Two of Hawthorne High School’s wrestlers, Ethan and Evan Ramos, came home victorious from The New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) wrestling state championships that took place March 9 – 11, 2013. Ethan Ramos won the state title in the 170-pound category, and his twin brother, Evan Ramos, took fifth place in the 195-pound category.
The three-day state championships were held in Atlantic City, NJ. On the first day, Ethan had a bye for the first round and won the second round 7-0 against Iselin Kennedy’s Brandon Simon. Evan, however, had two matches on Friday. He easily won his first match by pinning Nick Haboj of Madison but in the second round he suffered a crushing loss, which meant that the best he could do is place third for the state tournament.
On Saturday, the second day, Evan had four wrestlebacks and won all of them. A wrestleback is a chance to redeem oneself after losing in a previous match. So for example, Evan needed to win all of his wrestlebacks to place third. The next day, Sunday, Evan would have to win more wrestlebacks to secure his spot in third.
Quarterfinals and semifinals were also held on Saturday. Ethan qualified for each round. In quarterfinals, Ethan beat Neptune’s Dae’Sean Bown 7-1 and in semifinals, he decisioned Joe Balboni of Brearley, 11-5. He would now be competing in the final round the next day for either first or second place.
On Sunday, Evan lost his semifinal wrestleback 4-1 against West Deptford’s Rory Bonner so he would then be competing for fifth or sixth place. Fortunately, in the fifth place consolation match, Evan won 10-5 against Kyle Stoll of High Point.
Finals began on Sunday. Up first was the 160-pound weight class, so Ethan, who wrestles at 170, was up second. When Ethan’s match began, the crowd was silent and intently watched his every move. During the entire match, Ethan was up by one point and in the third period with 1:40 left the score was 3-2 Ramos. In the last thirty seconds, Ethan managed another takedown making the final score 5-2 and officially winning the state title.
Ethan Ramos is the first Passaic County wrestler since 2005 to win a state title, and he is also the first Hawthorne High School wrestler to win states since Rusty Read in 1994. Head coach, Bob Pasquale notes, “He’s the first-ever Hawthorne wrestler to be undefeated for an entire season.”
Before states, the Ramos twins were both extremely excited. In preparation for states, Ethan Ramos averaged about two workouts a day in addition to wrestling practices the entire week. He worked hard at improving his defense since he normally relies on his offensive skills.
Evan Ramos was also preparing for states with difficult workouts and wrestling practices. He admits that he was considered to be a huge underdog since he didn’t place last year, but clearly his hard work paid off.
“It felt amazing,” said Ethan after winning. “It feels as if things are finally starting to fall into place.”