Bergen Catholic remains fully charged in Atlantic City by Darren Cooper of The Record

ATLANTIC CITY – Bergen Catholic didn’t go undefeated Sunday at Boardwalk Hall, but the electric yellow singlets did.

Three Bergen Catholic wrestlers: Shane Griffith (160), Jacob Cardenas (195) and Robert Howard (120) claimed state titles. All three wore the unique bright neon gear. Coincidentally, the two Bergen Catholic wrestlers who opted for more traditional garb: Josh McKenzie and Chris Foca lost in the finals.

“There’s something to be said about that,” smiled Bergen Catholic coach Dave Bell. “I like that statistic.”

There are no more mountains for Bell and the Crusaders to climb in New Jersey. Their three champions was the most of any school, same for their five finalists. They were once again the No. 1 team in New Jersey, and feel they are also the No. 1 team in America.

In 2015 and 2016, Bergen Catholic finished with four state champions, which is the most any school has ever had in the gauntlet that is New Jersey high school wrestling in the modern era (Newton had eight champs in 1949, when singlets were pretty much all one color). High Point also had four champs in 2011.

People look at Bergen Catholic and feel like they were always this dominant, but the truth is this is still relatively new for the Crusaders. In 2013, they had two champs and won just three medals. Go back to 2010 and the Crusaders won two medals period. It’s that reason they don’t take any success for granted.

“You never know what can happen,” said Bell. “I felt we wrestled well. I felt we had some disappointments. You want them all to win, but the ones who lose….it can be tough to take.”

Griffith was the headliner for the Crusaders this season. The Stanford-bound senior got knocked hard in the head for the second straight day, but was able to shake it off and post a hard-fought 5-2 win over Robert Kanniard of Wall.

It was his third state title of his high school career, and Griffith hoisted up three digits on each hand after it was raised.

Cardenas was the revelation of the weekend. Gifted, strong, and quick he bulled his way through the 195-pound bracket like a wrecking ball, winning 10-2 over Sam Wustefeld of Scotch Plains/Fanwood in the final. He was the eighth seed, admittedly low after facing such a rigorous schedule this winter.

Howard, a sophomore, looked like the next superstar. The son of a former gymnast and soccer player, he is blessed with unique gifts and never seems to be off balance. The crowd in Atlantic City (they announced a three-day total of just over 42,000) couldn’t help but cheer for him at the end.

“This is the peak of New Jersey wrestling, it’s every little kids dream to wrestle here and I came up so close last year and I’m just so happy that I got it this year,” said Howard. “I have been a national champ and made a world team, now I am state champ. I plan to take some time off, maybe a couple of weeks, then I have to go back and make another world team. It’s time to be a World champ.”

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As far as being national champs as a team, well, the story is complicated. The Crusaders and Bell are still miffed that some national rankings have them behind Blair Academy, a team the Crusaders beat head-to-head. Bergen Catholic’s lone loss came against Montini Catholic of Illinois.

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When the Crusaders posed for their top-ranked team in New Jersey picture before the finals, many had on shirts that read, Who’s ‘Really’ Number One? With the word Really under a caret for emphasis.

“We are number one,” said Bell. “Win Magazine made us number one and I am going to go with that. Honestly, I couldn’t understand the logic of some of the national press, I think it’s different because we put it on the line.”

Bell acknowledges that his school has certain advantages in the ability to attract kids from all over New Jersey, but he doesn’t apologize for the culture he and his assistant coaches have created. Wrestling is hard work and takes serious commitment. Bell has done everything he can to challenge his team, and will do so next year (Blair Academy, just name the time/place).

The hidden factor in all this is that deep down, his team is still having fun. Bell tells the story that he desperately needed singlets when he reached out to a company online, they warned him the first team they sent them too sent them back, because they were too unusual. Bell persisted and then star, now assistant coach Bryan Nunziato, loved them. So they stayed.

You couldn’t miss Bergen Catholic back then because of them. You can’t miss them now either. These days, they usually come with gold medals.