Prep wrestling has week of drama with Rick Thompson firing, Blair transfers
One of the fun things about covering high school wrestling is it seems like there’s always something going on besides what transpires on the mat.
Just seven days ago it was discussed how it was like 1993 all over again when “G.I.’’ Jody Karam’s Bethlehem Liberty team recently completed a memorable comeback against the highly nationallyranked Bethlehem Catholic team coached by “Slick’’ Rick Thompson.
So what happened less than a week after the match?
Thompson got fired and was replaced by none other than former Becahi coach Jeff Karam.
“I was stunned,’’ said Thompson in a published report. “When I sat down at a meeting (with Becahi Athletic Director Chris Domyan) I was told, ‘You’re done as coach. We’re going a different way.’”
According to Thompson, he was then told to hand in his key to the wrestling room after being fired for the fourth time in his colorful coaching career. The first three times Thompson got the boot, of course, were his well-publicized firings at Phillipsburg.
A couple of days after Thompson was abruptly and unceremoniously shown the door, the news broke that two brothers at Blair were no longer at the prep school and had transferred to Bergen Catholic. One of them was ranked in the top two of his weight in the country.
The two brothers do not appear in any of the results from Bergen Catholic’s 3-1 showing in the Beat the Streets Brawl in Illinois from over the weekend, but their addition would obviously make an already stacked lineup even more formidable.
There’s also reports Blair has responded by canceling its upcoming match with Bergen Catholic. Furthermore, Paulsboro can’t exactly be thrilled by this latest development with its match against Bergen Catholic coming up on Feb. 2.
Considering the brothers could have instead transferred to their local high school and wrestled for legendary Hackettstown coach Frank “Mr.’’ Rodgers, no wonder public school people are increasingly hating on these powerhouse parochial programs.
AROUND THE STATE
With the sectionals set to start in less than three weeks, it’s not too early to start taking a look at how things are shaping up for the team state championships.
The group that is expected to produce the hottest quality action in Toms River is Group II, and we could get a preview of what’s to come with South Plainfield and High Point scheduled to face each other on Saturday. It’s all part of a killer stretch of matches for the classy High Point program and its outstanding coach John Gardner.
On Friday night the Hillbillies will host Phillipsburg in a match that looks close on paper. Early the next morning, High Point will then get in a bus and head for a quad meet at Toms River North that includes South Plainfield and Delsea.
It’s a two-hour ride for High Point, and that’s assuming the Hillbillies don’t use Phillipsburg’s GPS and end up in Camden instead of Toms River. Finally, High Point will also face Newton and Pope John next week.
For its part, South Plainfield is coming off an impressive run through the Virginia Duals that includes wins over thirdplace Nazareth and runner-up St. Augustine, which had advanced with a win over Bethlehem Liberty.
Whether South Plainfield and High Point will go all out to win Saturday’s match is unclear because they might not want to show their full hands. Hanover Park is also in that Group II mix, but it has been reeling a bit of late with losses to West Morris and North Hunterdon.
On the Group V front, one thing top-ranked Howell apparently doesn’t want to happen is a trip to Southern in the sectional semifinals. This could happen if Toms River North beats Southern Tuesday night and then later bumps the Rams on the head to head.
Either way it’s possible Howell, which travels to South Plainfield this week, could also be on the road in the sectional final. Part of the reason for this is there are no late points to be picked up ever since the Shore Conference Tournament switched from a dual match to an individual format.
Looking ahead to the Group V Groups, a thing to keep your eye on is the status of Hunterdon Central middleweight Pasquale Vizzoni. He has been out of the lineup for an extended period of time and the Red Devils absolutely need to have him back, especially with 220-pounder Lucas Bakerian no longer on the team.
OPENING THE MAIL
Speaking of Hunterdon Central, a faithful reader and big fan of The Trentonian’s wrestling coverage named Steve Anuszewski
GIVE FANS A BREAK
Among the many reasons for disliking the new districts is often the travel time for the teams and their fans. Take District 25 at Howell, for instance.
According to an informative post by a Shawnee assistant on social media, the average distance for the District 25 teams to get to Howell is nearly 49 miles. Gloucester City has the longest trip at over 64 miles.
The way the NJSIAA obviously couldn’t care less about the inconvenience is reflected by the fact the average distance for the teams in the other three Region VII districts is less than 25 miles.
It’s a rhetorical question, of course, but does anyone even bother to consider this stuff?