Feb. 8 CJ III Wrestling Steinert still proud after falling ... - Fish 4 Scores

Feb. 8 CJ III Wrestling
Sean Augustyn battles Brick's Steven Cummings during tonight's 145-pound bout (Photo by Dennis Symons/purchase
photos at www.dennissymons.com).
Spartans fall to Brick Twp. in semis but still feel like winners for their effort
By Ken Weingartner
Fish4Scores.com
Feb. 8: It will not show up as a victory in the record book, but the way junior Jon Bussi sees it,
the fact Steinert High’s wrestling team reached the semifinals of the state sectional tournament after
an 0-3 start to the season, it sure feels that way.
The Spartans saw their school-record 15-match win streak ended tonight by a 38-25 loss at
Brick Township in the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group III tourney. Steinert battled hard, leading 22-18
with five bouts to go, but were unable to slay the second-seeded Green Dragons.
“In our opinion, this is a win for us,” said Bussi, who won a major decision at 220 pounds. “It
definitely means a lot for us to have gotten this far. We came in here and put up a fight. We didn’t get
this far for nothing. I know we had our heads set right tonight, they just came out a little bit better than
us.”
Back in December it might have seemed little more than wishful thinking to imagine the
Spartans on this stage. Except Steinert head coach Adam Jankos wasn’t simply imagining it. He
believed his squad was this good, and he made it clear to his wrestlers in what he labeled a “heart-toheart”
talk prior to the New Year.
“I remember at the beginning of the season when we were 0-3 and our coach told us we were
the best 0-3 team out there,” Bussi said. “And he was serious because we got it this far. Now that we
got this far we’re going to use it as motivation for the future.”

Did Bussi buy into Jankos’ vision at the time?
“I believe anything my coach tells me because I know he’s a good guy,” a grinning Bussi said
after pausing to think. “I trust my coaches. He made a pretty good prediction.”
Steinert (15-4) got off to a strong, if not unusual, start against the Dragons (18-4). After the Spartans
dropped a decision in the first bout at 138, Sean Augustyn was trailing 10-7 with three seconds
remaining in his match when he got a defensive pin.
The fired-up Spartans then saw Brandon Bernstein get a pin in 1:26 at 152 and Matt McDonald
followed with a decision to put Steinert ahead 15-3. Brick answered with two pins and a decision to
grab an 18-15 lead, but Bussi’s major reclaimed the advantage at 19-18.
Mike Remboski won a frustrating decision at heavyweight against a rival who had little interest
in tangling with the big man, extending Steinert’s lead to 22-18, but the Dragons won four of the last
five bouts from there. Joe Michel’s decision at 126 gave the Spartans their final points.
“We definitely didn’t wrestle a team this good this season,” Bussi said. “We’ve got to learn from
it, take from it, and put the work into getting ready for districts. We’re going to definitely put it in every
other team’s minds that we are the best around our county.”
Steinert, which hosts the District 25 Tournament beginning a week from Friday, reached the
sectional semis by beating Mercer County Tournament champion Hopewell Valley Monday to avenge
one of its early-season losses. Facing another top quality team in Brick at this time of the season can
be beneficial as the Spartans prepare for the year-end tournaments.
“It’s great,” Jankos said. “In the beginning of the year I wasn’t really sure if we were that
seasoned team. Wrestling teams like this is really turning us into a seasoned team. Maybe next year I
should put more matches like this on the schedule and get some of that seasoning earlier.”
Jankos was happy with his squad’s effort against the Dragons.
“I’m proud of the guys,” Jankos said. “We had a shot. We gave it what we had. Sometimes you
come up short. We’re going to chalk this up as a learning experience and hopefully meet [Brick] back
here next year.”
Given Jankos’ record of success as a prognosticator, his wrestlers are sure to believe.