Brick Wrestlers See Mixed Results On First Night of State Championships

It was a busy night for the wrestlers from Brick Township and Brick Memorial High Schools on Friday when the state wrestling finals opened in Atlantic City. 

One wrestler from each high school advanced into Saturday's action while one saw his season come to an end. 

Wrestling at 152 pounds Conor Brennan of the Dragons was on the mat after earning a first round bye as the Region 6 Champion. In his pre-quarterfinal match, Brennan faced Francisco Colom from St. Peters Preperatory. 

Brennan had no problem taking on his opponent and advanced to the quarterfinals with a 9-4 win. He will start his day on Saturday with a match against Kenny Emmons of Pennsville. Emmons finished second in Region 8 and has a 36-5 record so far this season.

Also moving on to Saturday's action was Brick Memorial's Joseph Ghione at 103. After taking third at the region tournament last weekend, Ghione faced two tough opponents and did not flinch to keep his rookie season alive. 

Ghione started his night against Matt Coons, a junior from Woodbridge. Coming out of Region five, Coons had finished second, but Ghione was able to squeak out a 4-3 win. That set up a pre-quarterfinal match against Mike Kalimtzis of Westfield. 

Once again the Mustang wrestler found himself in a hard fought battle, and once again he prevailed with a 6-4 overtime victory. 

Ghione's teammate Evan Berti also took third at the Region Six Tournament, as he earned his trip to Atlantic City in the 140 weight class. As a junior he still has a chance to return to Boardwalk Hall next season, but on Friday night his year came to an end with a 10-3 loss to Travis McDowell of Delran. 

Check out the Brick Patch tomorrow for more live coverage from Boardwalk Hall as the local wrestlers compete for a spot on the medal stand.