JANUARY 24 – MONTVALE, NJ –Two of New Jersey's top-ranked wrestling teams battled on the mat as the #5 Crusader Wrestling team visited #6 St. Joseph Regional on Saturday morning. This was the biggest of the Big North Conference United Division matches in with the winner sure to have the inside path to the league title.  Ultimately, the Green Knights came away with a decision 34-32 in a match that came down to the final bout of the afternoon.
     BC's AJ DiGiovanni took a forfeit to start the match, giving BC a 6-0 lead.  After a difficult loss at 190 pounds, the Crusaders looked to Mason Marck to stretch the lead, which he did, with a 16-5 major decision, putting BC up 10-3.  The Green Knights earned pins at 285 and 106 and then a decision at 113 before Micah Loudermilk earned a forfeit, cutting the SJR lead to two (16-18).
     The Green Knights earned technical falls at 126 and 138, but those matches and especially freshman Lucas Reeves' effort at 132, yielding only a decision to an Oklahoma State-bound senior, held the host's lead to 31-16.
     Gideon Gonzalez pinned his opponent at 144 pounds, cutting the lead to 31-22 and senior Joey Rondinelli followed up with a pin at 150 pounds to cut the lead to 31-28 with two bouts to go.
     The Crusaders suffered a somewhat unexpected upset at 157 pounds, 7-1, increasing the Green Knight lead to 34-28 going into the final match.  Manny Gusfa wrestled a tremendous match at 165 pounds.  He earned a 17-8 major decision, but it was not enough to retake a lead that required a pin.
     SJR won 8 bouts to BC's 6 and captured the league title, finishing at 4-0 in conference.  BC is currently 6-1 (2-1) with Don Bosco Prep remaining on the league schedule.
     This morning's match is 50 years to the day of the first BC-SJR match, a 37-21 match won by the Green Knights in Oradell.  The schools wouldn't wrestle for 7 years, to the day, with BC besting the Green Knights 39-14.  BC holds a 37-19 (.661) advantage over the Green Knights all-time.
 

WT	RESULT	BC	SJR
175	AJ DiGiovanni (BC) — Forfeit	6	0
190	Adam Sepulvada (SJR) — Decision 8-4 Chad Sadaka (BC)	6	3
215	Mason Marck (BC) — Major Decision 16-5 Joey Alvarez (SJR)	10	3
285	Cristian Alvarez (SJR) — Pin 1:28 Ralphie Barca (BC)	10	9
106	Ray Burdette (SJR) — Pin 3:11 Ryan Halal (BC)	10	15
113	Charles Esposito (SJR) — Decision 1-0 Anthony Riotto (BC)	10	18
120	Micah Loudermilk (BC) — Forfeit	16	18
126	Mikey Bautista (SJR) — Technical Fall (16-1) 4:22 Matthew Mulligan (BC)	16	23
132	Johnathon McGinty (SJR) — Decision 13-7 Lucas Reeves (BC)	16	26
138	Brian Little (SJR) — Technical Fall (22-5) 4:00 Sowzrawca Tsay (BC)	16	31
144	Gideon Gonzalez (BC) — Pin 1:10 Angelo Paino (SJR)	22	31
150	Joey Rondinelli (BC) — Pin 0:31 John Eslyok (SJR)	28	31
157	Ryan Mitchell (SJR) — Decision 7-1 Joey Canova (BC)	28	34
165	Manny Gusfa (BC) — Major Decision 17-8 Joseph Paretti (SJR)	32	34