Ridgefield Park beats rival for key win by Sean Farrell of The Record
RIDGEFIELD PARK — The smile on Dennis Murri’s face could be seen from across the room.
For the Ridgefield Park coach, this was his Super Bowl. For the former Scarlets wrestler, there’s nothing like going against Cliffside Park.
So when Juan Mejia clinched the 40-24 victory at 220 for Ridgefield Park on Wednesday night, he was greeted with a bear hug on the sidelines from his coach. It was clear that this wasn’t just any dual win. This was different.
“It’s the Steelers and Ravens,” Murri said. “It’s the Yankees and Red Sox. It’s a classic matchup that I’ve been involved in as an athlete and a coach for years going back to the 90s.”
No. 24 Ridgefield Park (8-4), who won the Big North American last season, is having another strong campaign under Murri.
The Scarlets have experience in the lineup with several all-division wrestlers returning, and talent at the lower weights. Freshman Andre Ruiz started the night off with a 13-5 decision victory, and Howie Brea won by forfeit at 113. The Scarlets built up a 22-12 lead by the middle of the match.
“We tend to rack up our points down low and depend on our heavyweights to maintain it for us,” said senior Joe Cuozzo, who won at 138.
But Cliffside Park would not go down easily. Kenny Pena earned a pin for the Red Raiders at 160, and Noah Argueta managed to do the same at 182.
The home team’s comfortable lead had shrunk to four points. The Scarlets found themselves in a difficult battle, just as they expected.
“They are a tough team,” Murri said. “I think they know as much as we do how important a Ridgefield Park and Cliffside Park match is. They wrestled like it.”
The gruesome match started to take a toll. The injury timeouts slowed down the action, as the wrestlers had to focus on themselves as much as their opponents. Cuozzo, who needed repair for a nosebleed, overcame several stoppages to earn an important 14-10 win.
“That was a war,” Murri said. “If you look at how many times there were blood timeouts, it’s a brawl. Wrestling goes out the window when it’s Ridgefield Park and Cliffside Park. It becomes a street fight.”
Owyn Medina, who earned a 4-1 decision victory at 152, called it the biggest win of the season. The senior can leave Ridgefield Park knowing he’s never lost a head-to-head matchup with his rivals.
“Since freshman year, we’ve been saying that we wanted to win all four years,” Medina said. “Every time, we’ve come out and brawled with them and won.”
The Scarlets’ proud coach took one last moment to soak it all in. As he prepared to leave the gym, he summed up the night by borrowing a well-known saying from Jim Callan, an iconic announcer and coach at Ridgefield Park who died last year.
There was only one way to describe a win like that.
Said Murri, “It’s a great day to be a Scarlet.”