Ridge Wrestler Cameron Radinovic Wins Somerset County Tournament

For the first time in 18 years, Ridge High School has a county champion wrestler.

Cameron Radinovic won his division at the Somerset County Wrestling Tournament, becoming the first county champion at Ridge in since 1992. Alex Braunstein took second in his division.

Braunstein, who was undefeated until the finals of the tournament, had to acknowledge that he would probably face some of the stiffest competition he has yet to face this season at the Somerset County Tournament.

"There are a lot of good kids here. One from Rutgers prep, Franklin, and Bridgewater from my weight class that I know of," Braunstein said as the coaches were meeting to determine seedings for the day.

Braunstein couldn't have known that the one from Franklin would be the first to defeat him this season.

Braunstein was seeded second in his weight class, behind only Brian Stapleton of Franklin. Both were given a bye. Zack Bond of Ridge was also given a bye in the 145 lb. weight division. Radinovic of the 189 lb. division, the only member of the Ridge team who was a No. 1 seed, earned a bye as well. 

Red Devil Shane Gong won his first match of the day in the 119 lb. division, beating Sahil Trikha of Rutgers Prep and advancing to the second round of the tournament.

Ridge's Darius Vaziri of the 215 lb. weight class won his preliminary match against Derick Abreau of North Plainfield, earning himself a quarter-final match against two-time state champion Andrew Campolattano, a junior from Bound Brook who at that point in the tournament boasted an astounding 106-1 record.

"I've heard so much about that guy [Campolattano]. Just the chance to go out there and compete with someone of his caliber is awesome," said a breathless Vaziri after pinning Abreau.  

Braunstein described Campolattano as, "probably the best in the nation."

Vaziri, rising after his quarter-final match with a wide grin on his face, was pinned by Campolattano in 17 seconds. All Vaziri could say was, "He was fast, and he was strong."

Gong lost his second match to Frank Lazauskas of Somerville, but because he had won his first match and advanced to the second round, he could still compete in the "wrestle-back" bracket. Vaziri would continue to compete in the wrestle-backs as well.

Before the wrestle-backs began, however, Gong was forced to forfeit due to injury, leaving only Braunstein, Bond, Vaziri, and Radinovic in the tournament for Ridge. Vaziri and Bond were in the wrestle-backs competing for third place, while Braunstein and Radinovic were still competing in the main brackets and had a chance at first or second.

Braunstein advanced to the semi-finals after his win against Matt Bruskin of Somerville, pinning his opponent in 5:54. Radinovic advanced to the semi-finals also, after pinning Mickey Gall of Watchung Hills in 2:46.

Bond dominated his first match in the 145 lb. wrestle-backs against Bound Brook's Dominick Vatalare, winning 8-0.

Neither Braunstein nor Jon Friedman of Bridgewater-Raritan scored a point in the first period of their semi-final match. Braunstein struck first in the second period, scoring two points, but Friedman quickly answered with a point of his own.

Friedman tied the score halfway through the third period, leaving both wrestlers at two. With less than 15 seconds left, Braunstein seemed to erupt, bringing his opponent down and scoring two more to secure a 4-2 victory, advancing to the 171 lb. division finals.

Radinovic's 189 lb. semi-final match was also close until the end of the third period. At the beginning of the third, Radinovic was only leading 1-0, but in the last 10 seconds of the match he brought down Kazier Archer of Bridewater-Raritan and scored five points to end the match 6-0.

At this point, both Braunstein and Radinovic had secured a spot in the 171 lb. and 189 lb. finals, while Bond and Vaziri were both fighting for third in their divisions.

But Bond and Vaziri were both pinned and eliminated in the second round of the wrestle-backs, leaving only Braunstein and Radinovic for the Red Devils.

The stands were packed for the finals, which took place at 7 p.m.–nine hours after the tournament started. At this point in the tournament, Ridge was in ninth place as a team, out of 13 teams competing, with 49 points. Hillsborough led with 196 and Franklin was in second with 183.

As a team, the Red Devils were out of contention, but Braunstein and Radinovic could still win their weight divisions with a win in the finals.  

Braunstein, the No. 2 seed, was scheduled to face Stapleton of Franklin, the No. 1 seed for the 171 lb. division. Braunstein struggled in the first period of their match, and going into the second period he was down 4-2.

Early in the third, Stapleton struck again and Braunstein was down 6-2 with less than a minute left in the match. The match ended Braunstein's undefeated season, with Stapleton winning 8-3 and taking first place in the tournament. Braunstein was awarded second.

Radinovic's 189 lb. championship match was between a No. 1 and a No. 2 seed from Franklin and Ridge as well, except this time Radinovic of Ridge was  No. 1 and Chike Okolo of Franklin was No. 2.

The match was even for the first period, with neither wrestler scoring. In the second period, Okolo started to pull ahead and scored three points in the first minute. Radinovic scored one at the end of the second period, and went into the third facing a 3-1 deficit.

But the third was decidedly Radinovic's—he took Okolo to the mat and racked up 5 points in the period, winning the match 6-3 and taking home the 189 lb. division Somerset County Tournament championship.

"I didn't know if I'd win," said Radinovic, adding, "I just took it a match at a time and tried to beat all those kids."

"Now we have the first county champ in almost 20 years," exclaimed Coach Steve Hendershot after the match.

The last county champion from Ridge was Jay Roussey in 1992.