FEBRUARY 17 – MONTVALE, NJ – The Crusaders proved to be tougher than the hosting Green Knights who required injury time in a good portion of the bouts.  BC defeated SJR 38-24 to advance to the semi-final round versus top-seeded Delbarton School in Morristown on Thursday night.
     The match started at 215 pounds (one later than the start in the earlier match, which started at 190 pounds).  Mason Marck earned bonus points when he tech-falled (wrestling parlance) his opponent with just 13 seconds remaining in regulation.  It was one-point to the positive in a match that may very well come down to one or two points again.
     After SJR won by pin at 285 pounds, Chase Young stepped onto the mat.  Young missed the match earlier in the year as county champion Ryan Halal wrestled at 106.  Halal was pinned back in January, but Young turned that score around at 106, earning a major decision and a 10-point swing from the last match to the quarterfinal.  Sowzrawca Tsay earned a technical fall, closing what was a 21-9 lead earlier for the Green Knights to 21-20.  It took Joey Rondinelli only 24 seconds to pin his opponent, giving BC a 26-20 lead, sending the Crusader Crazies into a Frenzy.
     In one of the most anticipated bouts of the evening, Joey Canova had a rematch with the opponent who defeated at 157 pounds back in January.  Mustering all the strength he had, Canova tied the score late in the bout and ultimately won it in sudden death overtime with a reversal.  This was a seven-point swing in favor of BC, setting up Manny Gusfa to put some distance between the two teams.  Gusfa won by decision 8-4, putting BC up 11 points with two bouts to go.  The Green Knights would need to earn two pins in order to win the match.
     AJ DiGiovanni was absolutely not going to allow that to happen.  He wrestled physically, making one dangerous mistake, getting called with a full nelson which resulted in a point against him and, had the wrestler from SJR chosen not to continue, would have cost BC 6 points for a disqualification.  Kudos to the young man, who many were urging to take the points.  He continued to wrestle, despite being in pain.  Ultimately, he injury defaulted, giving DiGiovanni the win.
     The Crusaders are pursuing the 14 state championship in school history.  Next step, Delbarton, Away, February 19, 2026 at 7:00 PM.  Purchase your tickets on-line if you hope to get a seat for this assuredly sold out event.

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BC-SJR NOTES:  The Crusaders have defeated SJR for the 38th time against 19 defeats.  This was the twenty-first time the two teams met in the state tournament with BC taking 15 of those battles.
 

WT	BOUT	SJR	BC
215	Mason Marck (BC) — Technical Fall (22-7) 5:47 Joey Alvarez (SJM)	0	5
285	Cristian Alvarez (SJM) — Pin 0:45 Ralphie Barca (BC)	6	5
106	Chase Young (BC) — Major Decision 8-0 Ray Burdette (SJM)	6	9
113	Charles Esposito (SJM) — Decision 2-0 Anthony Riotto (BC)	9	9
120	JoJo Burke (SJM) — Technical Fall (19-4) 4:44 Micah Loudermilk (BC)	14	9
126	Mikey Bautista (SJM) — Decision 11-8 Matthew Mulligan (BC)	17	9
132	Johnathon McGinty (SJM) — Major Decision 19-6 Lucas Reeves (BC)	21	9
138	Gideon Gonzalez (BC) — Forfeit	21	15
144	Sowzrawca Tsay (BC) — Technical Fall (18-3) 4:28 Angelo Paino (SJM)	21	20
150	Joey Rondinelli (BC) — Pin 0:24 John Eslyok (SJM)	21	26
157	Joey Canova (BC) — Tie Breaker 7-5 Ryan Mitchell (SJM)	21	29
165	Manny Gusfa (BC) — Decision 8-4 Joseph Paretti (SJM)	21	32
175	AJ DiGiovanni (BC) — Injury Default Benjamin Marques (SJM)	21	38
190	Adam Sepulvada (SJM) — Decision 13-7 Chad Sadaka (BC)	24	38