Long Branch's Luis Filipe Captures Region VI Wrestling Title

When Luis Filipe was a sophomore, he watched as Long Branch’s Jon Robertson and Omar Akel took home NJSIAA Region VI wrestling titles in 2009 and made a proclamation to the brother of eventual two-time state champion Nick Visicaro.

“I looked over at Nick’s brother and said, ‘I promise you, I will win this tournament before I graduate,’ ’’ Filipe said.

Making that a somewhat outlandish statement was that Filipe was not even on the wrestling team at the time  because of poor grades and disciplinary issues. He was clearly a gifted athlete, but simply could not get out of his own way off the mat after wrestling as a freshman and then becoming academically ineligible during the season and not returning as a sophomore.

“I had it hard my first few years in high school, and growing up, I’ve always had it hard,’’ Filipe said. “I’ve had problems outside of school, and I’ve had problems inside of school in getting in trouble and with my grades. I didn’t care about anything back then.’’

Two years since he made what seemed to be a far-fetched promise, the Green Wave senior stood atop the podium on Saturday at the Poland Spring Arena in Toms River as the 2011 Region VI 135-pound champion after beating Ocean junior Withler Marcelin 3-2 for his fourth win of the season over him. Not only that, but it was expected to happen, as Filipe (35-1) entered as the No. 1 seed in the bracket.

“This is what makes athletics so special,’’ said Long Branch head coach Dan George. “To have him feel inside that if I do things the right way, things can work out and that the odds are not always stacked against me. That’s why I love coaching.’’

The troubled kid whose future seemed in doubt not too long ago was surrounded by smiling faces, backslaps and hugs after giving Long Branch at least one Region VI champion for the third straight year.

He will now head to the NJSIAA Individual Wrestling Championships at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City this weekend, which begin with the pre-quarterfinal round on Friday night and conclude with the finals on Sunday.

“If it wasn’t for this sport, I probably wouldn’t be sitting here talking to you right now,’’ Filipe said. “This sport made me realize how much I wanted to be involved in something, and how I didn’t want to get in trouble any more. I just wanted to do something to make my parents proud of me instead of constantly getting in trouble.

“Seeing everyone else so happy today, I’ve never felt like I’ve ever accomplished so much," Filipe said.

Filipe, who finished fourth in Region VI at 140 last season to just miss out on a trip to Atlantic City, is only in his second full season as a high school wrestler. However, he has come a long way in a short time, which was exemplified by his win over Marcelin on Saturday.

During the regular season, Filipe had dominated Marcelin, winning by technical fall in both instances, and then he major-decisioned Marcelin, 12-0, in the District 22 final. Marcelin entered Region VI as the seventh seed, but made a Cinderella run to the final by knocking off some highly-regarded wrestlers in Brick Memorial’s Dave Santos and Jackson Memorial’s Joe Bartolini by wrestling conservatively and taking advantage of their mistakes. 

In the final against Filipe, he rarely took any shots and simply tried to counter anything by Filipe and fight off takedown attempts rather than trying to score on his own. Filipe was clearly frustrated, as he ran off the mat after having his arm raised for the win, but he did not let that frustration overtake him in the match.

“The first three times I wrestled him, we were banging heads, and we wrestled,’’ Filipe said. “This time I feel like he went out there to just sit there and not let me beat up on him like I did the last three times. I wanted him to wrestle me back.

“He was wrestling more not to lose than to win because I had already beaten him three times. I wanted to wrestle, and earn this the right way.’’

“Last year he would’ve lost that match,’’ George said. “He would’ve gotten pissed off, he would’ve got frustrated, and he would’ve done something he didn’t need to do.’’

Filipe led 1-0 on an escape heading into the third period, and then Marcelin escaped to tie the bout. After having several near misses on takedowns near the edge of the mat earlier in the bout, Filipe bided his time and finally secured the takedown he needed to win with 1:05 left in the final period. Marcelin escaped with 56 seconds left, but could not secure a takedown to give Filipe a 3-2 victory.

The bout also taught him an important lesson about composure because down in Atlantic City, many wrestlers are conservative and looking to steal wins by not making mistakes rather than being too aggressive.

“They’re the matches where if you plan on placing in AC, you have to win,’’ George said.

Long Branch alumni like Nick Visicaro and two-time state place-winner Billy George were in the crowd to cheer on Filipe on Saturday, and the camaraderie of the team has meant more to Filipe than just on the mat. Not only has he been able to train with some of the state’s top wrestlers, like Visicaro and 2010 state champion Scott Festejo, it has also kept him away from the kids who were dragging him down early in high school.

“Joining wrestling when I came to high school really changed everything because the jocks hang out with the jocks,’’ Filipe said. “I got more of an opportunity to get away from all those bad influences I had and hang out more with the wrestling team, which is like a family. You don’t want to disappoint your family.’’

If he wasn’t hanging out with the Long Branch wrestlers, he was training year round at Triumph Wrestling in Ocean, which kept him out of trouble during the offseason. In addition, he has turned those C’s and D’s on his report card from his first two years into A’s and B’s, and said he is now considering joining George and Akel at the prep school that is the feeder school for Cornell.

“Wrestling has definitely given me a lot of options in life,’’ he said. “Without wrestling I probably wouldn’t even be considering going to college.’’

Before he gets to all of that, he has the bright lights of Boardwalk Hall waiting, where he has a great chance to finish in the top five in the state and possibly make a run at the 135-pound state title.

“It’s going to overwhelm me when I first get in there, but I think once I wrestle the first match and get the butterflies to go away, everything should be fine,’’ he said.

Download the movie