Saturday,
December 31, 2011
By Cory K. Doviak
NJS.com Editorial Director
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For the second straight year, Becton/Wallington's Ryan Loughlin hooked up with BC's Luke Iorio and this time he came out ahead with a 7-3 victory and the 182-pound BCCA Holiday Tournament title. |
SUFFERN – With the weight class shuffle that took place before this season began, wrestlers at the upper end of the spectrum had a couple more options in deciding where to make their marks in the BCCA Holiday Tournament. For Becton/Wallington senior Ryan Loughlin, a fifth place finisher last year, 182 was the choice but to get his first title in his last chance, he would have to get through the same opponent who ended his run last season.
It was a year ago that Bergen Catholic's Luke Iorio that who beat Loughlin in the third/fourth place wrestleback and it was Iorio, the No. 3 seed this year, who was Loughlin's opponent in the final. With a 3-1 lead entering the third period, Loughlin managed the final two minutes to perfection. He let Iorio up to avoid stalling, and he scored two takedowns in the final 40 seconds to post a 7-4 win.
“I wrestled Iorio last year and he beat me 6-2. So I knew I had my work cut out for me,” said Loughlin, who has the tattoo 'Pain is temporary pride is forever,” emblazoned across his chest. “I worked hard in the offseason, I put on some weight and this means a lot to me, but it also means that I have to continue to work hard. I want to get better. I want to wrestle the best kids, I want to beat the best kids. I saw that '82 was wide open, so I brought my 'A' game and I won it and now I want to keep going.”
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