Wednesday, November 9, 2022
The Observer | www.theobserver.com
Sports & Recreation
9
Mullen commits to Virginia Tech was 5. “My dad would always come home and say ‘you Throughout Jimmy gotta see Jimmy! You gotta Mullen’s college recruiting see this kid!’ and he would process, there was always get pretty jacked up about the lingering question of him,” Carratura Jr. said. whether or not he would “My dad would be ecstatic eventually have to make the about it right now because difficult decision between he always said Jimmy was football or wrestling as the going to be something. He sport he would compete in really saw something speat the next level. cial in him the moment he As fate would have it, started coaching him.” Mullen won’t need to make Since those early days at a choice between the two the Lincoln Middle School any time soon. gym practicing with fellow Mullen, a Kearny native Kearny native and current and two-sport star at St. JoCornell University star seph Regional High School Jacob Cardenas under the in Montvale recently comtutelage of the Carraturas mitted to wrestle and play and current Kearny assisfootball at Virginia Tech. tant Brian McDonnell, MulAccording to Mullen, Virlen has developed into one ginia Tech was one of three of the country’s premier schools that offered him the wrestlers. opportunity to compete in Mullen became the first both sports simultaneously, freshman to ever win the the others being Rutgers NJSIAA State Wrestling and Army. Championship at 285 “It definitely takes a lot pounds in 2020 when he of weight off of my shouldefeated Southern Regionders knowing I don’t have al’s J.T. Cornelius for the to give up a sport that I’ve title. been doing since I was As a sophomore, during 5-years-old,” Mullen said. the COVID-shortened “They’ve both been a big season, Mullen elected to part of my life and done so forego the state tournament much for me. in order to try out for a spot “As long as I can rememon Team USA in the Junior ber my favorite sport was World Championships. football during the football Mullen made the team and season and wrestling during won silver at the event in wrestling season.” Budapest. That Mullen was able to Last season, as a junior, make a college commitment he once again won a state of this magnitude comes title at 285, defeating Beras little surprise to those gen Catholic’s Dom Brogna in Kearny that have known by pin in the final. him the longest. Current Mullen enters his senior Kearny High School head season as the nation’s topcoach Tony Carratura Jr. ranked high school heavstarted coaching Mullen on yweight wrestler and No. the recreation level when 5 overall by Flo Wrestling. he was 10, but knew of The site also has Mullen as the legend of Mullen well its top overall wrestler in before then thanks to his New Jersey. late father, Tony Sr., who See MULLEN, Page 10 worked with him when he By Jason Bernstein
jason@theobserver.com
Photo by Jason Bernstein
CHAMPS
Continued from Page 1 any of that stuff,” Mike Rusek said about the three previous sectional finals losses on its home turf. “So for John and I it’s been a weight on our shoulders, but the good thing about Harrison kids is that they’re very resilient and very forgetful.” Unbothered by past heartbreak from those before them, this group of Blue Tide players were able to create their own championship pictures. Spurred by Diego Flores Sanchez’s first half goal, Harrison won its first state sectional championship since 2016 with a 1-0 victory over Voorhees in the North 2, Group 2 final in Harrison on Saturday night. “These kids just came out to play today,” said Rusek. “I think we had the best game of our year and it was the right time for it.” “Voorhees came in strong, but we weren’t here to lose,” Flores Sanchez said. “We were here to win. We’re Harrison and we love to win.” Harrison possessed the ball in the upper-third for most of the night, consistently swinging the ball in and around the 18. After a few good opportunities failed to result in a goal, the Blue Tide broke through in the 15th minute when Fabrizio Sousa sent a cross from the right side into the box. The pass found Flores Sanchez, who from less than 10 yards out, sent a right-footed
shot into the open net. “I saw the ball coming to me. I touched it then banged it near post,” said Flores Sanchez about his ninth goal of the season. “It felt amazing. We felt that we could win this game and that gave us more confidence.” Flores Sanchez’s goal proved to be enough, even against a team with the offensive firepower of Voorhees. Ismael Kone, who took over as the fulltime keeper at the start of the state tournament, made a huge save on German Burset Romero in the 20th minute. “I was really confident because we’ve been working all year for this,” said Kone, who posted his second consecutive shutout of the state tournament. “We knew we had it, but we had to be dedicated to it. We had to put the work in and we’ve been practicing every day for it.” After that scare, however, offensive chances were limited as seniors Augustin Nunez, Dylan Huseinovic and Deangelo Vargas were stellar on the backline as well as Gabriel Barreto-Reis and Andy Abarca, who helped out back there in key moments. Their play in the back allowed Harrison to continue pushing players up to be a part of its possession-based attack and dictate the tempo for nearly the entirety of the second half. Winning a sectional championship is the goal every year in Harrison, but for many, the expectation is to win a state championship. It’s a standard
that is the byproduct of nearly a century of soccer success with 25 state championships. The Blue Tide’s quest for a 26th title continues Wednesday, Nov. 9, when it hosts Ramsey in the Group 2 semifinals. A victory then means a trip to the state final Sunday, Nov. 13, at Franklin High School in Somerset. “(Rusek) said that this group had to win the states because there’s so much talent here,” Kone said. “We knew we were going to go far. There was a lot of pressure, but we’ve handled it well (so far).” Attention to winning that state championship and the upcoming match with Ramsey surely began on Sunday morning. But this particular Saturday night was about what this team had done, rather than what’s still to come. Another team got to celebrate a sectional title with the Blue Tide sign. But this time it wasn’t an unwelcome visitor, but rather it was Harrison adding to its championship legacy. “I’m really proud of these kids,” Rusek said. “We had our difficulties this year, but these guys are fighters. They’ve been fighting through everything and I think it was the fighting that we did in September and October that led to our victories here in November. I really can’t say enough about this group. “Every year you’re proud of your kids and you want to see the best for them. This group earned it, maybe more so than any group I’ve had.”
