A memorable night for Red Bank Catholic in Region VI

BRICK - The end of the first night of the NJSIAA Region VI Tournament at Brick Memorial High School saw two of the Shore Conference's unheralded programs make some noise. Red Bank Catholic had two wrestlers win bouts in the e Region VI Tournament for the first time in at least 11 seasons, according to Red Bank Catholic's 11th-year head coach Joe Gallagher. Monmouth Regional had a wrestler win a bout in the Region VI Tournament for the first time since 2008, according to Monmouth's second-year head coach Rob Micheliche. The Red Bank Catholic wrestlers who advanced were junior 195-pounder Steven Cmielewski and senior heavyweight Michael Griggs. The Monmouth wrestlers who advanced was senior 220-pounder Ricky Voss. Wednesday night's 56 winners in the preliminary round will join the district champions in each of the 14 weight classes from Districts 21-24 Friday night at Brick Memorial in the quarterfinals. Voss, who defeated Howell's Joe Sardina 2-1 on a locking hands call and an escape in the third period, has quietly put together a very good season. He is 33-4 after his win Wednesday night. He has a chance to be a medal contender in a 220-pound weight class where it appears at least the fourth and final spot from Region VI in the NJSIAA Individual Tournament March 2-4 at Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City could be up for grabs. "I think he's one of the better kids in the bracket,'' said Micheliche. "This will definitely put Monmouth on the radar here. We're a program that we have to earn our respect. I don't think it's given to us. '' Voss, who will wrestle No. 1 seed and past state qualifier Jajuan Hayes of Bordentown in the quarterfinals finished third in the District 24 Tournament. He was pinned by Region VI No. 2 seed and returning state qualifier Cameron DiGiorgio of Christian Brothers Academy in the district semifinals before he rebounded with a 2-1 win over Freehold Township's Austin Colbert in the third-place bout. "He's a hard-nosed, tough kid and an efficient wrestler,'' Micheliche said. "He's an outside, high single (single leg takedown) guy.'' The stories of the two Red Bank Catholic wrestlers who advanced is different. Cmielewski, who defeated Northern Burlington's Sam Gephart, 8-2, missed much of the season due to a broken ankle sustained in the first quarter of Red Bank Catholic's season-opening football game at Middletown South last September 8. The injury resulted in reconstructive surgery on the ankle, Gallagher said. "It was supposed to be a minimum of six months (that the injury and surgery was going to sideline him). He makes it back in four months to the day,'' Gallagher said. "We thought he would never even be able to wrestle this year, let alone be competitive.'' Cmielewsk will wrestle Freehold Township's returning state qualifier Eric Quartey, in a the quarterfinals. The bout is a rematch of the District 24 final, won by Quartey 7-4 Griggs, who has a football scholarship to Colgate University, pinned Brick Memorial's Christopher Mittler in 16 seconds. "He seems to learn every time out,'' Gallagher said. "He went out (Wednesday night) just to be aggressive. He snaps the head, threw a cement (cement job) and pins a really tough wrestler - a kid we were really worried about.'' Griggs will wrestle Long Branch's returning state qualifier Kevin Cerruti. Griggs took Cerruti to double overtime on Jan. 12 before Cerruti won 3-2. He has shown he can wrestle with the tough wrestlers in the heavyweight bracket. He o gave Hamilton North's 35-1 Sylvester Freeman, the No. 4 seed in the Region VI tournament, all he could handle in a 7-6 loss in the District 24 final and was defeated by No. 1 seed and two-time district champion Jaylen Paige of Asbury Park 3-2 on Dec. 19. "He's was considering not even doing it (wrestling) this year,'' Gallagher said. "We finally talked him into and he saw the benefits of doing it (wrestle) for college football.'' NJSIAA Group V champion Howell, the No. 3 ranked team in the New Jersey Wrestling Writers Association Final Top 20, went 3-3 Wednesday night and will have a co-tournament-high nine wrestlers in the quarterfinals with Ocean, which went 5-1 Wednesday night. Point Boro went 4-2 Wednesday night, will have eight wrestlers in the quarterfinals as will Long Branch, which went 4-1 Wednesday night.

A MEMORABLE NIGHT FOR RED BANK CATHOLIC IN REGION VI

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App.com | 2/22/2018