Brick Memorial Wrestlers Bring Home Gold, Silver At NJ Finals

ATLANTIC CITY, NJ — Three Brick Memorial wrestlers came home with medals, with two state champions and a state runner-up at the NJSIAA Wrestling Championships on Saturday.

The Mustangs had seven wrestlers reach the state championships, the pinnacle of the season for the thousands of athletes who take to the mats in December.

Evan Tallmadge, Anthony Santaniello and Harvey Ludington made it through the first two days of wrestling, reaching Saturday's finals, and Tallmadge and Ludington were able to claim crowns at 120 and 175, respectively, with Santaniello taking second in a hard-fought final at 132.

Tallmadge, a senior, finished off his high school career with a 7-3 decision over Luke Stanich of Roxbury. Tallmadge was trailing 3-2 late in the match when he caught Stanich and took him down with less than 20 seconds to go.

"I pancaked him," Tallmadge said.

"He's tough. His hand-fighting was great," which Tallmadge said made it hard to find an edge to get control until the end of the match.

"I wanted this. I needed it. I had to get the second one," said Tallmadge, who won his first state title last April.

"My career would not be complete, even though I'm going to still be wrestling," said Tallmadge, who is headed to the U.S. Naval Academy after graduation. "Two is way better than one."

Ludington, a freshman who moved to New Jersey from Nevada, earned a 5-2 decision over Jared Schoppe of Delsea at 175 pounds. Ludington was aggressive from the opening whistle, relentlessly working to put Schoppe to the mat.

Ludington said he had come to New Jersey because of its reputation as "a wrestling mecca." At Brick Memorial, long a wrestling powerhouse in the state, trips to Atlantic City are commonplace.

Actually making the trip to Atlantic City "exceeded my expectations," he said with a grin.

"It's insane," Ludington said of the boisterous crowds and the fanfare that includes the wrestlers in the finals being introduced in a darkened arena, spotlights on them as their achievements are read off in Lehigh introductions. "It's the coolest thing ever."

Ludington had just one loss, at the beginning of the season in the Mustang Classic, where he said he let up when he got behind.

"I never give up now," he said.

Santaniello, a junior, lost a 2-1 decision to Tyler Vasquez of Delbarton in the 132-pound final. Vasquez got an early takedown and controlled the tempo the rest of the way, never allowing Santaniello to get an opportunity score.

Brick Memorial's Braden Scott (138 pounds), Ryan Smith (150 pounds), Cory Martin (190 pounds) and Sam Azzaretti (285 pounds), all seniors, closed out their high school wrestling careers with a trip to Atlantic City, a year after the championships were reduced to a one-day event by the pandemic.