Story by Jake Aferiat | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
Each time the Union County Tournament comes around, Cranford wrestling coach Pat Gorman asks his wrestlers a question.What type of legacy do they want to leave? What kind of history do they want to make?
He knows well that the line between being known for all the right reasons and all the wrong reasons is incredibly thin, and that came to pass on Saturday.
His Cranford team won its 11th consecutive Union County Tournament title, but did so by just 9.5 team points, edging out Rahway 215.5-206, just the third time in the last 11 tournaments that the margin has been decided by single digits.
“We try and say at the beginning of the year that we’re not county champs and that we have to go earn that again,” Gorman said. “If you guys want to be known as the team that continues it, you’ll all be part of the history. If you want to know be the team that doesn’t continue it, you’re still part of the history. It’s just in a bad way.”
The two sides were neck and neck until the very end, especially as Rahway picked up two titles against Cranford wrestlers in three attempts. But the similarity in numbers between the two teams are nearly identical.
Rahway had six finalists to Cranford’s five, while Rahway had seven wrestlers alive in the wrestlebacks to Cranford’s six, including several matches between each other.
Ultimately, though, it wasn’t enough as Cranford got timely wins and timely bonus points to claim yet another team title.
That it came right down to the end isn’t a surprise to Gorman, either.
“We were always on our heels the entire time. Rahway was right there, so was Union,” Gorman said. This one was the tightest one that we had in a while and, I was unsure of how it was going to go. I really was.“
Gorman and his wrestlers all know well the perception and the air that often surrounds Cranford when the Cougars walk into the Louis J. Rettino Gym at Union for this tournament.
They all know the name across the front of their singlet puts a target on their backs.
“We love that and that’s something we speak about,” Gorman said. “When we wrestle teams like Phillipsburg, Mount Olive or Southern, we try and tell the kids to not wrestle the singlet because a lot of kids walk into a match like that thinking that they have no shot. When we come to this tournament, I feel like we are the singlet.”
Perhaps no two targets were bigger than those on the backs of 120-pounder Mike Daly and 157-pounder Luke Scholz, as both entered the tournament seeking to become just the second and third four-time county champs in program history, respectively.
Both achieved the feat with relative ease, as Daly picked up a 7-3 decision over Johnson’s Matty Ortega to win his fourth while Scholz picked up a 17-2 tech in the first period at 157 to win his fourth and officially win Cranford the team race.
“To win this tournament every year is a huge honor,” Daly said. “It’s a great tournament. It’s been amazing all four years. This is a stepping stone for me for bigger goals, but I’m proud to do it and happy to do it.”
Daly, ranked No. 7 at 120 in the latest individual rankings, has just one loss in-state on the year, back at the Sam Cali to St. Peter’s Prep’s Robbie Rodriguez, but that’s only fueled him even more.
“It was definitely a wake up call and got me even more motivated to do more and more and go the extra mile,” Daly, who wrestle collegiately at Pitt, said.
Scholz too was motivated, especially given how tight the team race was.
“To be able to clinch the team title is unreal, just because I’ve been in this program, since I was a little kid,” the App State commit said. “To do it for the team, we’re like a family.”
And it was fitting that Scholz became the 11th four-time champ in Union County history while also securing Cranford consecutive team title No. 11.
But Scholz and Daly both hope the best is yet to come as the two-time state qualifier looks to finally get on the podium this year.
“I feel like I’ve been doing all the right things. Going to practice every day, getting the extra runs and lifting, but it’s just part of the game,” Scholz said. “You’ve got to love it. So for the postseason, I’ve just got stay hungry and there’s no pressure at this point. Just keep doing it for the love of the game.”
And is winning 12 in a row front of mind for Cranford?
If past tournaments are any indication,
“I knew we were going to be good at some point and win some, but I never thought about a streak, that was never the goal,” Gorman said. “The streak was always to win this year and see what happens next year. I tell the kids you can’t feel sorry for working hard for something.”
