Shore's Luke Bush Headed to NJSIAA Wrestling Championships

The Shore Regional wrestling record book is essentially senior Luke Bush’s autobiography at this point, but there was an important chapter still missing.

Bush is the Blue Devils’ all-time wins leader, their single-season record holder for wins, and the only two-time District champion in school history. But the one place he had never been except as a paying customer was the NJSIAA Individual Championships at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, which begin with pre-quarterfinals on Friday night  and ending with the finals on Sunday, March 6.

“To be the all-time career wins leader in a school and not go to Atlantic City is like, ‘C’mon,’’’ Bush said. “You’ve got to get there. It was something for me that I had to do this season.’’

To get there, he was going to have to place in the top three at 145 pounds on Saturday at the NJSIAA Region VI Tournament at Poland Spring Arena in Toms River.

After dropping a 6-3 decision to Jackson Liberty’s second-seeded Chris Zak in the semifinals in the morning and surrendering a takedown for the first time all season, Bush, the No. 3 seed, had to win two matches to get third place or he was going home.

His 5-2 decision over Southern senior Anthony Mesler put him into the consolation final against Howell sophomore Ashanti Maurice. Each wrestler escaped from bottom in the second and third periods but could not secure a takedown, sending the bout into overtime tied at one. The next wrestler to score a point was moving on to Atlantic City.

Bush looked like he might be taken down by Maurice at the edge of the mat, but quickly rolled out of it to gain control on Maurice. He then barely kept his toes just in bounds on the sprawl to gain the takedown call from the official for a thrilling 3-1 overtime victory.

Bush got up and ran right to head coach Dave Porta and assistant Rich Santangelo for a group hug in celebration.

“I didn’t know I got (the takedown) until I saw Porta and ‘S’ (Santangelo) jumping up and down,’’ Bush said. “I was all excited. The goal for me wasn’t to be a region champion, it was to go to Atlantic City. It was that one accolade where there was a hole in my accomplishments.’’

The victory improved Bush to a school single-season record 40-1, erasing the mark of 37-4 that he set last season. He also has a school-record 130 career wins, and he became the first Blue Devils wrestler to reach Atlantic City since heavyweight Chris Gornik won a Region VI title in 2002. He will be the Blue Devils’ lone representative when the event starts on Friday at Boardwalk Hall, as District 23 champion Derek Arnette lost in the quarterfinals and was knocked off in the consolation bracket at 130.

Many times, wrestlers who lose in the semifinals are so devastated that their region title dreams have been dashed that they fall apart in the consolation bracket, but Bush showed fortitude in fighting his way back for third.

“The asset we have is that nothing affects him mentally,’’ Porta said. “Everyone is shaken up when you lose in the semis because your back is against the wall, but he is able to refocus because he is so mentally tough.’’

Had Bush not been able to pull out the victory over Maurice, it would not only have been the last match of his career, but of his life, as he plays soccer the other nine months of the year and will continue his career in that sport in college.

“Could you imagine how good he could be if he split it 50-50 (between soccer and wrestling)?’’ Porta said.

“Sometimes I think about it, then my thoughts revert back to, if I wasn’t eating for nine months out of the year, how much worse off will my life be?’’ Bush said before laughing. “I never really thought about that, but I guess since you put it that way, it did add urgency that it could’ve been my last match ever.’’

Bush, who has been wrestling since first grade, has taken numerous trips to Atlantic City with his father over the years for the NJSIAA Championships. He started out as a tyke more interested in throwing around a bouncy ball and eating Dippin’ Dots than watching the wrestling to a teenager hoping to get his shot one day to perform under the bright lights on the mat.

Bush also is a product of the recently formed Shore Wrestling Club in West Long Branch, where his father is a coach. The recreation program was started because the middle schools for Shore Regional from Oceanport, Sea Bright, Monmouth Beach and West Long Branch do not have wrestling programs, so there was no feeder system in place. Bush’s success on the big stage at Region VI certainly could serve as a galvanizing event for the recreation program.

“Everything we do in the high school reflects the work of our club, so the better we do, the better it is for them so they can get more kids to come out,’’ Bush said.

“We starting to see more kids coming out now and we’ll see more in the coming years, but I don’t think we’ll get one like Luke, though,’’ Porta said.

Now Bush's goal is to become just the second wrestler in Shore Regional history to place in the top eight at  the Individual Championships. Gornik took third in the state at heavyweight in 2002 to become the first Blue Devils wrestler  to achieve the feat.

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