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With a trip to the Shore Conference Tournament semifinals, not to mention Scott Winston’s undefeated career record, still hanging in the balance, Nick Menditto shot at Winston’s legs 40 seconds into overtime.

After the pair flipped toward the edge of the circle, Winston scored a takedown to survive one of the toughest bouts of his career, the one everyone in the packed gym at Jackson Memorial High School hoped to see.

Winston’s 3-1 victory, the 123rd of his career, at 160 pounds was one of 11 bouts the top-seeded Jaguars won in a 43-13 victory against the No. 9 Spartans on Wednesday.

Ryan Byrnes pinned Hayden Gaspich at the 4:31 mark of the heavyweight bout to clinch the match for Jackson Memorial (18-2), which is in search of its fifth consecutive Shore Conference Tournament championship.

The Jaguars will wrestle Howell at 3 p.m. Saturday in the semifinals at Southern Regional High School, with the winner facing either Brick Memorial or Long Branch in the final at 5:30 p.m.

Menditto went ahead of Winston, 1-0, with an escape in the middle of the second
period before Winston tied the score with an escape 10 seconds into the third period. Winston said this was his first overtime bout since his sophomore season.

“This was probably the most I’ve ever been nervous because Nick Menditto’s a great wrestler,” said Winston, who said he spent the last two days in bed with the flu and most of his team’s first-round win against Colts Neck napping to conserve his energy.

The crowd reaction was immediate when Menditto bumped up to 160, and fans were on the edge of their seats, and often standing throughout the bout. There were others in attendance who would classify the excitement as more of a nervous energy, however.

“I’ll tell you what, if we didn’t get a win there, I probably would have been ran
out of my job,” the first-year Jackson Memorial coach Doug Withstandley said. “What Winston has going is something we might not see again in the state of New Jersey, and I was so worked up, I couldn’t even coach.”

Withstandley said the decision to send Winston, who he knew wasn’t 100 percent, out against Menditto was a difficult one.

“He hasn’t practiced in two days so I knew he wasn’t going to be in prime condition, and he’s wrestling, technically, one of the most sound wrestlers in the state, if not the country,” he said.

Winston and Menditto will both attend Rutgers, where they’ll wrestle for former Jackson Memorial and current Rutgers University coach Scott Goodale, who was at the match Wednesday.

After the Jaguars won six bouts by three points or less, Byrnes built a 7-0 lead at
heavyweight before catching Gaspich for a third-period pin. Tyler Biscaha then won by forfeit at 103, and Ryan Semone pinned Matt Dalton in 3:53 at 112.

“Last year’s class left with four in a row, and I don’t want to be the seniors who screw it up,” Winston said. “”I kind of feel a little bit of a burden since we lost to Toms River North so I’m trying to keep these guys focused.”

Zac Coulas won in overtime at 135 for Ocean (12-7), which also got victories from Andrew Van Dyk, who won by pin in 1:41, and Ricky Lyster, who won, 2-1, in four overtimes.

The Spartans defeated eighth-seeded Point Boro, 43-33, scoring bonus points in eight bouts. J.P. Palandrano, Coulas, Ben Lowy and Menditto each won via pin, and Van Dyk won by major decision against the Panthers.

“(Wednesday) was a pivotal day for Ocean,” said Spartans coach Ken Hoff, who added it was the first time he’s had his full lineup since a Jan. 9 match against Howell. “Hopefully, this is a boost for next week and team states because our team was kind of down the last couple weeks.”

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