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Wrestling - Merkle Magic: Nick Visicaro Story
publication date: Mar 9, 2009
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author/source: Scott Stump
By Scott Stump - Managing Editor
E-mail: stump@allshoremedia.com
ATLANTIC CITY - Long Branch junior 160-pounder Nick Visicaro has registered enough takedowns this season to set a state record that erased the previous one set by former Glen Ridge star Joe Dubuque.
And as for the number of times he's hit a Merkle roll for back points after one of those takedowns?
"Hasn't hit it all year,'' said Long Branch coach Dan George. "Not one time all year.''
"We drill it, but I've never actually tried it,'' Visicaro said on Sunday at Boardwalk Hall. "Until today.''
 | | Long Branch's Nick Visicaro locks in a Merkle on Delran's Anthony Saulle in the third period on his way to completing a five-point move that gave him a thrilling 7-6 victory in the 160-pound state final. |
Trailing by four points against Delran's Anthony Saulle heading into the third period of Sunday's 160-pound state final at the NJSIAA Individual Championships, Visicaro was going to need more than an escape and a takedown to become the Green Wave's first state champion since Sam Cole in 1986.
He escaped with 1:47 left in the bout, then added another takedown to his record total before hitting the Merkle, locking up Saulle's head and shoulders for three back points to complete a five-point move that allowed him to defeat Saulle, 7-6, in one of the most thrilling bouts of the afternoon. Saulle escaped with 15 seconds remaining to cut Visicaro's lead to one and then tried to hit a Merkle of his own on the edge of the mat, but it was to no avail as time ran out and Visicaro leaped to his feet in celebration before flying into George's arms.
"When I got that takedown, I had a Merkle locked up,'' Visicaro said. "I just felt I had nothing to lose, and it will get me some back points, so I might as well try it. I went for it, and it worked.''
"He gets the Merkle and gets the kid on his back and I was screaming to my coach, 'Has he ever even practiced that move before?'' said Long Branch junior Billy George, who finished third in the state at 189. "Nick's a kid with great instincts, he knew he had to score big
points, and he pulled it off. I was pointing to all of my teammates up in the stands, and we were going crazy. It was awesome.''
Visicaro's sensational victory capped an unreal season for the Green Wave, who finished ranked No. 1 in the state, won their second straight Shore Conference Tournament, their second straight NJSIAA Central Jersey Group II title and had six state place-winners on Sunday.
"This feels even better than how I dreamed it,'' Visicaro said.
"The perfect storm happened here today,'' said Dan George, who was named the New Jersey Coach of the Year on Sunday.
That Merkle was also no accident considering that Dan George and others felt that Visicaro (40-2) was going to have to do more than just dominate on his feet if he was going to win a state title. He had been a takedown machine all season, but he had not been able to add back points once he got an opponent on the ground. It also goes to show that you drill everything because you never know when you might need to dig deep into the bag of tricks.
"The last few weeks with his club and with us he was practicing taking down and then getting after
stuff on top because we knew at this level, it's not, 'Take him down,
let him up, take him down, let him up,'' Dan George said. "We practiced quite a bit
with him taking down and then putting together some kind of combination to get the other guy to
his back. That's what great wrestlers do, they hit those combinations. | | Nick Visicaro leaps into the arms of Long Branch head coach Dan George after becoming the school's first state champion since 1986 and capping a magical season for the Green Wave. |
"I think he was in good position on the mat (to hit the Merkle) because the kid (Saulle) was probably
saying, 'I'm not in that bad of shape,' because his toes were probably
out of bounds and the rest of him was inbounds.''
Saulle had gotten two takedowns in the first two periods, including one right at the edge of the mat, to build a 5-1 lead. Visicaro could not get out from bottom in the rest of the second period to secure that one point that it looked like he might need to go into the third period trailing by the three points that he could get from escaping and then taking Saulle down.
"That was big,'' Visicaro said about not escaping in the second period. "That kind of dropped me a little bit. I got out on everyone all year, but he was tough to get out on. I just kept my will and pulled through.''
If Visicaro didn't hit that Merkle, he was going to immediately cut Saulle loose and try to get a takedown to tie the bout.
"At that point, I couldn't even watch or I thought I was going to throw up I was so nervous,'' Billy George said. "We were saying, 'How many takedowns does he need? Two? Three?' We never thought he would get back points.''
Visicaro's unbreakable confidence and the scouting report on Saulle also gave Dan George a reason not to panic despite that four-point deficit heading into the third period.
"I was down 5-1 early in the tournament, and I felt confident that I'm good enough and I can do this,'' Visicaro said.
"It was vintage Nick, being down 5-1, getting pissed off and saying, 'OK, here I come,''' Dan George said. "I know it was 5-1, but (Saulle) gassed in the semifinals, and our scouting report just said to be in it in the third period, so I wasn't pushing the panic button.''
Visicaro never pushed the panic button during the entire tournament despite two interesting wrinkles. One, he was coming off a loss to Southern's Brian Broderick, who ended up finishing third in the state at 160, from the Region VI final. Two, he had never been to Boardwalk Hall, as he entered his junior year with a career record of 70-12 yet had never made it out of Region VI, placing fourth at 152 as a sophomore.
"That highly motivated me,'' Visicaro said. "Not making it (until this season) is probably one of the reasons I'm a state champ today.''
Visicaro had finished second as a freshman and as a sophomore at the national tournament, so he had some experience in wrestling on the big stage. Also, he was able to prevent the loss to Broderick from traveling with him down the Garden State Parkway to Atlantic City.
"A ton of pressure came off his back after last week's loss, and he felt like the underdog,'' Dan George said. "He regrouped (from the loss to Broderick) by the ride home, which indicated to me that he was back.''
Not only was he back, he took his place among a group of Long Branch luminaries and Region VI legends like Cole and the Skove brothers. His 40 wins are also a single-season record for the Green Wave.
"It's a real big accomplishment,'' Visicaro said. "The first state championship in the school in over 20 years, it's real big to get my name on that wall.''
"The Groups and that stuff are awesome as a team accomplishment, but history is marked more by your state champions,'' Dan George said. "That's why Long Branch does have a reputation - because of the Skoves, because of Sam Cole.''
Now there will be the story of Nick Visicaro hitting the Merkle, a move so out of left field that it reminded George, who is also Long Branch's football coach, of when New Brunswick beat the Green Wave 21-14 in the Central Jersey Group II final in 2003 on a touchdown off a reverse by star wideout Dwayne Jarrett that was drawn up at halftime and had not been run all year by the Zebras. It was a fitting end to a magical Long Branch season that left George with only one last question for this reporter.
"So, when are we getting to work on the motion picture?''
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