for the victory anyway.

Central Regional’s Jalen Ramos finished eighth at 126 pounds after he was pinned by Nick Anderon of Delbarton at the 3:23 mark.