February 6, 2012
It was an exciting week for the Gaels as they geared up for their postseason tournaments starting this Wednesday. On Friday, February 3, the Gaels held their annual senior night, honoring senior wrestlers Jack Montgomery, John Pestana, Zach Golebieski and Javier Baez, as well as senior statisticians Laura Makuch and Michelle Kressler. The evening began with a small ceremony in which each wrestler received a plaque commemorating their hard work and dedication to the team, and the statisticians received flowers as a thank you from the coaching staff. Following the conclusion of the pre-match ceremony, the Gaels welcomed in the Pascack Hills Cowboys. Seniors John Pestana and Zach Golebieski, as well as junior Jimmy Avella all earned hard fought victories and the night saw the Gaels put forth a great team effort despite a 40-29 victory for Pascack Hills. The Gaels looked to rebound the following day, competing in a quad meet at Dumont High School. The first match of the day saw the Gaels take on state ranked Linden. As was the case the night before, the Gaels wrestled extremely well with juniors Jimmy Avella, Ken Montoya and senior Jack Montgomery all posting victories en route to a loss. Despite the score, the match was a big step forward to the Gaels who displayed toughness in a match against a very good team. The next bout of the day saw the Gaels cruise to victory 48-28 against a district team, Fort Lee. The match was crucial as victors at individual bouts will receive bonus criteria over their opponent during the District 16 tournament rapidly approaching in North Bergen. Posting victories for the Gaels were senior John Pestana, juniors Ken Montoya, Anthony Arena, Jimmy Avella, and sophomore Alex Voutsas. The final match of the day, the Gaels faced Dumont in a match that saw Dumont pull ahead during the final bout of the day to earn a 39-33 victory. Wrestling well in the defeat were sophomores Will Ganzer, Phil Walsh, and seniors Zach Golebieski, John Pestana and Jack Montgomery. Moving forward the Gaels welcome in the Belleville Bucs Monday evening as a final tune up before facing off at home against Pingry for a berth in the North Jersey Sectional Wrestling Finals on Friday.
January 30, 2012
It was a busy week for the Gaels, albeit a good one posting 4 wins in 4 days. On Wednesday, January 25th, the Gaels hosted their second home match of the season against the Bucs of Bogota. Sophomore Alex Voutsas record a pin fall in the second period which helped propel the Gaels to a 54-21 victory. On Friday, the Gaels traveled to Midland Park to face Waldwick/Midland Park . It was an important night for Midland Park as they saw one of their own post his 100th career victory, however the Gaels spoiled the affair by earning an exciting, hard fought victory. In the match, a key bout came at the 285 lb. weight class were Junior Justin Gonzalez recorded his first varsity pin late in the third period. The win, and bonus points, proved crucial as the Gaels won by 3 points overall, defeating Waldwick/Midland Park 42-39. On Saturday, the Gaels traveled to Hasbrouck Heights to compete in a quad match. The Gaels rebounded after an early morning loss to Hasbrouck Heights/Wood Ridge to finish the day with two hard fought victories over Plainfield 42-33 and Cliffside Park 39-30. Wrestling well in the days efforts were Senior Jack Montgomery and Sophomore Will Ganzer, both of whom recorded falls during the quad meet. The Gael's 15-6 record also qualifies the team as the second seed in the North Jersey Parochial B Sectional Tournament. It should be noted that the Gael's 15 wins are the highest win total this season by a parochial school, in both groups A and B, in North Jersey. The team looks forward to the team state tournament, which begins next week.
January 25, 2012
On Wednesday, January 18th the Gaels traveled across the Passaic River to take on the Red Raiders of Newark Eastside. The meet featured several exciting bouts for the Gaels and saw Senior Zach Golebieski win his bout by Tech. Fall, Juniors Anthony Arena and Ken Montoya register exciting pins, and overall saw the Gaels compete extremely well against a strong, physical opponent to earn a victory 49-27. On Friday, January 20th, the Gaels hosted their first home meet of the season against crosstown rival Rutherford High School. It was a tough night for the Gaels losing 51-24, however a bright spot was the continued success of Anthony Arena who finished the week with his second pin. The Gaels were scheduled to take on Glen Ridge, Hudson Catholic and Kearny High School, Saturday January 21st, however a winter snowstorm forced Kearny to postpone the meet to a date to be named.
January 9 2012
On January 4th, the Gaels traveled to Secaucus High School to take on the Patriots, an important match as Secaucus and St. Mary both compete in the postseason District 16 Tournament, with tournament seeding on the line for individual wrestlers. The match also is a league match, so league title implications were also on the line. The Gaels were led by senior captain, Jack Montgomery, who in the marquee bout of the evening scored 6 takedowns against his opponent en route to a 14-11 victory. Montgomery's victory propelled the Gaels 49-27 past Secaucus. On Saturday, January 7th, the Gaels traveled to Lodi High School to participate in a quad meet against Lodi, Bayonne and Union City. The Gaels finished 3-0 on the day, with scores of 45-32 over Bayonne, 45-20 over Union City and 39-33 over Lodi. The Gaels saw many wrestlers perform extremely well, with sophomore Alex Voutsas, juniors Anthony Arena and Jimmy Avella, and senior Zach Golebieski all finish 3-0. Sophomore Charlie Wallentine and Junior Ken Montoya each recorded pins against Lodi that proved key in the victory. Special recognition is to be brought upon sophomore Alex Voutsas who finished the week 4-0, all by way of pin fall. In doing so, Alex earned the Gaels 24 team points throughout all of the week's matches and is showing significant progress and improvement from a season ago.
December 30th
Leading off the holiday break, the St. Mary wrestling team traveled to Manchester Regional High school to compete in dual matches against Paramus Catholic and Manchester Regional High School. At the 113 lb and 120 lb weight classes, Senior Zach Golebieski and Junior Jimmy Avella both had strong days as the Gaels split the two dual meets and finished the day with one win and one loss as a team. In preparation for the Bergen County Coaches Association Holiday Tournament on December 29th and 30th, the Gaels traveled to Barringer High School to participate in another tri-meet Wednesday the 28th. The Gaels earned victories over both New Milford and Barringer High School's, on the strength of wins in both matches by senior captains, Zach Golebieski, Jack Montgomery and John Pestana, as well as sophomore Alex Voutsas. On the 29th and 30th, the Gaels participated in the Bergen County Coaches Association Tournament and saw Golebieski, Avella, Pestana and Montgomery all win matches. The St Mary Gaels wrestlers head into the new year with a 5-1 record and look forward to opening up their league schedule Wednesday, January 4th at Secaucus High School, as well as having their first home match of the season at the George Vuyosevich Memorial Gymnasium Friday, January 6th against Becton Regional High School.
December 23rd
THE ST. MARY WRESTLING TEAM OPENED ITS SEASON ON FRIDAY DECEMBER 16 AND TRAVELED TO NEWARK ACADEMY FOR AN INDEPENDENT NON-LEAGUE MATCH WINNING 60-18 BIG WINNERS FOR THE GAELS BOTH RECORDING FALLS WERE BOTH JUNIORS -120LBS JIMMY AVELLA ,& 126LBS ANTHONY ARENA ON SATURDAY THE VARSITY WRESTLING TEAM TRAVELED TO CLIFTON HIGH SCHOOL FOR A 10 TEAM INVITATIONAL TOURNMENT AND TOOK 4TH PLACE AS A TEAM- TEAMS THERE COMPETING WERE CLIFTON,PATERSON EASTSIDE,JFK KENNEDY,LYNDHURST,PASSAIC,NEWARK ACADEMY,DUMONT,NEWARK EASTSIDE,BARRINGER 170 POUNDER JACK MONTGOMERY TOOK -1ST PLACE AND WRESTLED VERY WELL ALSO BRINGING HOME MEDALS 112 POUNDER ZACH GOLEBIESKI TOOK 2ND AT HIS WEIGHT 126 POUNDER ANTHONY ARENA & 152 POUNDER JOHN PESTANA TOOK A 3RD PLACE MEDAL ALSO WRESTLING WELL AND FINISHING 4TH 120LBS JIMMY AVELLA, 182LBS ALEXANDER VOUTSAS THIS WEEK ON WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 21 THE TEAM TRAVELED TO IRVINGTON AND WRESTLED WELL TO GAIN A 45-33 VICTORY- WRESTLING WELL WITH FALLS WERE: 112LB-ZACH GOLEBIESK,120LB-JIMMY AVELLA, 126LB-ANTHONY ARENA ,138LB-KEN MONTOYA,170LBS-JACK MONTGOMERY WINNING BY DECISION 182LB ALEXANDER VOUTSAS **THE COACHING STAFF WOULD LIKE TO NOMINATE SENIOR 170LBS JACK MONTGOMERY ON A 1ST PLACE FINISH IN THE CLIFTON TOURNAMENT WRESTLING OUTSTANDING AND ALSO TO THIS POINT POSTING A 4-0 RECORD AND WRESTLING OUTSTANDING THIS PAST WEEK
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