While a good start is nice, there is nothing quite like a big finish.
According to South Brunswick Coach Joe Dougherty, a big finish could be coming sometime in March for his wrestling team.
"We're cautiously optimistic about this season," Dougherty said.
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The caution comes from the fact South Brunswick starts the season nursing several injuries.
"Right now, I would say we are a little beat up," noted Dougherty, who knows that might have an impact on the season. On Dec. 16, South Brunswick hosted Camden Catholic, Hillsborough and Lawrence in a quad meet. Click here for results.
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"It doesn't seem like we're getting off to a robust start until we heal. Last year we started strong and weren't as strong at the end. Maybe we'll have a reverse this year, which is more desirable."
South Brunswick finished the 2010-11 season with a 21-4 record. The team was second in the Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament and won the District 20 championship.
Heading the list of returnees is Tyler Jaramillo, who will wrestle at 145 pounds. The senior won the GMC and District 20 titles last season.
Ali Yildiz (junior) was first in the districts and third at the GMC. He will wrestle at 171 pounds.
Jake Pietrefesa placed first in the GMC and second in the districts at 160 pounds last year. This season, the senior will be bumped up to 195 pounds.
After not wrestling for several seasons, Joe Pietrefesa in the starting lineup. Joe will wrestle at 182 pounds.
Justin Lopez will wrestle at 120 pounds. The senior was fourth in the GMC and districts last season.
Constantine Rissiotis (junior) was fourth in the districts at 140 pounds last year. This year he will wrestle at 160.
South Brunswick has two new wrestlers in its lineups. Jake Stauff (103) is a freshman. Either Dahrae Ford (sophomore) or Rashaan Baker (sophomore) will wrestle at 285 pounds.
Jake Daniel (a sophomore 113-pounder), Dallas Siegel (a senior 220-pounder), Fran White (a senior 138-pounder), Chad Capraro (a senior 132-pounder) and Luke Rimmer (a senior 152-pounder) are the other starters on the team.
Other wrestlers that could crack the lineup at times are Jesse Tainow (a junior 126-pounder), Matt Baratta (a senior 138-pounder) and Ryan Dorsay (a senior 145-pounder).
Phunelele Nkuta (a junior 132-pounder), Anthony Mastandino (a junior 132-pounder) and Jon DiBartolo (a sophomore 132-pounder) are among the newcomers that have impressed Dougherty.
"(We) return 10 starters from last year's team and hope to fill the gap left by the loss of three seniors (David Dominguez, James Paganio and Lucus Del Piano, all wrestlers that reached Region 5)," Dougherty said.
According to Dougherty, the inuries and scheduled will make it very difficult to reach 21-4 again. Chances are, however, South Brunswick will reach some milestones. Coach Dougherty is just six wins short of 300. South Brunswick needs 20 wins to reach 500 wins in the history of the program. Going into the opener, South Bruswick was 480-258-3 in the history of the program.
