SCT
Well, Southern lost the Shore Conference Wrestling Tournament 28-24 to...Jackson, again. This is the second year in a row, and the third time in five years that we have lost to Jackson in the SCT finals. Absolutely painful. This year, so far Jackson is ranked #1 in NJ. I'm not too sure where Southern is ranked, but our record is 14-3 (two losses to Jackson, one to Kitattiny), so I'm positive it's in the top 10. This is Jackson's 5th SCT wrestling title in 6 years.
The Shore Conference, as I have mentioned before, is the biggest athletic conference in NJ, with over 45 schools. Most sports have an overall conference champion via a tournament, for example: basketball and wrestling both have major tournaments that are the biggest events of the year as far as conference matchups go, football obviously does not.
Southern has two SCT wrestling titles, 1997 and 1998. I was a freshmen on the '98 team, and being there when we won the thing was memorable. My varsity years of 2000 and 2001 saw us lose in the semi-finals to...yep, Jackson. The 2000 semi-final match was particularly painful for me. We were losing 36-30 and I needed to pin Mile Filosa to tie it up. Back then, heavyweights always went last, so all the pressure was on me. I was just starting to come into my own as a good wrestler, but Filosa was a fucking beast of a wrestler, absolutely amazing. I didn't stand a chance. That match, in front of a packed crowd, I wrestled one of my best matches ever. So good, in fact, that I even had Filosa on his back...the crowd started going fucking nuts. But, I wasn't experienced enough, and I got too excited and compromised my position...Filosa rolled onto his belly. I fought hard, but he eventually beat me something like 11-3, and we lost 39-30. I cried like a baby under the bleachers because I had let me team down, and that was the moment I fell in love with wrestling. Jackson went on to win.
I had a very shitty senior year of HS wrestling due in large part to my knee injury. I finally came to terms with my senior year. I still have not come to terms with the Filosa match, and I probably never will. The funny thing, and I found this out later, even if I had pinned Filosa, we still would have lost on tie-breaking rules.
The Shore Conference, as I have mentioned before, is the biggest athletic conference in NJ, with over 45 schools. Most sports have an overall conference champion via a tournament, for example: basketball and wrestling both have major tournaments that are the biggest events of the year as far as conference matchups go, football obviously does not.
Southern has two SCT wrestling titles, 1997 and 1998. I was a freshmen on the '98 team, and being there when we won the thing was memorable. My varsity years of 2000 and 2001 saw us lose in the semi-finals to...yep, Jackson. The 2000 semi-final match was particularly painful for me. We were losing 36-30 and I needed to pin Mile Filosa to tie it up. Back then, heavyweights always went last, so all the pressure was on me. I was just starting to come into my own as a good wrestler, but Filosa was a fucking beast of a wrestler, absolutely amazing. I didn't stand a chance. That match, in front of a packed crowd, I wrestled one of my best matches ever. So good, in fact, that I even had Filosa on his back...the crowd started going fucking nuts. But, I wasn't experienced enough, and I got too excited and compromised my position...Filosa rolled onto his belly. I fought hard, but he eventually beat me something like 11-3, and we lost 39-30. I cried like a baby under the bleachers because I had let me team down, and that was the moment I fell in love with wrestling. Jackson went on to win.
I had a very shitty senior year of HS wrestling due in large part to my knee injury. I finally came to terms with my senior year. I still have not come to terms with the Filosa match, and I probably never will. The funny thing, and I found this out later, even if I had pinned Filosa, we still would have lost on tie-breaking rules.