Giovanni Scafidi, Kieran Bruen lift Howell wrestling to win over Christian Brothers Academy
Steven Falk
HOWELL - Giovanni Scafidi has been at Howell High School since the beginning of the school year.
However, Wednesday night, at the end of Howell's dramatic 32-31 win over Christian Brothers Academy in a classic Shore Conference Class A North match, Scafidi officially introduced himself to Howell's fans.
Scafidi's come-from-behind 5-3 win over Nicholas Punzi on a takedown 14.4 seconds into the sudden victory period in the final bout of the match at 144 pounds gave Howell the win.
"That was a hell of a 'Welcome to Howell' moment,'' Howell senior 165-pounder and returning state champion Hunter Mays said. "He works super hard and he deserves it. I'm so happy for him.''
Scafidi, a sophomore 138-pounder who bumped up to 144 Wednesday night, transferred to Howell from Freehold Township with credentials. He was a region runner-up and a state qualifier at 138 last season.
"It feels great. It feels amazing. I couldn't have asked for anything more,'' Scafidi said.
Everything fell into place for Howell, ranked No. 4 in the Asbury Park Press Top 10, in a match where it was a clear underdog to the No. 3 Colts before some key moments flipped things around. .
Junior Kieran Bruen (132) won a key toss-up bout 4-3 over freshman A.J. Falcone two bouts before Scafidi. That result enabled the Howell coaching staff to bump Scafidi up to 144 and away from returning state eighth-place finisher Julian George.
Howell lineup saves points at 120 and 126
With returning state fifth-place finisher Sebastian Ortega not in the lineup at 120 even though he weighed in, Howell was able to save three points at 120 and 126 by holding returning state placewinners Alex Nini (120) and Garrett Totten (126) to a technical fall and major decision respectively.
Howell coach John Gagliano said Ortega, who would have wrestled Nini if he had been available, "could have wrestled, but was definitely not 100 percent today and will be on the mat very soon.''
SCOREBOARD:This week's wrestling scores, news, schedule
MORE:13 top Shore Conference wrestlers from the first two weeks of the season
Howell also won one-point bouts at 190 and heavyweight with Ian Soutar and Thomas Richards respectively and received pins from Mays and Liam Clark (106) and a major decision from returning state qualifier D.J. Henry (175).
"We said to the kids, 'It was going to be 14 kids that was going to win this match','' Gagliano said. "We were definitely the underdog. They're a very, very good team. We said, 'We need to fight for every point because that's going to be the difference', and it was.''
Scafidi was down 3-1 in the third period to Punzi. He tied the bout with 1:05 left and then held off Punzi's attempts to escape and rode him the remainder of the period.
The winning takedown came in the upper center of the mat off a counter of a Punzi shot.
Scafidi said he remembered the lessons he learned from last year's Central Region final, when he was defeated 6-5 by Old Bridge's Tyler Sagi on a late reversal.
'I had to keep my head'
"I figured I had to keep my head and just keep wrestling. I've been trying to work on that and not let my emotions get the best of me,'' Scafidi said. "You have to win as a team and win as myself.''
Gagliano said being in a situation like Scafidi was Wednesday night is not easy for a wrestler to handle.
"That type of match and the stress, it tires you out,'' Gagliano said. "He's got a lot of heart.''
Bruen had to overcome some adversity in his bout. Ahead 2-0 going into the third period on an escape and stalling point. a locking hands call and an escape enabled Falcone to tie it 2-2 with 1:33 left.
A takedown off a scramble with 41.8 seconds left gave Bruen the lead and then he fought off Punzi's attempts to reverse him during several wild scrambles and gave up just an escape with 4.5 seconds remaining.
Bruen did admit he didn't know what to think at first when he realized he was going to be in such a key spot.
"At first, I didn't want it. I thought it could have screwed up with my mentality and how hard I was going to work,'' Bruen said. "But, I realized, if anyone was going to have to do it. I want it to be me. I want to help my team out and do my thing.''
Bruen entered Wednesday night after a confidence-boosting showing last week in the power-packed Powerade Tournament in Canonsburg, Pa.
"He had an outstanding tournament in the Powerade,'' Gagliano said. "He really opened up and did so well. We were so proud of him. He went 3-2 out there and we just saw a whole different kid out there.''
Howell had won at least a share of 15 consecutive Class A North championships before CBA won the divisional title last seasons. Howell's only two defeats in Class A North in the last 16 seasons have been to CBA in 2016 and last season.
There is still a lot of season left in Class A North. Both Howell and CBA still have to wrestle No. 5 Middletown South.
It was also a night where, even with the pandemic swirling all around and causing chaos with the schedule for many teams, wrestling can still deliver in a big way when two very good teams meet.
"This is what's wrestling about, not just here, but everywhere,'' Gagliano said. "It was a great effort by everybody. Hats off to CBA, too. We (the sport) needs nights like this.''
Howell 32, CBA 31
150: Tyler Barrett (CBA) p. Gavin Merkel 2:57.
157: Zander Silva (CBA) md. Nick Acque 17-9.
165: Hunter Mays (H) p. Daniel Menake :58.
175: D.J. Henry (H) md. Nick Stump 15-2.
190: Ian Soutar (H) d. Peter Grippo 3-2.
215: Robert Canterino (CBA) p. Dane Colfer 3:06.
HWT: Thomas Richards (H) d. Taig Sheehy 2-1 (Sudden Victory).
106: Liam Clark (H) p. Tyler Venet :27.
113: Xavier Ortega (H) md. Vincent Principe 10-0.
120: Alex Nini (CBA) tf. Michael Edmundson 5:07 (22-7).
126: Garrett Totten (CBA) md. Sawyer Ostroff 14-4.
132: Kieran Bruen (H) d. A.J. Falcone 4-3.
138: Julian George (CBA) p. J.J. Machnik 1:01.
144: Giovanni Scafidi (H) d. Nicholas Punzi 5-3 (Sudden Victory).