Fair Lawn’s Perez breaks through at Cutter Classic by Sean Farrell of The Record
FAIR LAWN – Gabe Perez made his point.
From the mat to the Fair Lawn sideline, that message was clear.
Don’t doubt him.
The senior who’s had to fight his way into the Fair Lawn lineup was one of its seven champions in Saturday’s Cutter Classic, a hometown display of one of North Jersey’s top public school teams.
The affable 152-pound wrestler – known for his brute strength and unorthodox style – said he felt motivated by coaches and teammates who didn’t think he could get out from bottom positions, something he’s struggled with in the past.
When he made his escape in the final, he let everyone know.
“All I was thinking was I’m getting out,” said Perez, a 10-5 championship winner over River Dell’s Sean Burke. “He’s not holding me down. I got out. I pointed to my coach. It wasn’t really disrespectful. I didn’t mean to be disrespectful. I meant to show that I am capable of doing this.”
“He was insistent on going down on bottom,” coach Shane DeLucca said. “We kept telling him no, no, no. He actually said, ‘I got this coach’. So when he went down and got out, it was like, see I did it.”
Perez is one of six district medalists returning for the Cutters, though it took a break for him to get on the mat last season.
After a teammate got sick, Perez filled in admirably by taking third.
His potential always stuck out and his technique has gotten better.
Finally, the opportunity is there too.
“Gabe is very different,” DeLucca said. “Things you wouldn’t want a kid to do, he can do because of his strength. When he’s tired, it doesn’t matter because he’s so strong that he can overcome it. He’s freakishly strong. I haven’t seen a kid his size at 152 pounds with the strength that he has.”
Saddle Brook broke through with four champions on Saturday, and River Dell’s Paul Kallensee came away with the Most Outsanding Wrestler award. Tenafly even got its first finalist in five years when Isaac Berman reached the heavyweight championship.
But the rest of the day belonged to No. 5 Fair Lawn.
The Cutters had been an up-and-down program until recently, alternating winning and losing records and never winning as many as 21 matches under DeLucca before last season.
This year’s team looks just as good, if not better.
Even with a few starters out, they still sent 10 wrestlers to the finals.
“It just shows that Fair Lawn is back,” said sophomore Dylan Cedeno, a BCCA champion. “We’re back on the map and we’re going to make some big noise this year. We came out with a goal and we executed and got as many guys as we could to the finals.”
Cedeno triple-pinned his way to the top after bumping up to 120.
The Cutters also got titles from Nick Motta (113), Frankie Motta (132) Ben Liss (170), Ryan Rue (182) and Ben Cameron (195).
“Wrestling is an individual sport, but I feel like everybody is coming together as a team,” Perez said. “It doesn’t matter how good or bad you are. If you’re a wrestler, you’re part of the Fair Lawn Cutters just like everybody else. Everybody is starting to realize that and the small things make a team. The small things can change so much. That’s why I think Fair Lawn is taking a new step.”