Montclair's strongman Ottis Wright finished an impressive fourth in the state at 160 while finishing his junior season at 40-4. (Photos by Sean Buldiger)

Montclair's Ottis Wright sizes up his opportunity during match this season.

Montclair assistant coach Ricky Redd and head man Mike Freedman (right) enjoyed watching Wright progress into a county, District and Region champ.

Wright Has Focus On State Title
In 2011 Wrestling State Tourney
By Steve Tober
For sidelinechatter.com

Before they went down to Atlantic City this past Thursday, Montclair coach Mike Freedman and his standout 160-pounder Ottis Wright had already proclaimed that nothing short of a state championship was on their collective minds.

When we caught up with Wright at both the early-season Newark Academy Invitational Tournament and the mid-season Essex County tourney the same thought was echoed by the Mounties’ standout junior grappler, who last Sunday took fourth place at 160 in the NJSIAA state tourney in Boardwalk Hall.

Wright is the first Mountie to place in the states since Israel Cronk became Montclair’s third state champion, winning the 171-pound crown in 1997.

He joins West Orange’s outstanding heavyweight Emiliano Betancor as Essex County’s highest placewinners in this now past season’s state tourney. Both Wright and Betancor, along with West Essex’s sixth-place finisher Anthony Perrotti (119) are all juniors and will return next winter to hopefully represent Essex once again in the state tourney in A.C.

“We’re extremely proud of Ottis taking fourth in the state and that should help with his seeding next year, but his goal of winning a state championship is still first and foremost on his mind and I’m confident he can win it next March,” said Freedman, the impressive, young Mounties’ mat mentor, who has helped resurrect the program the past few seasons. “He still has some unfinished business and with even more off-season work that he’s planning on doing this spring and summer we see him being right there at the end once again.”

Wright finished 40-4 this past season, equaling the single-season, school record for victories previously established by 103-pound grappler Gerson DeLeon in 2008. In three seasons, Wright is now 104-24 and 78-12 since the start of his sophomore year.

Wright was edged by John Guzzo of High Point, 1-0, in the 160-pound third-place bout on Sunday. The Mountie lost to eventual state champion Nick Visicaro of Long Branch, 7-1, in the semifinals, but he battled his way right back into contention for a third by earning a 10-3 decision over Evan Bowiby of Wallkill Valley in the wrestleback semifinals.

Earlier in the day on Saturday, March 6, in the quarterfinals of the tourney, Wright edged Ross Scheuerman of Allentown, 3-1.

Freedman said Wright’s confidence really began to soar after he had dispatched with both Passaic Valley’s Rob Sotelo (20-8) in the Region 4 semifinals and then edged St. Peter’s Prep’s Tony Pafumi, 6-5, to cop a Region title.

“Ottis really felt great after knocking off both those guys in the Regions and we decided to really pick up some great competition outside of our usual work in the wrestling room by traveling to work out with Jamie Westwood (of Queen of Peace) and then go down to Brearley to work with some of their kids, just to better prepare ourselves for Atlantic City,” said Freedman. “Now, after finishing fourth in the states, he’s really ready to step it up another notch.

“This will be the first time he’s really done a lot of off-season wrestling and I see him only getting better and better and he’s already one of the physically strongest and toughest kids you’ll see out there.”

Wright is a fine two-way back for Montclair’s football team and plans on playing again this coming fall as the Mounties bring in a brand new coaching staff.

“He’ll have to make a decision at some point about what he wants to do in college, but we’re just now starting to get more interest coming in,” said Freedman. “Stevens Tech has contacted us and I’m sure when I get back in my office there will be some more letters from schools.

“More and more people are realizing just how great a wrestler Ottis is and his future is extremely bright!”

MAT NOTES- Freedman said he has been told that Wright, who was also a county and District 14 champ, will be named The Star-Ledger’s Essex County Wrestler of the Year…Bloomfield’s outstanding senior duo of Chris Lantz (112) and Fabian Rosario (140) finished fifth and seventh, respectively, as two more placewinners from Essex County in the state tourney…Verona’s fine 189-pounder Colin Farawell placed eighth becoming the Hillbillies’ first state placewinner in school mat history…Betancor, who had just an outstanding junior season, while finishing fourth when he was pinned in 4:58 by Jon Slack of Warren Hills in the third-place bout on Sunday in Boardwalk Hall, becomes just West Orange’s second wrestler to be a state placewinner. Tommy Lorenzo was sixth as a junior in 2005 and fourth as a senior in 2006 for coach Stefan Zichella’s Mountaineers, who won the Essex County Tournament title and shared the Super Essex Conference-American Division crown with Seton Hall Prep…The Pirates’ fine 125-pounder Lou Mascola, who had been rated second in his weight class all season long behind eventual state champ Joe Duca of Paulsboro, saw his hopes to place in the state tourney end when he lost to Delaware Valley’s Bobby Stevely, 7-3, in Saturday morning’s quarterfinals, and then also was beaten by Toms River South’s B.J. Clagon, 4-2, in the second round of the wrestlebacks, also held that day.

Montclair ’s wrestling state champs:

1997: Israel Cronk (171 pounds)

1970: Irwin Swan (98)

1969: Richard Starr (178)

Montclair's Wright works over Bayonne's Billy Bork earlier this season

Graduated Montclair 103-pound standout Gerson Deleon (left) won 40 matches in 2008, a season standard now shared by Wright. (Photo by Jake Cooper)

copyright 2005 Sideline Chatter - comments - contact the webmaster