Wrestling: J.F. Kennedy continues hot start with key Blue Division win

WOODBRIDGE – A lot of wrestlers talk about getting in shape during the offseason, but when J.F. Kennedy coach Matt Creighton saw senior Derek Cistrelli during the summer, well, he did a double-take.

“I didn’t recognize him at first,” Creighton said.

Cistrelli became like the svelte “after shot” of one of those advertisements. Simply, he cut out the fast food, increased his workouts and has safely dropped from the 150-pound weight class to 126 pounds this winter.

Tuesday, Cistrelli got a key pin after trailing early that sealed the Mustangs’ 48-27 win over Carteret in a key Greater Middlesex Conference Blue Division match.

The results haven’t been in the pudding, but in the fruit and protein and all the hard work. He went from a large clothes size to a small and “feels stronger, faster, a lot more stamina.”

His attitude mirrors the overall team’s commitment this winter.

“I’ve been wrestling since first grade, but I was never the best,” said Cistrelli, who improved to 13-2. “I would always just be like, ‘Oh, why can’t I win? Why am I getting beaten by everyone? Why is my record so bad?” I would say that and never actually put in like the full commitment to get in shape and really try my hardest. And then junior year, I was just like senior year, this is my last year. I need to make this one count. Right out of the wrestling season last year I went to club, started eating right, got all that weight off.”

What does it mean

J.F. Kennedy improved to 9-0 and has nearly clinched the eight-team Blue Division with a 6-0 record.

Even more impressive when you consider where JFK was two years ago. The program dwindled to nine total wrestlers during the shortened spring 2021 season. Now, it’s close to 60 wrestlers in the room.

Creighton credits five seniors who helped keep the program going since they were sophomores in Cistrelli (126), Giovanni Maglione (132), Mark Roche (138) Yousef Abdelaal (165) and Subtain Ali (175).

“It’s really a testament to those five guys that stuck around,” the fifth-year head coach said. “They helped recruit guys to the program and really just stuck it out and grinded for the last two years. It could have been easy to give up. When you have nine guys on the team, you’re forfeiting 24 points a match, getting beat up.

“We were at a point where we were getting beat up. We were 2-7 two years ago. To be 9-0 at this point – it’s really a testament to the seniors that have kind of stuck with the program, led the program and lead us to where we’re at now.”

Creighton noted that Maglione and Roche are almost like coaches in the room.

The Mustangs seemed primed for a big season after returning all but two seniors from last year’s 14-9 team that competed in the White Division.

“There’s a lot of buzz around the school,” Creighton said. “It took four years to get here, but I couldn’t be happier with where we’re at right now.”

Key wins for J.F. Kennedy

Tuesday, the Mustangs had a 9-5 edge in matches – including two forfeit wins – and got five pins with the dual starting at 138.

JFK led 36-27 with two left and Carteret’s Alijah Martins excited the Ramblers fans when he got a quick takedown of Cistrelli and scored two back points for the 4-0 lead. The Mustang senior held on and escaped, got his own takedown and locked up a cradle for the pin with 16 seconds left in the first period to seal the dual win. He said, “I found that this season I’ve been getting in much more funky positions, but I found that I can get out of them way easier. I feel like I have more mobility.”

Maglione, the defending GMC Tournament champ and a state qualifier, pleased the home fans with a closing pin in 2:20.

Also scoring falls for J.F. Kennedy were Roche (138), Johnathan Martinez (150) and Manny Perez Quijano (215). The Mustangs earned a pair of exciting decisions as Abdelaal (165) won 13-8 and Matthew Rodrigues (190) held on for the 9-8 win.

Carteret shows improvement

The Ramblers have been one of the best stories in the GMC this season. After going 1-21 and 0-13 in the Blue Division, Carteret is now 5-4 and 4-1 in the division. First-year head coach Eliias Vega and assistant Charles Faulkner, both former star wrestlers for Carteret, have brought excitement to the program.

Carteret was hurt last year with an early season Covid-related shutout and many wrestlers didn’t return. Now, they have nearly a full lineup with a junior varsity team and around 30 in the program.

“Once I was giving the opportunity, I got really excited,” said Vega, who was a state placewinner in his 2016 senior year. “My goal is just to have fun with it. Give these guys a program that I wanted to have when I was in there and being only six years away from these guys, I can relate to them a lot.

“And just having a good time in practice, going over different techniques. It’s a great atmosphere to be around inside practice. I think that’s what’s helping our success. It’s just enjoying our time the entire time.”

Tuesday, they wrestled tough in every match and had five wins. Jetzeel Huertas (120), Julius Martinez (144), Rasheim Price-Jones (157) and Cameron Browne (285) cranked out pins. At 175, Muhammad Abubakar won 13-7. Carteret has just four seniors and the newcomers have shown a lot of potential such as freshman La`Brawn Riddick (132) and sophomores Alijah Martins (126) Siddiq Qasim (138). Additionally, promising junior Hassan Khan (8-2) missed the match out sick.

They said it

Maglione on the team’s success, “I felt like ever since the season started, saw the talent that we had – it all just lined up and I thought from the beginning of the season we were going to have a good season. … Since all the seniors are pushing it, it pushes everyone else. So we have a real competitive practice room with all those people in there.”

Maglione, whose father George and two brothers all wrestled for JFK, on the importance of his senior class in keeping the program going, “Oh it was everything. We just stuck it out, recruited people and even the freshmen are getting better cause we’re just leading. It’s just a leadership thing from our seniors, not just me."

Cistrelli on the team’s success, “We got stronger as a team both mentally and physically. Like there’s much more energy in the room. Everyone pushes each other. Very strong energy. … If someone gets a win, next person goes up gets a win, the energy just reverberates.”

Creighton on the win over Carteret, “They kept it much closer than I thought they were gonna. It had me nervous a little bit at one point, but we scrapped some of them out at the end of the match which helped us pull away.”

What’s next

Thursday, Carteret hosts Spotswood, while on Friday the Mustangs go to North Plainfield.

This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Wrestling: J.F. Kennedy continues hot start with key Blue Division win