Manatee wrestling returns to its New Jersey roots during winter break

Before Andrew Gugliemini became one of the most important figures in the history of Manatee wrestling, he was just a Jersey boy. Before he became synonymous with wrestling in Bradenton, the Hurricanes head coach spent the first part of his life in New Jersey and his first year of high school at Lenape Valley Regional in Stanhope, N.J.

His first varsity wrestling match came in Lenape Valley’s gymnasium. Stanhope was where he learned the intricacies of the sport. In turn, some of the Canes’ success during Gugliemini’s 20 years as head coach can be traced back to Lenape.

The week after Christmas, then, will be a pilgrimage. Manatee flew from Orlando to Trenton, N.J., on Monday ahead of a week of wrestling in Gugliemini’s home town. The Hurricanes will take part in the Lenape Valley Holiday Classic, an individually bracketed tournament, at 10 a.m. on Tuesday and then face the Patriots in a dual meet Thursday at Lenape Valley Regional High School.

“There’s a lot of different levels,” Gugliemini said. “Definitely to show everybody where I came from, my hometown in New Jersey, where I still have tons of family, to show them where I started to wrestle, so where my roots are.

“I still have a ton of family in the area, so they’re going to get to watch what I do and that’s just exciting to me.”

In between the wrestling, Gugliemini plans to take his team to New York — sure to be a first for at least a chunk of the 12 Canes making the trip — and give them a glimpse of his hometown and the people he grew up with. He has friends helping with transportation as Manatee traverses Northwest New Jersey and others providing some meals during the trip.

Gugliemini isn’t the only one with ties to the region, though. He could’ve made this trip in any year, but the rest of the connections made this season a fitting one. Matt McAleer, a Class 4A tournament qualifier last year, is also from New Jersey and the senior helps give the Hurricanes a team that should be competitive in a high-profile tournament.

“I think it’s a great idea because they’re known as a great wrestling state,” said McAleer, who wrestled for Jefferson Township in Oak Ridge as a freshman. “They’re tough — all of them, so to test our ability out against theirs — that’s what it’s all about.”

Gugliemini first had the idea to take the team to New Jersey toward the tail end of last season. He knew his team would be deep enough to field a full competitive roster in even the best tournaments, and McAleer and Connor Morang, another New Jersey native, would theoretically give the Canes a number of connections. Although Morang didn’t return to the team for his senior year, Gugliemini pressed on into the fall.

Manatee had to raise about $7,000 extra to fund the trip and through outside donations the Hurricanes reached their goal. In addition to the usual golf tournament and poster sales, Gugliemini raised more than $4,000 in one night when he appealed to 14 donors with a dinner, presentation and “Gug’s Army” T-shirts at Outback Steakhouse.

“It became reality literally like a month ago, once we started trying to buy the airline tickets and get all that kind of stuff done,” Gugliemini said. “We had all the funds.”

The week will also be a test for the Canes, who Gugliemini once again hopes will be contenders at the state level. Manatee sent five wrestlers to the state tournament last season and returned four of those for the 2016-17 campaign.

The Hurricanes always make a point to schedule tough early in the season — even if it means traveling out of Manatee County every weekend until the Hurricane Team Challenge. This year may provide the toughest challenge yet.

“This is going to be one of the steps and hopefully one of the pieces that allows them to believe that they can compete at the state level here in Florida,” Gugliemini said. “If we can go up there to New Jersey and bang heads with a bunch of New Jersey teams and do well, then that’s going to tell them, ‘Hey, maybe we are pretty good.’”

This story was originally published December 26, 2016 at 6:08 PM with the headline "Manatee wrestling returns to its New Jersey roots during winter break."