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Wrestling - Forged From Focus: Mike Morales wins state title.
publication date: Mar 8, 2009
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author/source: Bob Badders
By Bob Badders - Senior Contributor
E-mail: bob.badders@gmail.com
ATLANTIC CITY -- It takes a certain amount of focus and concentration to win an NJSIAA individual state championship, but Brick Memorial's Mike Morales took it to a whole new level this past weekend at Boardwalk Hall.
"I was so focused on winning that I was forgetting things," Morales said. "I was concentrating so much on wrestling that I almost forgot my tickets and couldn't get into the arena. Nothing was going to stop me from winning a state championship."
Morales finally let his guard down on Sunday, but it didn't come until after he scored a 5-4 victory over Point Boro's Jordan Beverly to capture the 2009 NJSIAA 130-pound championship. All the emotion that he was holding back since he lost to Beverly in the District 23 final was released as the final buzzer rang out. He ripped off his head gear and had almost a look of disbelief on his face before jumping into the arms of assistant coach Tony Nash.
"After I lost in districts I realized anything can happen at any time and I really needed to focus  | Photo by Anthony Payne.
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more," Morales said. "I wanted to finish off my year as state champion and I got it."
"I don't know, Michael just got ultra-focused after (losing in districts)," said Brick Memorial head coach Dan O'Cone. "I saw his whole attitude change. He was just so focused the last two weeks on becoming a state champ, you almost couldn't even talk to him.
"When a kid like that tells you he's going to win, you don't doubt him."
There is plenty of history between Morales and Beverly, and the state final added yet another chapter. Morales and Beverly are friends and workout partners at Shore Thing Wrestling Club and wrestled three times this postseason. Beverly pinned Morales in the District 23 final and Morales returned the favor by pinning Beverly to win the Region VI title. The state final wasn't quite the dominating performance Morales turned in at the Region VI tournament, but it was obvious his mentality leading up to the biggest match of his life paid off.
Early in the first period, Morales took Beverly down for a 2-0 lead. After Beverly escaped, Morales took him down again for a 4-1 lead after the first period.
"He didn't want to fool around," said O'Cone of Morales's aggressiveness. "He wanted to score points and he wanted to dictate the match."
Morales chose defense in the second period and got out for a 5-1 lead. In the third, Beverly chose defense and got out to make it 5-2, and was able to secure a late takedown in the closing seconds to make it 5-4. But it wasn't enough to overcome the lead Morales had built.
"I just wasn't wrestling smart," Beverly said. "I wanted to be aggressive, but I was making too many mistakes. It's a tough loss, of course, but it makes you want to win next year that much more."
On the possibility of wrestling each other next season, Morales said, "Whatever weight he goes, if that happens to be the same as me we'll just have to do this again."
Beverly: "I'm pretty sure we're going to work it out that we don't go the same weight next season. We can train with each other and make each other better instead of trying to beat each other."
Morales's title was the second of the day for Brick Memorial after Steve Santos ended the Mustangs' 13-year state title drought by winning at 152. Morales made sure his buddy wasn't alone at the top.
"Me and Steve both moved to Brick in second grade and we've been friends ever since," Morales said. "We work out every day and I knew he would be by my side and I'd be by his."
You're not going to get a big emotional reaction out of O'Cone no matter what happens, and that is part of what makes him one of the best coaches in the state. But even he couldn't downplay what kind of season this was for Brick Memorial.
"I'm not one to get happy all the time," he said. "But this is pretty amazing."
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