SHORE A SURPRISING SECOND IN SHORE CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT TEAM STANDINGS

Even as the big crowd at the Red Bank Regional Field House hustled toward the exits Friday night, the announcement of the team standings after the first night of the Shore Conference Wrestling Tournament created one final buzz. Atop the standings was Howell -- no surprise there. The Rebels are the No. 3-ranked team in all of New Jersey after falling short of the team title a year ago, the Rebels seem hellbent on claiming the one title they let slip away a season ago. The second-place team, however, was a shocker. In the second spot, only 7.5 points behind Howell and ahead of Lacey and two state-ranked teams -- Jackson Memorial and Toms River North, was Shore. That's right, Shore, a team that has never even won a sectional title, was nipping at the heels of mighty Howell and it isn't a fluke, either. Shore advanced six wrestlers to the Saturday, 10 a.m., quarterfinals. Shore is 17-1 and has opened eyes all over the Shore Conference this winter. The Devils are not only a good small-school team, they are a good team, period. Shore has victories over West Deptford (36-31), Ocean Township (34-33). It's only loss is to Manalapan (51-30). Shore is a clear-cut favorite to win the Central Jersey Group 1 title. It already owns a 40-27 victory over another CJ 1 contender, Point Pleasant Beach, 40-27. "Most years we have one or two guys, but this year we have five or six," said Shore head coach Dave Porta, a 2001 Jackson Memorial grad, who wrestled for Rutgers head coach Scott Goodale and with Jackson Memorial head coach, Doug Withstandley. "We have three or four guys wrestling at a high level, but the other 10 or 11 guys are all solid. We have 12 kids with winning records." It has two 21-0 wrestlers -- Jack Maida, the second-seed at 106, and Mike McGhee (145). Jack McCrae (160) and Jamie Mazzacco (170) entered the SCT with one loss each. Matt Klemser (113), Al DeSantis (138) came in with 18 victories, 220-pounder Cade Torres has 17 victories and 120-pounder Gabe Scalise as 16 victories. And get this, most of the are back next year. Scalise and Mazzacco are freshman, Maida, McGhee and Torres are sophomores and DeSantis is a junior. "All those kids came up through our rec program, which has really been strong the last two or three years," Porta said. That rec program also produced Howell's Paul Jakub and Blair's Chris Cannon. Blair is the No. 1-ranked team in the country. Maida, Scalise, DeSantis, McGhee, McCrae and 195-pounder Taylor Sousa (13-7) all advanced to the SCT quarterfinals. Scalise avenged one of his regular-season losses when he nipped Gavyn Read of Keasnburg, 2-1. Shore senior Matt Klemser, a 100-bout winner, lost to top-seeded Dean Peterson of St. John Vianney at 113 and Mazzacco was pinned by Victor Wladica of Holmdel or Shore might well be leading the SCT. Maida went 39-8 last season and was a runner-up in last year's SCT to Brick Memorial Vincent Santaniello, 1-0. "I don't think Jack (Maida) can go through a day without his wrestling shoes on," Porta said. "He's just a kid who loves wrestling. Anytime I see Jack he has his backpack on one shoulder and his wrestling bag on the other." Shore may not hold on to second-place, but Devils will have a Shore Conference Tournament to remember no matter what happens Saturday. "We have three or four kids with legitimate chances of placing in this tournament," Porta said. "Our motto is 'find a way.' That's what we've been able to do all season."

SHORE A SURPRISING SECOND IN SHORE CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT TEAM STANDINGS

JOE ZEDALIS

The Star Ledger | 1/25/2019

PHOTO CREDIT: Andrew Mills