Don Bosco’s Peter Acciardi wins state wrestling title by Sean Farrell of The Record
ATLANTIC CITY — Peter Acciardi made the jump.
On top of his coach. And then, on top of the podium.
The senior from Don Bosco took a running leap into the outstretched arms of assistant Rick LaForge after time expired for his first state title. It was an unplanned celebration to a moment Acciardi has dreamed about every day since getting pinned in last year’s finals. During his last match as an Ironman, he beat Montville’s Liridon Leka by a 3-1 decision during Sunday’s 220-pound championship. Then while still on the mat, he went airborne.
“That was a little extra,” Acciardi said. “It was spur of the moment. The crowd got me riled up. I jumped pretty high for a big guy.”
By now, Acciardi knows Boardwalk Hall all too well. He was a four-time state qualifier and an annual spectator to the state tournament since sixth grade. But the jitters got to him last year, so much so that he described himself as a “mess”. He came in much more relaxed this time, letting his mind wander to an 80’s rock soundtrack on Pandora shuffle. That carefree attitude carried over to the mat.
“He wasn’t coming back here to lose this year,” coach Tom Farinaro said. “Without a doubt. Last year when he got to the finals, he didn’t open up. He didn’t wrestle like he can. This year, we just kept telling him to keep wrestling. Wrestle like you’ve been wrestling and no one’s going to beat you. This year, he was way more looser going into the finals.”
Acciardi (37-2) had good reason to feel confident.
The Buffalo-bound county champion beat Leka at the Sam Cali tournament back in January and went into Atlantic City as the No. 1 seed. The turning point in the rematch came in the second period. Leka took a shot, but Acciardi ended up on top after a scramble and rode Leka out for the rest of the period.
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“Our gameplan was the same,” Farinaro said. “Peter was going to attack. He was going to keep moving forward, keep the pressure on. We were just trying to score points. Nothing changed at all through the tournament and nothing changed from that first match.”
Acciardi pinned Cherokee’s Robert Livshits in his opening-round match and went on to become one of the highest-scoring wrestlers of the tournament. He put up 21 points in a pair of wins and used his deceptive speed to his advantage. At just 197 pounds on Sunday, he was his lightest of the season and gave up significant weight in some matches.
“I go by the saying, don’t judge a book by its cover,” Acciardi said, earlier this season. “That’s what I think about all the time. I go up against kids who are huge all the time. So I just remember to go as fast as I can.”
Acciardi came to Don Bosco with big expectations. After all, he had a decorated career already as a four-time youth state champion. He can’t remember very much about those titles, but he will remember this one. He can now put his name alongside the Chakonis brothers and Kyle Bierdumpfel and the other greats to come through Ramsey.
This time, Acciardi is second to none.
“Nothing compares to this,” he said. “Winning states is cool when you’re younger. But winning a high school title is something you’ll never forget.”