In battle of top heavyweights, Jimmy Mullen takes out Max Acciardi in Bergen County finals
HACKENSACK — For any wrestler standing at the sport’s summit, they’re well aware that they’re constantly being targeted by the chasing pack.
And for St. Joseph junior Jimmy Mullen, there’s only room for one at the top.
Mullen, the state’s top-ranked heavyweight, claimed his second county title on Sunday, defeating second-ranked Max Acciardi of Paramus Catholic at the 61st BCCA Wrestling Tournament at Hackensack High School.
The longtime rivals entered the weekend ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in the state at 285 pounds, with Mullen maintaining the top position since winning a NJSIAA title as a freshman in 2020.
“Winning this tournament means just as much to me as any other tournament I’ve competed in. I have a lot of hometown family around here that came out to support me today,” said Mullen, a Kearny resident. “All of my St. Joseph family is in the stands today and you can hear them when they call my name. People that live next door to me or towns over from me came here to watch me wrestle. It means a lot.”
Mullen went 4-0 on the day with two wins by fall. He scored a 7-2 decision over Dominick Brogna of Bergen Catholic in the semifinals and defeated Acciardi, 8-2 in the final.
Mullen estimates that he’s competed against Acciardi 10 or so times before high school. The two have a storied and familiar rivalry that goes back to the early days of grade school and has evolved over time.
But prior to this weekend, Mullen and Acciardi have only faced off once before in high school, in a dual match when they were freshmen two years ago. They were expected to meet on Thursday when St. Joseph and Paramus Catholic met in a scheduled dual match in Paramus, but the highly-anticipated encounter never happened as the Green Knights rolled to a convincing 50-22 victory.
“I really don’t care what everyone was posting about and how they thought I ducked him and stuff. I had to do what I had to do. Instead of wrestling him on Thursday, I wrestled him on Sunday. Four days isn’t going to make a difference about who gets better in four days,” said Mullen, who is undefeated against New Jersey competition in his career. “I waited for my time in the finals and I’ll leave it there. There’s other kids in this weight bracket that I also have to think about. I have to worry about the whole state. There’s a lot of kids in New Jersey that are tough.”
In the finals, Mullen scored all of his points on takedowns and held a 4-1 lead heading into the third before taking down Acciardi one last time.
“My game plan was to just wrestle like Jimmy Mullen. Same style I’ve used since I was 4 years old. Non-stop moving and get into my offense," Mullen said. "Acciardi and I go back to kindergarten days. I think we competed in the states when we were in third grade. I love the family. We practice together throughout the summer. We know if you want to wrestle the best competition you have to train with the best competition. We were right there with each other. Nothing but respect for him.”
Paramus’ Eric Freeman wins first title
Paramus senior Eric Freeman claimed his first Bergen County title on Sunday when he scored a 5-1 victory over St. Joseph senior Roberto Padilla in the 165-pound final.
“This keeps me up there with the best of the best. I’m going to continue working hard to reach my main goal of winning a state title,” said Freeman, who was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Wrestler for the upper weights. “Every tournament is a grind, but as the day goes on, I feel like I get better every time.”
Freeman, the top seed, recorded three pins in his first three matches and earned a 6-0 victory against Kosta Mavrikidis of Paramus Catholic in the semifinals.
Last March, Freeman wrestled back to finish third in the state to extend the Spartans' state medal streak to 11 years.
Paramus won the Group B team title on Sunday and was the highest scoring public school, finishing fourth overall with 144.5 points.
“Our team is really coming along. Some first-year wrestlers took second and we had a few place winners," Freeman said. "We’re shooting for a team state title.”
Nick Gantaifis is a high school sports reporter for NorthJersey.com. For full access to live scores, breaking news and analysis from our Varsity Aces team, subscribe today. To get breaking news directly to your inbox, sign up for our newsletter and download our app.
Email: gantaifis@northjersey.com
Twitter: @ngantaifis1
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Jimmy Mullen takes out Max Acciardi in Bergen County Tournament finals
