Saturday,
December 31, 2011
By Cory K. Doviak
NJS.com Editorial Director
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Paramus freshman Joe Trovato beat the Nos. 1, 4 and 2 seeds on the way to the 106 pound title. |
SUFFERN – A lot goes into the planning of the BCCA George Jockish Holiday Tournament with the seeding of weight classes among the highest order of business. There is a formula that takes into account past performance and the committee realizes that where a wrestler is seeded makes a difference in not only how might do in the BCCA tourney, but also where he might later fall in district, regional and state tournament brackets.
And then, in the first contested bout of the nighttime portion of the finals, Paramus freshman Joe Trovato came out and finished blowing the whole thing up. With wins already over the top seed and the No. 4, Trovato capped his upset run through the 106-pound bracket by riding out the second period from the top and then taking advantage of his scoring opportunities in the third period to post a 3-2 win over Bergen Catholic's Tyler Casamenti at Rockland Community College.
The second period was the key as Trovato kept Casamenti from escaping without being whistled for stalling. Even though the match was still scoreless, Trovato had the obvious advantage, which Casamenti acknowledged by cutting him loose to start the third period.
That meant the outcome would be decided by a takedown either way and Casamenti went for it, but Trovato stuffed it and turned Casamenti's shot into two points of his own for a 3-0 lead with 1:12 left in the match.
“He shot in and I had an underhook. I felt his pressure and I threw it by,” said Trovato. “I ended up behind him and got the takedown.”
The three-point advantage and the top position gave Trovato the luxury of being able to withstand the two stall calls against him in the final minute with no damage. They gave Casamenti his only two points of the match, but the second one came with just eight seconds left and Trovato made it to the final buzzer and the gold medal stand in his first shot at a BCCA title, which has been in the planning stage for a long time now.
“I accomplished a lot before high school and I have wrestled a lot of these kids before, so I knew that if I wrestled tough and up to my potential, that I could beat anyone,” said Trovato, who knocked off top-seeded Mike Andreano of Glen Rock/Saddle Brook, 5-2, in the semifinals. “[I've been watching this tournament] since I started wrestling in second grade. I came here every year, watched all the matches and it just feels great to be up here and winning.”
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