Holy Spirit’s D’Arcy wrestles well, but Suriano wins another state championship

By DAVE O’SULLIVAN Publisher ATLANTIC CITY – Holy Spirit junior 113-pounder Patrick D’Arcy knew he would have to wrestle one of the best matches of his career on Sunday in the state championship at Boardwalk Hall. And he did. Unfortunately, even a great match wasn’t enough to beat undefeated Bergen Catholic sophomore Nick Suriano. Suriano scored a takedown midway through the first period, rode out D’Arcy in the second, and got an escape and a 4-point move in the third to win 7-0 and capture his second straight state title. With the win, Suriano, ranked No. 2 in the nation by Intermatwrestle.com, improved to 83-0 in his career. The loss was only the third of the season for D’Arcy, ranked No. 18 by Intermat. D’Arcy, who finished third in the state last year as a sophomore, finished the season with a 43-3 record and will enter his senior year with a career mark of 120-11. Holy Spirit senior Patrick D’Arcy, right, wrestles Bergen Catholic’s Nick Suriano during the 113-pound state championship on Sunday at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City. Suriano won 7-0 to win his second straight state title. (Glory Days Magazine photos/Dave O’Sullivan) “Obviously, you have to be aggressive,” D’Arcy said of his approach against Suriano. “He’s a great wrestler and you have to find ways to score on him. I just came up a little bit short.” D’Arcy said finishing second and having 43 wins wasn’t much of a consolation. It was clear he wouldn’t be satisfied without a state championship. “I wrestled well. I got to the finals, but it wasn’t the result I was looking for in the end. But next year hopefully I will come back stronger,” D’Arcy said. “We knew that Suriano was tough, we’ve wrestled him a bunch of times. There’s a reason why he’s ranked No. 2 in the country. But (Pat) was ready. I think that was one of our better matches with him,” Holy Spirit coach Ralph Paolone said. Paolone said the margin for error is small in a state championship bout, and what could have turned out to be a big move for D’Arcy, Suriano turned into a positive for himself after a slight hesitation by D’Arcy. “The one four-point move is literally razor-thin from being a takedown for us and making it a 3-2 match,” Paolone said. “(Pat) wasn’t taking a wild headlock. That wasn’t a Hail Mary. He had a nice inside control tie, he had a duck to come around. I think he got in deeper than he thought he was and it probably surprised him. He hesitated a second and that’s what Suriano needed.” D’Arcy admitted he gave Suriano the chance he needed to put the match on ice. “I needed two takedowns and I just kept going for it. I had a nice duck there at the end, but then I got caught. I got sloppy with my hips,” D’Arcy said. Despite the loss, Paolone said he was proud of D’Arcy and knows the loss will provide the fuel D’Arcy needs to come back even stronger as a senior. “He’s worked really hard. I said it at the beginning of the season and I’ll say it now. There’s no secret formula for getting here and to getting on the podium here. You have to work harder than everybody else, and (Pat) does that,” Paolone said. “People don’t realize the work that these kids put in. He’s up in the morning running, he gets done our wrestling practice and he goes to the gym and lifts. And if he doesn’t go lift he’s going up to the Patriot Wrestling Club. He’s getting at least three workouts a day. “People think kids just come here and it happens, or they are that talented. The secret formula is hard work.” Camden senior heavyweight Andrew Stevens was brought to tears when he won the first state championship in school history. D’Arcy said he knows what he has to do, and beating Suriano will be the top priority through all his offseason workouts. “Obviously he’s the best of the best, and if I want to be the best I have to beat him,” D’Aarcy said. “It just tells me how much harder I have to work in order to win.” Feel good story When the final horn sounded at the end of the heavyweight bout between Camden senior Andrew Stevens and Robbinsville’s Tyler Gildner, it would have been tough to find a dry eye in the house. Stevens became the first state champion from Camden High School in the 81-year history of the tournament. He scored an escape and a takedown, and was able to ride out Gildner through the final minute. When he realized he had won, he knelt on the mat, stared up at the crowd and the tears began to roll down his cheeks. Give credit to Gildner. Realizing the magnitude of the moment, he put aside his own disappointment and gave Stevens a congratulatory hug at the center of the mat. Notes: Bergen Catholic’s Johnny Sebastian won his third straight state championship when he beat Brearley’s Joey Balboni in the 182-pound final … Delsea’s Bryan Dobzanski won his second straight title when he scored a reversal in the third overtime to slip past Don Bosco’s Zack Chakonis. Dobzanski finished his career on a 93-match winning streak and now will turn his attention to the baseball diamond, where he could be a MLB draft pick this summer … St. Augustine Prep’s Jack Clark, who spent the bulk of his career in Maryland and is a two-time national high school champion, outlasted a gritty performance by Hunterdon Central’s Gary Dinmore to win the title at 152 pounds. Contact Dave O’Sullivan: sully@acglorydays.com; on Twitter @GDsullysays