Steinert wrestling has too much talent at one spot, not enough at another

Jordon Goodarz works the pin against Robbinsville. Goodarz had the lone victory for Steinert.  Photo by Amanda “The Homeowner” Ruch.

By Rich Fisher
Fish4scores.com

Jan. 5: There’s a unique problem in wrestling that several other sports can sidestep. A baseball team can convert an outfielder to a first baseman; a football unit can make a lineman a linebacker; a basketball outfit can turn a guard into a forward.

On the mat, however, you are what you weigh.

Sure, you can bump up or down a weight or two. But when a coach has ample talent at some weights but is void of it at other spots many weight classes away, he’s stuck. There is no conversion.

Meet Steinert coach Adam “The Postmaster General” Jankos.

“We have about six 170-pounders and about five 182-pounders and I have no one at 106 and no one at 113,” Jankos said after Steinert’s 50-24 loss to Robbinsville Wednesday night. “And all those guys in the 70-82 pound group are all varsity caliber guys.”

But they can’t suck 60 pounds in one night to help out where it’s needed, so Steinert will lose 12 points there all year. Granted, Robbinsville forfeited three weight classes as well (the Spartans also forfeited at 152), but the 6-0 Ravens won seven of the eight bouts that were fought on the mat.

Jordan Goodarz takes hold during a match against Robbinsville. Photo by Amanda “The Homeowner” Ruch.

Steinert’s lone win was a pin by Jordan Goodarz at 195, giving the senior a 3-0 record this year after sitting out all of last season to focus on football.

“We definitely thought we had a chance, because both teams had a lot of forfeits,” Goodarz said. “We were evenly matched. Coach told us to stay off our back and it would just come down to the wire.”

Unfortunately for the Spartans, they were unable to do that in almost half the matches as Robbinsville pinned at 120 (with Logan Fox gaining his 100th career win), 138 and 145. The Ravens got major decisions at 160 and 132, giving them 11 bonus points in five of their seven wins.

Nonetheless, Jankos saw some good things. Myles Constabile battled hard in a 4-0 loss to Ryan Kanner at 26, and Dan Conti held Brent Grocott to a major decision in a 132-pound bout that most probably figured would be six for Grocott.

Despite falling to 1-4, Jankos likes some of the things the Spartans are doing. The Postmaster General does not feel his team is just mailing it in.

“I like our effort 100 percent,” he said. “One of the best things about this team right now is we’re in shape. They got hit for stalling more than we did. I thought we were aggressive on the mat. One thing hurts us – we’re young, we have a lot of guys that don’t have a lot of experience and I think that makes a huge difference.”

It also makes it tough to find a wrestler to set a winning example.

“We haven’t really established captains,” Jankos said. “I’ve been doing a weekly rotating captain, looking for someone to step up as a leader. We got a couple guys here and there. I’ve seen some good things from Jordan Goodarz.”

Twice this year, Goodarz has been the Spartans only on-mat winner in a dual meet. The senior, who Jankos feels could surprise some people before it’s all over, agreed with his coach that the work ethic is there.

“We’re good, we practice hard and everything,” Jankos said. “We have confidence in ourselves, we just have to learn to finish all our moves. We just have to get better and work through everything.”

About The Author


Rich Fisher has been around the Hamilton Township sports scene for so long that he actually got Rich Giallella’s autograph when Giallella was still a player! Proud product of Hamilton YMCA and Lou Gehrig baseball leagues and former teammate of Jim Maher on a very average Barton & Cooney rec basketball team, Fish graduated from Nottingham Junior High and Steinert High school and has covered township sports since 1980. His goal in life is to convince Maria Prato that Jersey tomatoes are at least 100 times better than California tomatoes.