Paramus trio make history by JJ Conrad of The Record
Brian Bonino sat eagerly alongside his coaches on the mat. Kyle Kaiser stood and watched intently behind the scorer’s table.
Both Paramus wrestlers already had done their part, capturing the 195- and 113-pound BCCA George Jockish Holiday Tournament titles, respectively, Thursday night.
Now, the spotlight was shining brightly on their longtime teammate and even longer-time friend, Kyle Cochran, in the 160-pound final in Hackensack with the crowd buzzing throughout this highly anticipated overtime bout.
And when the final buzzer sounded on Cochran’s thrilling 8-6 victory over upset-minded Michael O’Malley of Hasbrouck Heights, history was made. It is believed to be the first time in Paramus history that a trio of wrestlers claimed individual titles at the holiday county tournament.
Just like they hoped for and envisioned years ago.
“It’s something we definitely did used to talk about when we were younger, I’m not gonna lie,” said Bonino, who captured the 195-pound title with a 3-1 overtime win over Emerson/Park Ridge’s Josh Lewis.
“We’d go to Rockland County [Community College] wishing one day to make it to the finals and be on that stage. And now to win one, and have all three of us win one, it’s a dream come true. [Thursday] was something special.”
His teammate agreed.
“We’d always say, ‘We can’t wait till we get to do this,’” said Kaiser, a junior who repeated as BCCA champion after his 6-5 win over Joe Manginelli in the 113-pound final to add to his 2015 106-pound crown. “We always wanted those big crowds watching us in the finals. Growing up we’d go to club practices and see all the guys we knew in high school and watch their matches and root for them.
“Now it’s our time to shine.”
Bonino and Cochran, both seniors, captured their first BCCA Holiday tournament titles on Thursday. The two grapplers spent their pre-championship bout time on the mat together, serving as each other’s final tuneups before their turns in the county tournament spotlight.
And no one, it seemed, was more excited than Bonino when Cochran, the reigning 160-pound state champion, held off O’Malley to cap the night.
“Kyle’s someone who’s always pushing me to better and better,” said Bonino, also an All-County running back on the Spartans’ football team. “When we hit the mat together, he’s someone who makes me have to step up my level because I know he’s going to bring it every time I come at him. We’re both always in each other’s corners. Always pulling for each other. And the fact we’ve been such good friends for so long, it made everything that much better.”
Kaiser has been wrestling with Bonino and Cochran since he was in first grade, making Thursday night that much more special for the entire Paramus trio.
“We’re all close friends, we’re all captains this year and we all want to see each other succeed,” Kaiser said. “Basically, they’re like brothers. There’s a tight bond. When I watch Brian or Kyle, I want them to win as much as I want to win my own match. There’s so much support. We know how much work everyone is putting in.”
Years ago, all three had the opportunity to attend and wrestle for other schools in North Jersey, specifically some higher-profile non-public schools.
But Bonino, Cochran and Kaiser chose to stay home. They chose to represent their town and don the blue-and-white of Paramus with hopes of one day making history, as they did Thursday night.
“There’s nothing like being a homegrown kid,” Bonino said. “I did everything with sports in Paramus and for all of us, we all knew if we stayed where we were, in Paramus, we could do something special like this.”
“Honestly what we did feels amazing,” Kaiser said. “It’s a huge accomplishment that we took care of and one we set from the very beginning. It was one of the marks. But there’s many more to come.”