Saturday, February 14, 2015

By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer

Head coach Jerry Maietta (left) is pumped up after Yousef Salam's major decision at 106 pounds helped North Bergen secure its first section title since 1993 with a 37-34 win over Clifton on Friday night.

NORTH BERGEN – Weather the storm. That is what North Bergen head coach Jerry Maietta knew his team had to do if it wanted to reach the goal it has set since Day 1 of practice. Facing a Clifton squad that was finally at full strength and had two of its big guns wrestling in the first three matches in the North 1, Group 5 state sectional final, the Bruins were likely going to have to rally from a deficit. But with a raucous home crowd behind them and a section title in their sights, the North Bergen wrestlers were not going to let a deficit keep them from their destiny.

After dropping the first three matches, Antonio Alvarez got the Bruins on a roll and they never stopped. Amahurys Corrales gave them the lead for good and heavyweight Justin Gomez got in on the act with a first-period pin as top-seeded North Bergen won eight straight bouts to secure its first section title in 22 years with a 37-34 triumph over third-seeded Clifton on Friday night at North Bergen High School.

“Everything tonight was about senior leadership and showing everyone that North Bergen didn’t fall off,” said Gomez. “After graduating a state champ (Anthony Giraldo), people thought we would take a step back. When you get this far you have to have a special desire to win and a hatred to lose. That’s what we had tonight.”

Tiberiu Rizea got Clifton off to a good start with a major decision at 145 pounds. Mo Farhan, who won the Passaic County title at 138 pounds last month, bumped up two weight classes to notch a pin at 152 and Pat DePasque followed with one of his own at 160 to give Clifton a 16-0 lead.

Passaic County champ Mo Farhan (top) pinned at 152 to help Clifton get off to a fast start.

Falling behind early is not something the Bruins have been used to. They have had one of the best seasons in the history of the program, but it would not mean much if they fell short at home in a section final. Alvarez was well aware of how badly his team needed a spark and he was excited for the opportunity to provide one. His second period-pin got North Bergen on the scoreboard and re-energized both the crowd and his teammates.

“I knew I needed to get bonus points and stick to my game plan,” said Alvarez. “I felt going into the tilt that his arm was a little loose and it was an opportunity to bar it. That didn’t work but I saw another opening and was able to hit him with a (half-nelson) to turn him.”

After scoring two takedowns in first period to take a 4-1 lead Leo Subiza followed with a surprising pin just 13 seconds into the second period at 182 pounds. Corrales gave North Bergen the lead, 18-16, by turning Clifton’s Daniel Parra for a pin in 1:46.

After a decision by Alec Sierra, Justin Gomez sent the crowd into a frenzied state by bulldozing his way to a pin in just 1:01 that put the Bruins ahead, 28-16.

Clifton still had a glimmer of hope with six bouts left and top-notch wrestlers like James Murdoch and Kareem Askew waiting towards the end. However, the Bruins never allowed them to get on the mat.

Yousef Salam broke open a close match at 106 with Clifton’s Matt DePasque late in the second period en route to a 15-6 major decision. Devin Garrido notched a decision and Danny Ortega closed it out with an 8-2 triumph at 120 pounds to give North Bergen its first section title since 1993.

Antonio Alvarez's win set off a string of eight straight for North Bergen that changed momentum.

“It feels great to work so hard and see the reward at the end,” added Gomez. “You might have a bruised knee, a sore shoulder or whatever that makes you want to take a day off. But you keep coming back because you want to be in a match like this. I can’t believe this is happening, it all feels like a dream.”

North Bergen (19-2) will head down to the Sun Bank National Center on Sunday for the Group 5 semifinals. There they will face perennial state power Brick Memorial with a 10:00 A.M. start. With the monkey of winning a section title finally off the back of the Bruins, they are excited to see how they stack up against the best the state has to offer.

“We did what set out to do since the season ended last year, everything that happens from here on out is gravy,” said Maietta, who recently passed 250 career wins. “They started with a couple of their guns and we had to weather the storm. Antonio and Leo got us going, we were off and running from there. To get it done in front of the home crowd is great for is something they’ll always remember.”

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