Brick Memorial wrestling new lineup ready for run in the NJSIAA Group 4 Tournament

BRICK - The lineup the Brick Memorial High School wrestling team presented Monday night for its NJSIAA Central Group 4 quarterfinal and semifinal matches against Hamilton East and Long Branch has been long in the making.

"We've been talking about this lineup since Week 1. It just took time for people to descend down,'' Brick Memorial head coach Mike Kiley said.

The new-look Mustang lineup routed Hamilton East 71-6 in the sectional quarterfinal and then won nine bouts in a solid 39-30 win over Long Branch in the sectional semifinal.

The new look has junior Jack Torre at 126; senior and 2021 NJSIAA 120-pound champion and three-time state finalist Anthony Santaniello at 132; senior and returning district champion Brody Elk at 138 and junior Tommy Prince at 144.

Torre had not wrestled since Jan. 11 before Monday night. Santaniello dropped down from 138 two weeks ago; Elk dropped down from 144 for the Shore Conference Tournament and Prince was inserted at 144 two weeks ago.

The look gives Kiley and his coaching staff greater strength around Santaniello.

"It's just a more solid lineup,'' Kiley said. "It gets better wrestlers into the lineup with more experience. We had two first-year wrestlers at 26 (126) and 32 (132). Now, we're replacing them with Jack Torre and Anthony Santaniello.

"Brody Elk is solid at 38, and Tommy Prince, as you saw (Monday night), can wrestle.''

WHAT IT MEANS

Brick Memorial (16-4), which has a Shore Conference-record 17 sectional championships and a Shore-record nine group championships, will try to repeat as Central 4 champions Wednesday night when it hosts old rival Jackson Memorial.

Jackson Memorial (14-6), which routed Manalapan 61-7 Monday night, has won 10 sectional championships and four group championships.

Brick Memorial defeated Jackson Memorial 38-32 on Jan. 14. However, the lineup for both teams is much different now.

Jackson Memorial recently got back returning state qualifier Cael Huxford in its lineup. He had been sidelined since Dec. 17.

KEY BOUTS AGAINST LONG BRANCH

There were several tossup bouts headed into the match. They all broke Brick Memorial's way.

At 106, freshman Michael Napolitano defeated returning region qualifier Joshua Renna 2-1 by riding Renna out in the third period after Renna had ridden him out in the second period.

Napolitano's ride came after Kiley had suggested to him that he cut Renna at the start of the third period and go neutral.

However, Napolitano talked Kiley into letting him go top.

"I knew I could ride that kid on top,'' Napolitano said.

"He (Napolitano) was pretty stern about it (wanting to go top),'' Kiley said. "I figured he must have felt something.

Prince came through with a solid 7-0 win over Devon Smith to give the Mustangs a 21-6 lead and their sixth win in the first seven bouts.

"Tommy Prince is someone we've been dying to get in this lineup. It just didn't fit in until now,'' Kiley said. "I've been telling him all season, 'You know it's coming. You know you're going to be in our lineup'. There's not a better time to get this lineup together.''

Then, after Long Branch (16-6) closed to within 21-18 on consecutive pins by returning state qualifier Joe Giordano and returning district runner-up Logan Smith at 150 and 157 respectively, freshman 165-pounder Trey Tallmadge put the Mustangs in complete command when he threw Cristian Cunalata to his back and headlocked him for the pin.

"Since I was young, I always good on throws. I felt like it was the easiest way to score points,'' said Tallmadge, the younger brother of Evan Tallmadge, who was a state champion for Brick Memorial the last two seasons and is now at the United States Naval Academy. "I really learned the inside trip that led to the headlock from my brother. When I saw it, I went for it and I saw the headlock was there.''

"After '57 (157), I was nervous,'' Kiley said.

Defending state champion Harvey Ludington (175) and sophomore Ben Szuba (190) then put the match away with consecutive pins.

THE RETURN OF JACK TORRE

Torre picked up two wins in his return to the lineup.

In the Long Branch match, Torre led Javier Guzman 1-0 after two periods. He then turned Guzman twice in the third period with first a tilt and then a spladle for two sets of two back points and a 5-0 win that gave Brick Memorial the lead for good at 9-6.

"Jack was descending down, but he was also dealing with sickness,'' Kiley said. "It was taking him a long time to recover. He's been good for about a week, week and a half. He's down to weight and ready to go.''

BRICK MEMORIAL 39, LONG BRANCH 30

106: Michael Napolitano (BM) d. Joshua Renna 2-1.

113: Gavin Martin (BM) d. Ryan Beharry 6-0.

120: James Renna (LB) p. Ryan Henderson 1:17.

126: Jack Torre (BM) d. Javier Guzman 5-0.

132: Anthony Santaniello (BM) p. Nick Miller :58.

138: Brody Elk (BM) d. Daniel Ramirez 7-6.

144: Tommy Prince (BM) d. Devon Smith 7-0.

150: Joe Giordano (LB) p. Mason Pirnik :42.

157: Logan Smith (LB) p. Max Wright 3:35.

165: Trey Tallmadge (BM) p. Cristian Cunalata 2:51.

175: Harvey Ludington (BM) p. Tornick Kajaia :42.

190: Ben Szuba (BM) p. Matheus Marco Santa :159.

215: Tyler Taylor (LB) by forfeit.

HWT: Mark Godsil (LB) by forfeit.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Shore NJ Wrestling: Brick Memorial changed lineup ready for title run