Bulldogs putting together solid season on the mats
BY SHAWN LAYTON
Staff Writer

METUCHEN — With a 48-31 win over Governor Livingston, the Metuchen High School wrestling team improved to 3-0 on the season. The Bulldogs resume action with a 11 a.m. contest with the Bishop Ahr Trojans Monday in Metuchen.

“I can’t complain with the way things are going for us,” Metuchen head coach Ed Angus said. “At the start of the season we had a lot of holes. We still have some holes with just 16 wrestlers but we’re doing well.”

Freshman Niko Ratzkovich notched the team’s first win over Governor Livingston via forfeit at 103 pounds. Ratzkovich is 3-3 on the season.

“It’s always good to have a 103-pounder when competing in the Blue Division,” Angus said. “Niko’s doing well and coming along nicely.”

At 112, Sam Vinci also picked up a win thanks to a Governor Livingston forfeit. Like Ratzkovich, Vinci is sitting at .500 with a 4-4 record. He finished in second place at this year’s Edison Classic and took third at the East Brunswick Holiday Tournament.

“Sam is much improved from last year,” Angus said. “He’s more confident on the mat and he’s getting stronger.”

In the 119-pound bout, freshman Sean Aquadro pinned Governor Livingston’s Andrew Reinhardt in 3:20 while teammate Mike Jachim needed just 1:12 to pin his opponent at 125 pounds.

“Sean has definitely been a pleasant surprise,” Angus said. “He’s a first-year wrestler with no experience and it was his pin that really won the match for us.”

Jachim returned to this year’s team after posting 22 wins his freshman year. He’s currently 4-0 and was a champion at the East Brunswick Holiday Tournament.

“Mike’s looking to build off of his success from last year,” Angus said. “He worked hard over the summer and he looks really good.”

Senior Steve Bisogne lost his match at 130 pounds but is off to a nice start as he upset the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds at the East Brunswick Holiday Tournament to finish second.

The Dogs forfeited the 135-pound bout and junior Nick Donahue lost at 140 pounds, as did sophomore Ben Hohmann at 145 pounds, before Jack Rems recaptured the momentum with a pin in 1:25 at 152 pounds. With the win, Rems improved to 8-2 on the year.

“Jack is having a good season and he should be in the thick of things at the end of the year,” Angus said. “He has more confidence, he’s stronger and he’s a little bit faster. He started the year off winning the Edison Classic and he hasn’t slowed down.”

Senior Harry Petersan, a second-place finisher at both the Edison Classic and the East Brunswick Holiday Tournament, improved to 7-2 via forfeit.

“He really committed himself to doing better after his final match last season,” Angus said. “He finished fourth in the district a year ago and his goal is to do better.”

Senior Ethan Averjakis lost at 171 pounds but is also having a nice season with a fifth-place finish at the East Brunswick Tournament and a second-place showing at the Edison Classic. Averjakis splits time with freshman Jake Duva at both 171 and 189 pounds. Duva is expected to be one of the Dogs’ top wrestlers in the near future.

Sophomore Marek Szwast improved to 6-1 as he needed just 1:40 to dispose of his opponent, while classmate Ethan Grossman registered a win by forfeit.

“Ethan’s been picking things up as of late,” Angus said. “He’s helping us fill out the weight classes and he’s looking good.”

As a team, the Bulldogs finished in third place at the Edison Classic and took sixth out of a field of 12 at the East Brunswick Holiday Tournament.

“Our goal has been to keep the guys on the mat winning,” Angus said. “We may take lumps with team scores because we’ll have to take some forfeits, but we will be competitive in all matches we put guys on the mat.”