Shore Sports Network High School Sports 1-20-14 Vol-VI Issue-2

January 20, 2014 Volume-VI Issue-2

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The first thing fans, players, coaches & parents want to know after the big game is always,

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Farrell Scores 1,000th Point Long Branch Upends Wall On The Rebound: Howell Wrestling Over Ocean

ON 8-9 BACK THE MAT

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Pt. Beach's Catania Returns After Health Scare

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Stumpy’s Corner

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Farrell Scores 1,000 in Pt. Beach Win

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Point

By Matt Manley – Senior Staff Writer

Matt Farrell started in the Point Pleasant Beach boys basketball program

as a role player who knocked down the occasional shot and worked hard on both ends of the floor while the team’s top player threw down dunks and garnered most of the attention.

“He texted me earlier and told me that it would happen tonight,” Farrell said. “He just told me not to worry about it, play the game and it would happen soon enough.”

Farrell began the game with five quick points on a fast break Matt with his parents lay-up and a three-point play to put The dunk was the first of two dunks, the second of which Farrell Point Beach ahead 7-0. He then hammered home with one hand on a break. He also set up Uhl for took a back seat in the scoring two alley-oop dunks, the last two of three alley-oop slams by Uhl. while the Garnet Gulls built a The 6-7 Iowa recruit also dunked a lob from junior Mike Frauenheim 23-7 lead. Farrell missed two 3pointers and a dunk after the fast on the first possession of the game. start, but senior Dom Uhl scored Farrell is the ninth member of Point Beach’s 1,000-point club and nine of his game-high 23 points the first since former teammate Jarelle Reischel reached 1,000 during during that stretch to lead the his senior season – Farrell’s freshman season – in 2010-11. fast start “I walk past his (1,000-point) ball in the hallway all the time and it’s a great memory of him, but it’s also been motivation,” Farrell said. “It’s a reminder that I have a tradition to uphold and we, as a team, have a tradition to uphold.”

Farrell did not envision that role for himself back then, and it may not have fully dawned on him that he was on that level until Thursday night when he became the ninth member of the school’s 1,000point club with, what else, but a dunk.

he six-foot senior threw down a dunk – which Farrell claimed was the second time he has dunked in his high school career – in the opening minute of the second quarter to eclipse 1,000 career points while leading the Garnet Gulls to a 92-53 win over Asbury Park.

“I never really thought back then, playing with some of those guys, that I would be in that conversation as a thousand-point scorer,” Farrell said. “I was just trying to fit in at the time, but I had players and coaches telling me that I had a chance to be a special player in the program and that always motivated me to work hard to try to live up to that potential.”

Entering play Thursday, Farrell needed 12 points to reach 1,000 and had not scored fewer than 14 points in any game this season while averaging 20 points per game. He scored all 19 of his points in the first half and also added six assists and seven steals. He and the rest of the starters played only three minutes of the third quarter before heading for the bench with their team leading 74-20.

It’s a tremendous accomplishment and I feel very fortunate to have a chance to do it, not only for me, but for the program,” Farrell said.

“What makes it special is that I got to do it with this team, these players and the coaches who have helped me get to where I am today.”

Farrell reached his career milestone without his head coach in

“I worked a lot this offseason on becoming more explosive,” Farrell said. “It wasn’t just so I could dunk the ball, but it’s nice to be able to go up and put it down when I have a chance.”

attendance. Nick Catania missed his third straight game while battling the flu, according to assistant Brian Moberg, but the coach was in contact with his point guard throughout the week.

Thursday’s game was never in doubt for the Garnet Gulls, which went on a 36-2 run over a stretch of just under eight minutes between the first and second quarters to put Point Beach up 43-7.

Next up for Farrell is the program’s career assist record, which he could set by the end of the month.

for Point Beach.

“I was definitely feeling the butterflies early on,” Farrell said. “I really wanted to make sure I got it. I had my family here to see me do it, so I didn’t want to keep them waiting too long.”

Farrell finally knocked down an open three from the right corner late in the first and buried another three from the right wing early in the third to move within one point of 1,000. On the ensuing Asbury Park possession, senior Noah Yates stole the ball and fired it up court to Farrell, who slammed home his 1,000th and 1,001st points with two hands.

“That’s the record that would mean the most to me, out of all the individual stuff,” Farrell said. “We’ve got so many guys who can score, I don’t have to worry about changing my game to get that one.”

by:

Matt Manley www.shoresportsnetwork.com

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Long Branch Upends Wall

T he score was tied 1-1 and there was less than 10 seconds left in the

By Bob Badders – Senior Staff Writer

heavyweight bout between Long Branch’s Joey Jasio and Wall’s Aldo Guisse. This one had rideouts written all over it.

“I was just thinking I have to get this so my team can be in position to win,” Jasio, a sophomore, said. “I just I had to push him because he was tired. I went for the bear hug and got it.”

“We felt comfortable (going to overtime) because he’s good

on top,” said Long Branch head coach Dan George.

“Sometimes it’s difficult to score with the big guys. You’re chasing a guy around for six minutes and you don’t want to go to overtime. I was just concerned about him going for it and making a mistake to cost himself the match, but he’s a heady kid. He’s starting to grow a little and learn to score.”

Jasio’s win gave Long Branch (9-2, 5-0) a 21-19 lead with three bouts left. Wall had to forfeit at 106 pounds because its starting and only wrestler at the weight, freshman Nick Wagner, is out for the rest of the season with a knee injury.

Denzel Tovar won by major decision for Wall at 113 pounds to bring the Crimson Knights (6-1, 2-1) within 27-23, but Long Branch junior Andy Hernandez won by 11-1 major decision over Joe Demuner at 120 pounds to give the Green Wave the

Heavyweight Long Branch’s Joey Jasio and Wall’s Aldo Guisse.

victory. The win puts Long Branch in a position to wrestle sixth-ranked Ocean for the division title this coming Wednesday as long as the Spartans defeat Wall the day prior.

“This was the first step,” said senior Connor Mullan, who bumped up to 195 pounds and scored a 5-1 win over Kenny Dioguardi. “It was a dogfight the whole match. We knew we needed to win eight (bouts) because they have some studs up top. We have a bit of a thin lineup but we knew we could capitalize on their weaker parts.”

Long Branch won nine of 14 bouts, but, aside from the forfeit, picked up bonus points in only Hernandez’s victory in the final bout. Wall won just five bouts, but had a pin from Matt McKenzie at 182, technical falls from Brett Donner at 160 and Tyler Romanelli at 220 and Tovar’s major decision at

VOLUME-VI 113. George chuckled a bit as he pointed up to the banners from Long Branch’s 2008 through 2010 squads that captured three straight Group II championships.

“Those days of winning eight bouts and the match being over, it’s not the case anymore,” he said.

“We had to win eight bouts and contain the other six. But we had that kind of effort tonight. The Raritan match (a 2826 loss last Saturday) was huge for us because it told us we could wrestle with the big boys, but in order to beat the big boys we had to limit the bonus points.”

when he transferred back to Long Branch, according to George.

Nick Menkin then defeated Jack Wishart, 8-3, at 145 pounds, pulling away with a takedown and three near-fall

Wall freshman Chad McClelland followed with a 4-0 victory over Danny Rios to tie the match at three, but the Green Wave would win the next three bouts to take a 12-3 lead. Freshman Austin Cannon made his high school debut by knocking off sophomore Josh Glantzman 3-1, at 138 pounds.

Cannon’s takedown with one second left in the second period proved to be the difference in a bout George called “a huge tossup match.” Cannon, a middle school state champion, began the season at Christian Brothers Academy but did not wrestle in a match for the Colts, meaning he didn’t have to sit

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(No. 7 at 182) in another big tossup bout to keep Long Branch in front, 15-8. Standout freshman Matt McKenzie, No. 5 at 170, pinned Raul Pacheco in 34 seconds at 182 pounds to make it a one-point match at 15-14. No. 6 (182) Mullan’s 5-1 win extended Long Branch’s lead to 1814, but when Romanelli, No. 6 at 195, moved up to 220 and defeated T.J. Covin by technical fall, it gave Wall its first lead of the match at 19-18.

It turned out to be the Crimson Knights’ only lead. Jasio’s clutch win at heavyweight put Long Branch up by two, and the forfeit coupled with T.J. Conlon staying off his back against Tovar and limiting the damage to a major decision sent Long Branch on its way to victory.

Junior Tommy Flannigan started the dual by edging Connor Albrecht, 1-0, at 132 pounds to give Long Branch a 3-0 lead. Scoreless through two periods, Flannigan escaped with 40 seconds left in regulation to pick up the victory.

“Every team is big on momentum and we needed that to start us off,” Mullan said.

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Long Branch 145-pounder Nick Menkin

points in the third period. Brandon Perez gave Long Branch a nine-point advantage with an 11-4 decision over Zack Tiano at 152.

Long Branch’s need to win eight bouts or more became evident in the next several weight classes as Wall was able to close the gap with three emphatic wins. At 160, sophomore Brett Donner, a state qualifier last season and ranked No. 1 at 160 by theshoreconference.com, scored a 16-0 technical fall in 4:28 over Mike Shohet to bring the Crimson Knights to within 12-8. Arturo Rios won a 9-2 decision from Tommy Wishart

“We wrestle this again…I don’t think the score indicated the match because it was so close on so many different levels,” George said. “We talked about flat-out wrestling – not winning or losing – 14 bouts. Wall winning the toss maybe let us off the hook because our kids just went out there and wrestled.”

by:

Bob Badders www.shoresportsnetwork.com

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On The Rebound: No. 3 Howell Over No. 6 Ocean S ince suffering a concussion that cut his tremendous freshman season short,

By Bob Badders – Senior Staff Writer

it has been a bit of an uphill battle for Howell sophomore Kris Lindemann.

He was 28-2 last year before the injury in the NJSIAA sectional tournament forced him to miss the individual postseason. This year Lindemann has had his share of tough losses, but in the back of his mind he still knows the kind of wrestler he was and can be again.

Winning a key match on Thursday night was a step in the right direction.

Down 6-5 to Ocean’s Andrew MacNeille in the third period, Lindemann hit a five-point move from the bottom to snare a 10-7 victory at 132 pounds and help Howell, No. 3 in the Shore Sports Network Top 10, claim a 33-23 Shore Conference nondivisional victory over No. 6 Ocean on Thursday night inside Wayne Walton Memorial Gymnasium.

“This year hasn’t been going the way I planned it so far, but this win boosts my self esteem,” Lindemann said. “I’m trying to get back to where I was last year, and I think once I get these types of wins under my belt I’ll be back.”

With a reversal in the first period and another in the second, Lindemann held a 4-2 lead heading into the third period. MacNeille scored a reversal to begin the third period to tie the bout at four

before letting Lindemann up and taking him down again to make it 6-5.

Lindemann assumed MacNeille would try to repeat the process, but when he tried to ride him instead that gave him the opening he was looking for.

“He took me down, let me up and took me down again, but then he tried riding me,” Lindemann recalled. “I had already reversed him two times and I did it again to put him to his back. (The longer he tried riding me) I knew I was going to get the reversal.”

Howell 126-pounder Anthony Gagliano

Lindemann’s win gave Howell (12-2) a 27-6 lead and helped the Rebels absorb wins in five of the final seven bouts by the Spartans (7-2) to rebound from a loss to No. 2 Southern last Saturday with a win over another top-10 team. The Rebels bounced back, just as Lindemann (12-4), who lost to Southern’s Bryan Brown 3-1, did. The victory marked the Rebels’ 11th win over the Spartans

in the teams’ last 12 meetings.

“I think this win was big, it gets our team’s confidence back up,” Lindemann said.

Howell won eight of 14 bouts with Kyle Cocozza (major decision

VOLUME-VI at 220), Nate Litowsky (pin at heavyweight), Mikey Sisolak (technical fall at 113) and Anthony Gagliano (pin at 126) picking up bonus points to fuel a start that saw the Rebels win six of the first seven bouts to open a 24-6 advantage.

“Ocean is always tough, and we wrestled tough today,” said Howell senior Joey Schultz, who bumped up a weight class and clinched the match with a 4-0 victory over Jason Lawhon at 182 pounds. “We kept the matches close when we had to, and got the bonus points where we needed them. Everyone did their jobs.”

Ocean wrestled without starting 126-pounder Costa Poniros, who missed the match with an illness. Starting 113-pounder Joey Benner did not make weight and ended up wrestling up two weight classes in Poniros’ spot and was pinned by Gagliano in the second period. The Spartans also gave up bonus points at 113 where freshman Nick Villapiano, who weighs just 95 pounds, lost by 24-9 technical fall to

“They’re Howell, they’re tough and they give you nothing. They’re 12th in the state for a reason. If we wrestle them again, you hope everyone is where they need to be and we go from there.”

A 12-2 major decision by Cocozza, ranked No. 6th by theshoreconference.com, over Matt Wall at 220 and No. 6 Nate Litowsky’s second-period pin of Luke Roman at heavyweight staked the Rebels to a quick 10-0 lead. Sophomore and No. 4-ranked Peter Dee used a reversal and three near-fall points with a cradle in the second period to build a 7-2 lead and hold on for a 7-4 decision over Dave Tieto at 106 pounds. No. 7 Sisolak’s technical fall in which he scored 10 takedowns against Villapiano gave the Rebels five straight wins to start the match for an 18-0 lead.

Ocean senior Max Rallo got the Spartans on the board in a big way at 120 pounds. The No. 5-ranked Rallo pinned No. 2 Jimmy Slendorn in 5:32 to pull Ocean to within 18-6. Rallo led 5-0 after the first

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Grant Brown started Ocean’s run with a 9-0 major decision of Josue Pierre-Louis at 138. No. 8 Jack Rada pushed Howell’s lead to 30-10 with a 9-5 decision over Carter Marquette at 145 pounds before the Spartans won the next three bouts.

At 152, T.J. Saldutti edged David Nocks 3-2, and at 160, Zach Hertling (No. 1 at 152) majored Mike Christie, 12-0. Tyler Thompson then won a toss-up bout, 5-4 over Austin Silverstein at 170, to pull Ocean within 30-20 with two bouts left. Ocean needed bonus points in each of the final bouts, but Howell was in great shape with Schultz, No. 1 at 170, squaring off against Lawhon, No. 6 at 170, up at 182 pounds. An escape and a takedown in the second period was all Schultz needed on his way to a 4-0 win that gave the Rebels a 3320 lead to clinch the match. Ocean senior Dan Loizos dropped down from 220 to knock off No. 9 Stephen Boncimino, 1-0 at 195 pounds, to close out the match.

Ocean senior Max Rallo got the Spartans on the board in a big way at 120 pounds when he pinned Howell’s Jimmy Slendorn

Sisolak. While head coach Cippy Apicelli was frustrated with not having his full lineup available for a marquee match, the end result gave him plenty of reasons for optimism.

“Our 126-pounder is out, Benner doesn’t make weight and is up two weights, Villapiano is a 95-pound freshman wrestling their starting 113-pounder, but we still won six matches,” Apicelli said.

“As mad as I was earlier in the day I’m proud of our kids right now.

period and 8-3 heading to the third. Slendorn started the third with a takedown to close the gap to 8-5, but Rallo scored with a reversal and put Slendorn to his back to complete the fall. Slendorn’s only loss prior came to Hanover Park’s Anthony Cefolo, the 2012 state champion at 106 pounds.

At 126, No. 6 Gagliano pinned Benner with one second left in the second period to push Howell’s lead to 24-6, and Lindemann’s victory put the Rebels up by 21 points through seven bouts. No. 5

by:

Bob Badders www.shoresportsnetwork.com

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1/20/14 that’s what happened,’’ Sutton said. “I didn’t go to districts. I couldn’t watch. That just crushed my world when they told me I couldn’t wrestle.”

Sutton, who also plays football, missed both seasons during the 2012-13 school year because he was ruled academically ineligible.

“I didn’t want to tell people about it,’’ he said. “If they asked me why I wasn’t wrestling, I just made up excuses and told people I was hurt. I just didn’t take school seriously last year. I had a lot of issues going on at home. I wasn’t focused. I was always late to school.”

“Once wrestling was out of his life last year, he went off the deep end,’’ said Keansburg assistant coach Dave Alsieux, a former star at Manasquan and Centenary College who is close with Sutton.

By Scott Stump – Managing Editor

yree Sutton has always prided himself on his ability to dominate on his feet on a wrestling mat.

“I feel like no one can take me down,’’ he said.

The Keansburg junior 195-pounder is at his most dangerous in the neutral position, where his speed and athleticism allow him to take opponents down and finish them for pins, or score at will with takedowns. That ability is what helped him open eyes during the 2011-12 season, when he became the first freshman and only the fifth wrestler in Keansburg history to win an NJSIAA district title. Not only did he capture the District 22 championship at 132 pounds, he was named the tournament’s Outstanding Wrestler, a rare feat for a freshman.

One year later, he finally met an opponent who could easily take him down – himself. The District 22 tournament went on without him, and his life and his wrestling career were at a crossroads.

“I shouldn’t have to lose wrestling to know how much it means to me, but

Not only had Sutton’s grades deteriorated, he was regularly late to school or barely showing up at all. Shortly before this time last year, he learned that he had gotten his girlfriend pregnant.

She gave birth to their son, Tyree Jr., on Aug. 16. Before he began his junior year of high school, Sutton, who has never met his own father, had become one himself.

“People told me it was going to be hard, but it just makes me strive harder to be better,’’ Sutton said. I’ve grown up a lot. I had to. I was quite immature coming in as a freshman and going into sophomore year. I have had to step up to be there for my son.”

Sutton attended summer school and took online classes to work toward restoring his eligibility coming into this school year. He stayed out of trouble over the summer by devoting himself to wrestling. He was a regular at SIR Wrestling in Lafayette up in Sussex County and at Iron Horse Wrestling in Hanover Park. He wrestled 84 matches in offseason tournaments, the equivalent of two full seasons of high school wrestling, to help make up for lost time.

Sutton beat two highly-regarded starters from state power Bergen Catholic, Kevin Mulligan and Christian Jenco, in offseason tournaments. His performance did not go unnoticed, as he said he declined enticements by several non-public programs to transfer from Keansburg. He wants to remain close to his son, who lives in Long Branch with his mother, and he believes he has the tools to succeed right at home with the Titans.

“A lot of people say I’m not going to get better because I train at Keansburg, but I train with a great coach in Alsieux,’’ Sutton said. “He’s done a lot for me. I wouldn’t be where I am without him. Plus I have a lot of support from the teachers and coaches here, and that has made a big difference.”

Upon completing his coursework over the summer, he was informed in August that he would be eligible to play football and wrestle again.

“I was so happy I made it my Facebook status, tweeted it, everything,’’ Sutton said. “I feel like now I can show people how good I’ve gotten and what I can do now. I’m more focused in class and just working harder now.”

VOLUME-VI

Moving Forward

Sutton has a full plate for an 18-year-old, but it hasn’t stopped him from participating in the sport he loves.

Twice a week, he gets to the wrestling room at 5 a.m. to train with Alsieux for 90 minutes before school. After a full day of classes and practice, he will often do extra work in the room with Alsieux and then travel to Long Branch to spend time with his son after doing his schoolwork. He no longer is late to school, as Keansburg head coach Chris DeTalvo picks him up every day.

Growing up as the son of a single mother, Nikiki Douglin, who has raised four children, Sutton is determined to be there for his boy.

“I feel like I’m just in a better mindset,’’ he said. “Last year, I just didn’t care about anything. I slipped up in class, and I just didn’t focus at all. My son keeps me out of trouble. I stay inside with him all the time. I feel like I would still be in trouble without him. I feel like he has helped me so much.”

“Being out last year showed how bad things can get, and I think this is showing him that his future looks pretty bright if he does the right things,’’ DeTalvo said.

Sutton’s newfound equilibrium in school and at home has coincided with an impressive start to this season. Scan the Newark Star-Ledger rankings at 195 pounds and you see the usual suspects before you land on Sutton at No. 4 in the state. A wrestler who didn’t appear in one match last season, wrestling for a school that has never even produced a Region VI champion or a state place-winner, is considered someone with the potential of reaching the final four at the Individual Championships at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City in March.

Sutton’s most impressive victory so far came in a match against Brick Memorial, the Shore Conference’s top-ranked team and the defending Group IV champions. The Titans had an opponent cancel on them because of a snowstorm and responded to an email by the Mustangs looking for a team to round out a quad meet. It resulted in a bout between Sutton and Brick Memorial 182-pounder Nick Costa, who is currently ranked third in the state in his weight class.

Costa bumped up to 195, and Sutton beat him by major decision, 124. Costa finished seventh in the state at 182 last season, so it was a clear sign that Sutton has the potential to go deeper in the state

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Continued from page 9 tournament than any wrestler in Keansburg history. He craves match-ups like the one against Costa because they are rare on the schedule for the Titans, a small Group I school from a town that is all of one square mile.

“I feel like I need to not just win in those matches,’’ Sutton said. “I have to major, tech, or pin these kids. I feel like it’s not a win unless it’s a decisive win. Being ranked fourth, I still don’t think my name is out there like it should be.”

Sutton is not the underdog from the small school with a chip on his shoulder. Regardless of the sparse history of individual success in his program, he takes the mat like his opponent should be the one who is nervous facing him.

“He wants to test himself against the top kids in the state,’’ Alsieux said. “He’s not a cocky kid, but he’s confident. He knows he can win, and that’s half the battle as a high-level wrestler.”

He has worked diligently with Alsieux to shore up any weaknesses in order to prepare himself for the rugged individual tournament.

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don’t change, I look at them every day. I can’t wait to wrestle Oxley. It’s going to be a good match.”

Wrestling has anchored Sutton’s life after it nearly came unraveled

when he was set adrift last season because of his own mistakes. He is determined to not waste a second chance.

“He kind of broke under the pressure instead of rising to the

“I worked on top because I could ride people, but I couldn’t turn them and score, so I’ve worked on that,” he said.

“I can’t wait for districts,’’ Sutton said.

“I’ve got it marked down on my laptop, my calendar, my phone. I look at the rankings every day. Even though they

Sutton has only hinted at his ultimate potential, as he knows his eating habits and work in the weight room could certainly improve. He is a once-in-a-generation wrestler at a small school like Keansburg. However, ensuring Sutton makes it to the bright lights of Boardwalk Hall is not what keeps DeTalvo up at night.

“I feel more pressure to just help him make it better for himself and his family,’’ DeTalvo said. “The wrestling stuff is all a bonus. This sport is going to teach him a lot about life. I am more concerned with him going to college, getting a degree, wrestling at an elite level and getting the best opportunity to provide for his son.”

“With his athleticism, we just want him to create scrambles because he’ll find a way out of them,’’ DeTalvo said.

After missing the district tournament last year, he has his sights set on a return to the top of the podium this season to become the second two-time district champion in Keansburg history. Most likely standing in his way will be Christian Brothers Academy senior Mike Oxley, the defending District 22 and Region VI champion at 195 pounds, who is ranked No. 6 in the state.

Tom Stark) and the coaches and teachers, it’s been a 180-degree difference,’’ Alsieux said. “You have to grow up quick in his situation. It’s not an easy life that he has, and I think that wrestling and athletics is his outlet.”

“I was kind of naïve coming here,’’ Alsieux said.

“They’ve got a lot of different challenges here that they don’t have at other schools. Wanting to go to college here is different than in other towns because in other towns, they expect to go to college, and here they expect to go to work.

“Mr. Stark and the new administration have been pushing to kids that we want to get you college-ready. Tyree can get a free education, and that’s a big thing for him especially. He’s such a good person, and he wants to better his life and go to college.”

One year after his life threatened to spiral out of control, Tyree Sutton is in the position where he is most dangerous: Back on his feet.

occasion last year, but this year, with the support he has had from Mr. Stark (athletic director

“Wrestling is my opportunity to go to college and do something with my life,’’ he said. “I lost it once, and it’s not going to happen again.”

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Bill Normile

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Back at the Beach: Catania Returns After Health Scare A little more than 24 hours before his team’s first game of the

By Matt Manley – Senior Staff Writer

season, Point Pleasant Beach head boys basketball coach Nick Catania feels the frustration of trying to push his team through one last 80-minute practice before the Garnet Gulls – the No. 1 team in the Shore Conference and the defending NJSIAA Group I champion – embark on what they hope is another banner season in program history.

When he is not coaching his basketball team, Catania is a physical education teacher at Middletown South. As a teacher in the Middletown school district, he attended an in-service day at Middletown North on Columbus Day. Part of the day required some physical activity, and Catania was running with a group on the tennis courts at Tindall Park across the street from the school a little after 10 a.m.

“I was running behind (Middletown South football coach Steve) Antonucci,” Catania recalled. “I wasn’t trying to keep up with him, believe me. I don’t remember much, other than waking up and thinking it was Tuesday. And it was Thursday.”

Catania suffered a heart arrhythmia, a malfunction in the heart’s electrical current that in this particular case sent Catania into cardiac arrest. What followed was more of that

Catania was in a coma for the better part of 48 hours and finally woke up on Thursday to learn what had happened to him.

“It turns out I had pneumonia at the time, and I didn’t know it,” Catania said. “The doctor said it was a perfect storm that it happened, and it was a perfect storm to keep me alive.”

Catania was in the hospital for a total of 16 days and returned to work a week after his release from Riverview Medical Center in Red Bank. He had a defibrillator installed in his chest that is capable of shocking his heart back in sync

Most of Point Beach’s practices last considerably longer than this one on the eve of opening night, but Catania wanted to give his players a quick run and get home to celebrate his wife Beth’s birthday. Although his team boasts three Division I-bound senior athletes, the Garnet Gulls are dragging through their final practice and Catania expresses concern.

Catania speaks of the juxtaposition of 6-foot-7 senior University of Iowa recruit Dominique Uhl and how his dayto-day work habits are still catching up to his physical ability.

He speaks of a team that, much like Uhl, has the capability to be even better than it already is.

“We have the potential to be really good, but potential is a scary word,” Catania says.

At the exact moment Catania utters that scary word, Uhl hammers home a windmill dunk that echoes through the gymnasium, drowning out his coach’s words of praise wrapped inside a constructive critique.

If Catania’s coaching career has been anything, it is a confluence of hard work and good timing. He was hired as the head coach at Point Beach for the 2004-05 season at a time when the Garnet Gulls were just another middling Group I public school team in a Shore Conference Class B Central division full of them. While teams like Point Beach, Keyport, Asbury Park, Keansburg and Henry Hudson might enjoy a good season from time to time, sustained success is a tall order for programs with so few athletes walking the halls.

Then, a funny thing happened before the 2007-08 season: a program-changing player showed up. Jarelle Reischel, now a sophomore at the University of Rhode Island, moved to Point Pleasant from Frankfurt, Germany, and made an immediate impact in his sophomore season. With a Division I recruit attracting the attention of college coaches on a nightly basis, transfers began to flock to Point Pleasant and the expectations for the other players in the program were raised.

Fast-forward five seasons and Point Beach is among the three or four most successful public school teams in the Shore Conference over that time period thanks to an influx of talent and Catania’s commitment to providing a high-level program in which those talented players could thrive.

Just as Point Beach was the right place at the right time for Catania in the middle of the previous decade, Middletown High School North was the right place at the right time for Catania on the harrowing day of Oct. 14.

Pt Beach head coach Nick Catania

good timing that has walked stride for stride with Catania.

Many of the teachers and workers present at the in-service day were trained in emergency situations and immediately began administering CPR to Catania. There was both an onduty police officer and an ambulance within a mile radius of the park and both arrived on the scene within a matter of minutes.

Weeks after the incident, Catania found out that he was shocked by defibrillator four times on the tennis courts and seven times during the ambulance ride to Riverview Medical Center in nearby Red Bank in order to restore his pulse. The haste with which the rescue team operated helped save Catania from potential brain damage or paralysis that can result from a lack of oxygen reaching the brain while the heart is shut down.

should another arrhythmia strike.

Not long after his return to school, practice began in advance of the 2013-14 season and the Garnet Gulls got to see their coach back in action.

“He’s the same old coach,” said senior point guard Matt Farrell, a four-year varsity player for Catania. “He’s still fiery during practice, he’s still demanding, he’s still getting on us when we mess up. The only difference now is that he’ll sometimes joke with us that if we keep messing up, we’ll trigger another arrhythmia.”

Farrell and the rest of his teammates were almost as oblivious to the details of their coach’s episode as the coach himself was. Catania was still in critical condition while Point Beach was in school and with limited phone access and

VOLUME-VI limited information to begin with, rumors flew around the school.

“We had no idea what was going on,” Uhl said. “We heard from somewhere that he died.

Something else said he was doing fine. We didn’t know what to believe.”

preparation. When the day is over, however, Catania has learned to leave his night on the court at the gym.

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bad practices or bad losses or bad scrimmages home. I used to take those home with me but I’m much more able to let it roll off my back. I used to go home and watch the game tape four or five times for every game. Now, I’m just watching it once.”

“We get our work ethic from coach,” said senior Noah Yates, who recently committed to Yale to play football.

“Nobody works harder than he does and when we see how much he puts into the team, it makes everyone want to work that much harder. I know for me and probably all the guys on the team, we want to work that much harder for him this year because of what he’s coming back from.”

“I’ve always been close with the kids here and my former players, too,” Catania said. “A lot of guys who used to play for me came to visit or sent me texts, as well as the guys on this year’s team. We’re really close. These guys are like my second family. I always feel like we have a family atmosphere and these guys are like my little brothers.”

Although his players don’t see a difference, and he says he is not physically restricted from changing any of his old coaching techniques, Catania insists things are different. Yes, he is still active and vocal during practice, he is still demanding of his players, and he still sweats the details in

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Catania’s success as a coach over the last decade has a whole lot to do with the players who have graced his program, and he’s the first to acknowledge it. His players, both current and former, as well as Catania himself, also allude to the tireless work the coach and his staff have put in to make sure the finished product is worthy of its rare ingredients.

Once Catania was conscious again, the response from the school and from around the Shore Conference was overwhelming. His phone was bombarded with text messages from opposing coaches and players, as well as former players of his. Many of those whom did not text him paid him a visit in person, including the players on the current team.

“One thing about coach is you know he cares,” Farrell said. “He genuinely cares about every guy in his program and that’s a guy you want to play for. I remember coming to games and watching practice as an eighth-grader, and it was the same way. It’s a family.”

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Most people around the Shore have seen the way the talent has worked for Catania over the years without fully knowing how much he has worked for those talented players, as well as the less-heralded players who also make up the team. This year, more than ever, Catania seems willing to leave more of his program’s fate in his players’ hands.

“I definitely appreciate my family more, my kids,” Catania said, referring to Beth, his four-year-old son A.J. and his daughter Hailey, who is one month shy of her second birthday.

“I’ve probably backed off a bit. (My family and the players) may not have noticed, but I have, just in terms of taking those

If their response to his life-threatening ordeal is any indication, those players have never been more ready to pour their hearts out for their coach.

Photos by

Cliff Lavelle

www.clearedge.zenfolio.com

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A S A M P L I N G O F C U R R E N T A N D F O R M E R M A C A L L - S TA R S n Greg Ford—Trenton Central

n Karen Otrupchak—RBR

n Pat Delaney—CBA

n Billy Gilligan—RBR

n Toni Panza—St. John Vianney

n Mark Donnelly—RBR

n Erica Gomez—St. John Vianney

n Kristian Duravcevic—Fordham Preparatory School (NY)

n Kevin Grier—CBA

n Sehmonyeh Allen—Neptune

n Dana Jean DeGennaro—RBC

n Delvon Arrington—St. Anthony’s

n Sean Armand—Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis HS (NY)

n Brian Baker—Colts Neck

n Mustafa Barksdale—RBR

n Chris Delaney—CBA

n Jose Diaz—Pt. Pleasant Beach

n Robert Barksdale—Asbury Park

n Sean Dunne—CBA

n Kate Beriont—St. John Vianney

n Mike Faherty—Brooklyn Polytech

n Billy Beggans—Ocean Township n Steve Bridgemohan—E Brunswick

n Matt Farrell—Pt. Pleasant Beach

n Brandon Brown—Freehold Boro

n Sarah Fisher—RBR

n Josh Brody—RBR

n Yesenia Burgos—St. John Vianney

n Rashon Bruno—St. Anthony’s

n Courtney Calderon—St. John Vianney

n Isaias Calderon—Neptune

n Quarran Calhoun—Raritan

n Shilique Calhoun – Middletown North

n Richard Calia—Holmdel

n Cooper Calzonetti—Neptune

n Chasen Campbell—Oak Hill Academy (VA) n Cleveland Cannon— Long Branch

n Raheem Carter—Long Branch

n Corey Chandler—East Side

n Markens Charles —St. Patrick n Robert Cheeks—St. Anthony’s n Rahmir Cottman—RBR

n Vincent Council—Lincoln (NY) n Don Coven—Long Branch

n Jared Craddox—Lakewood n Sumit Dalal—Marlboro

n Charles Davis—Neptune

n Syessence Davis—Neptune

n Crissie Fisher—Rumson-Fair Haven n Adam Fleischner—Holmdel

n Colin Ford—Manasquan

n Glen Ford—RBC

n Avery Gardner—Long Branch n Tyler Glass—Mater Dei Prep

n Evan Pastorelle—RBC

n Dana Graziano—Holmdel

n Anthony Perry—St. Anthony’s

n Paul Halas—St. Rose

n Felicia Harris—RBR

n Michael Harris—Randolph

n Mykel Harris—Great Mills (MD)

n Ashley Hart—The Peddie School

n Eugene “Nu Nu” Harvey—St. Benedict’s Prep n Corey Haskins—RBR

n JR Hobbie—Manasquan

n Kasey Hobbie—RBC

n Darien Hutton—Ewing n Nolan Ivers—Holmdel

n Jasmine Jackson—Old Bridge

n Rosie Jackson—St. John Vianney

n Melvin Johnson—St. Benedict’s Prep n Tyson Johnson—St. Mary’s (NY)

n Michael Kelly—St. Anthony’s (NY) n Billy Kiss—Long Branch

n Nick La Morte—Mater Dei Prep n Herve Lamizana—St. Patrick’s

n Erin Leahy—Rumson-Fair Haven

n Carl Little—Asbury Park

n Maggie Loundy—Pt. Pleasant Beach

n Mike Mavrinac—Middletown South

n Jasmine McCall—Manalapan

n Billy McCue—CBA

n Roshown McLeod—St. Anthony’s

n Christian Morris—S. Kent School (CT)

n Paul De Salvo—CBA

n Darius Morris—Long Branch

n Taquan

n Michael Murphy—Howell

n Allen Dean—Neptune

Dean—Neptune

n Kevin Owens—Neptune

n Valerie Morris—Freehold Boro

n Sachin Nagpal—Ranney School

n Brian O’Reilly—Middletown South

n Shinece Perry—RBR

n Earl Pettis—Saints John Neumann & Maria Goretti Catholic (PA)

n Simon Press—Asbury Park n Joey Raines—Asbury Park

n Alifiya Rangwala— The Ranney School

n David Reeves—RBC

n Jarelle Reischel—Pt. Pleasant Beach

n Anne Richards—The Lawrenceville School

n Charlie Rogers—Matawan

n Amanda Rosato—St. John Vianney

n Will Sanborn—RBR

n Shira Schect—Hadassim HS (ISRAEL)

n Keyron Sheard—RBR

n Brian Snodgrass—Holmdel

n Lauren Sokol—The Peddie School

n Stephen Spinella—Colts Neck n Matt Stahl—Middletown South

n Missy Stavola—Rumson-Fair Haven n Jenna Strich—RBC n Scott Stump—RBC n Kim Talbot—RBC

n Aaron Tarver—RBR

n Terrance Todd—Neptune

n Maurice Turpin— Long Branch

n John Weldon—Freehold Boro

n Dawn Werner—St. John Vianney n John Werner—St John Vianney

n Kayshanna Wesley—Asbury Park n Kade Weston—RBR

n Eric Yarborough—Asbury Park

n Tomora Young—RBR n Terry Zinn—RBC

n Lynne Zoltowski—RBC

V i s i t o u r w e b s i t e , w w w. m a c t e s t i n g . c o m

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ceremony. Their long-time holiday tournament has been re-named the Albert Martin Memorial Buc Classic, and their pregame warm-up shirts bear Martin’s name and the slogan “Buc 4 Life.” Martin’s mother, Tracy Dixon, still attends every Red Bank home game.

Iseasons n his first 11 as head boys basketball

coach at Red Bank Regional, Scott Martin can remember shedding a few tears only once when the Bucs lost a sectional championship game.

Last season, it would happen frequently and spontaneously. The tears were always simmering beneath the surface, ready to burst forth with a certain look from his players or a casual mention in a conversation. The loss of Red Bank senior Albert Martin, a talented and fun-loving forward who collapsed and died of unknown causes at 17 years old during a preseason scrimmage on Dec. 3, 2012, was a raw wound that remained open all season in which a proud program suffered 22 losses.

“That’s who we’re playing for,’’ Palmer said. “He was more like a brother than a teammate.”

The much-improved Bucs have essentially the same lineup as last season with a few extra wrinkles. Junior Eddie Hendrex, a 6-foot-3 forward with good length and rebounding ability, transferred in from Monmouth Regional. Junior Jake Marcin, another 6-3 forward, came over from Christian Brothers Academy. They are part of a rotation that runs 10 deep most nights and sometimes 12 deep, giving Red Bank the ability to constantly cycle in fresh bodies without any significant drop-off from the starting lineup.

Their box scores are filled with players scoring eight or nine points rather than one or two of them handling the bulk of the offense. On any given night, it can be someone’s time to shine depending on how teams want to defend them. An example was a

“It was tough because we couldn’t really focus on basketball that much,’’ said senior guard Johnny Dengler.

RBR head coach Scott Martin, shown speaking during The loss of the beloved Martin sent many of a ceremony in honor of Albert Martin last season. the players spinning into their own orbits last season, trying to fathom the unfathomable and making basketball seem secondary to real life.

61-36 victory over Wall on This season, Martin’s memory has galvanized the young Bucs, Friday in which the Crimson serving as a unifying force for a team that has shot out of the gate at Knights sat in a 2-3 zone to try 7-3 after winning only four games all of last season. and slow down the Bucs’ explosiveness off the dribble and force contested threes. Junior Jimmy Ferrogine, a reserve who has a solid “We talk about Albert all the time,’’ mid-range game, had 12 points thanks to his ability to knock down Martin said. “It’s easy to want to play 15-footers after catching passes in the middle of the zone.

Red Bank is currently in third place in Class B North behind Matawan and Long Branch, a pair of teams ranked in the Shore Sports Network Top 10. They battled both of those teams in close losses and will face them again in divisional play. The Bucs also have an impressive win over a Red Bank Catholic team that is currently on a roll, and they vanquished old rival Neptune for the first time since 2005, beating the Scarlet Fliers on a putback at the regulation buzzer by sophomore Sadiq Palmer.

hey have made it a point to keep Martin’s memory alive. Last season, they retired his No. 34 jersey in an emotional pregame

“Our goal has been to play as a team and win as a team, and we’ve been doing that,’’ Palmer said.

“We had seven o’clock workouts in the morning all summer, and it made us closer as a team,’’ Dengler said.

Their enviable depth also allows them to play at a frenetic pace, whether it’s pushing the ball offensively, or swarming with fullcourt pressure on defense. Through 10 games, they have forced an average of 18.7 turnovers per game, creating easy buckets in transition for finishers like Palmer and Hendrex.

“We’ll just talk about it, they well up, and then my eyes well up,’’ said Martin (no relation to Albert). “It happens. I can’t believe (Martin’s death) sometimes. I can’t believe it’s still true.”

for him. I say to them all the time that if we can get through last year, we can get through anything.”

Palmer is a rising star in football and basketball, and he leads the team in scoring at 11.8 points per game to go with 5.8 rebounds and 2.2 assists. Navitsky leads the team at 4.1 assists per game and has a 2-1 assist-to-turnover ratio. Junior guard Anthony Mitchell has chipped in with 6.9 points per game. Senior guard Corey Martin, junior guards Justin Gilson and Connor Kelly, and junior forward Tyler Christie have all been contributors to Red Bank’s early success.

Ferrogine was one of four scorers in double digits in the win, with Hendrex leading the way with 13 points.

“We played a lot of guys all summer and then we got Eddie and Jake, and I was like, ‘We’ve got too many guys that we have to play because we don’t know who it’s going to be each night,’’’ Martin said. “I’ve got a 6-9 guy on the bench (junior Moses Birch) who I am trying to find minutes for because we have so many guys who can contribute. That’s like a problem they have at St. Benedict’s (Prep).”

The Bucs are young, with a core of primarily juniors and the sophomore tandem of Palmer and point guard Jack Navitsky. Those two were both called up to the varsity midseason as freshmen last year and gave Red Bank a shot in the arm down the stretch.

“We can grind teams down with our depth,’’ Dengler said.

“We just have fresh legs coming in the game constantly,’’ Palmer said.

The players are also in a much better place mentally. Martin’s death was so overwhelming that it could sometimes leave them confused as to how to act last season.

“I think there isn’t that guilt if we’re having fun,’’ Martin said.

“That was there last year, where we’d find ourselves smiling and then all of a sudden it was like, ‘Oh wait.’ It could be a great practice and we would be having fun and then it just resettled.”

Red Bank didn’t set any particularly lofty preseason goals, choosing to focus on getting better every day and becoming closer as a team every day. Those may be clichés, but that approach has translated to wins, keeping the Bucs in the hunt for a division championship on the heels of one of their worst seasons in program history. They may not have one particular star, but in their minds, there is one player who stands above all of them.

“I remember right after Sadiq made the game-winner to beat Neptune earlier this season, I went up to him and said, ‘Great job tonight,’’’ Martin said. “He said, ‘I did it for Albert. I do everything for Albert.’’

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