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WRESTLING SOUTH PLAINFIELD 40 BRICK MEM. 22
Mustangs fall to No. 1 team

Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 01/25/06
BY STEVEN FALK
STAFF WRITER

BRICK * John Barrett did not hesitate to answer the question.

Which is the better team, South Plainfield or Jackson?

"Jackson, without a doubt," said Barrett, Brick Memorial's senior 152-pounder last night after South Plainfield, ranked No. 1 in the Gannett New Jersey Top 20, defeated Brick Memorial, 40-22. "They're (Jackson) a more physical team and they have a lot more intensity than South Plainfield."

Brick Memorial, ranked No. 11 in the Gannett New Jersey Top 20, has seen the top two teams in the Gannett poll up close and personal over the last four days. It was thrashed, 40-12, by No. 2 Jackson last Saturday in a match in which it won four bouts and was behind 37-3 after 10 bouts.

Tuesday night, the Mustangs won six bouts, had a legitimate chance to earn a 7-7 split and trailed just 25-22 with three bouts left.

"South Plainfield does a lot of backing up. Jackson's always on the attack," said Barrett, who defeated Sam Martin, 3-1, in one of four bouts the Mustangs won by three points or less. "It's always intense with Jackson. They are always ready to go. Jackson's the No. 1 team in the state."

"Jackson's better," Brick Memorial coach Dean Albanese said. "They're just more balanced. South Plainfield has some good, tough individuals, but Jackson's overall balance would win out."

Brick Memorial knew it was wrestling for more than just itself last night. It knew that if it put in a respectable showing, it would help the cause of not only Jackson, but Southern and Howell as well in the Shore Conference's bid to end the season with the No. 1-ranked team in the state.

The members of the Jackson coaching staff, led by coach Scott Goodale, were in attendance for the last half of the match after the Jaguars' 62-3 win at Toms River North.

"When Goodale said in the paper he was going to be rooting for us, we definitely thought we were wrestling for the whole Shore," Barrett said. "If we can't do it (be ranked No. 1), we'd rather have one of our teams do it.

"Coach Albanese said before the match, "We've got to give the Shore justice.' That's what I hope we did."

The South Plainfield wrestlers and coaching staff know there is going to be a lot of comparison between both its match and Jackson's match with Brick Memorial. That's one reason why the entire Tigers' bench was really into the third period of the 112-pound bout between Nicky Pauls and Brick Memorial's Cody Heilbroun.

Heilbroun, who was bumping up from 103, almost had Pauls pinned in the second period and led 7-2 after two periods.

However, Pauls, who chose top at the start of the third period, cradled Heilbroun three times, collected seven back points and rallied to win, 9-8, to deny the Mustangs the 7-7 split in bouts.

If Heilbroun had pinned in the second period, Brick Memorial would have trailed just 31-28 with one bout to go, a bout South Plainfield's Billy Ashnault was likely to win by pin anyway, which he did.

"At the end, (Brick Memorial) didn't wrestle to win. They wrestled to keep it close," South Plainfield coach Kevin McCann said. "They made moves just to keep the score close.

"Nicky Pauls pulling out that match was huge. We wanted to make sure we scored 40 on them. If they're going to say anything, then we both scored 40. That's the bottom line."