Since the time he was about five years old, David Guerra was involved in karate.
But by the time he entered Belleville High School a little more than two years ago, Guerra wanted to try something else.
“I knew I wanted to do something other than go to classes and come home,” Guerra said. “I didn’t want to sit around and do nothing.”
So when Guerra was in eighth grade, he attended a get-together designed to inform incoming students about the various clubs and sports Belleville had to offer. Guerra decided to visit a table where some of the Belleville wrestlers and coaches were situated.
“I knew it was a contact sport,” Guerra said. “I liked that part. I liked the flexibility part.”
Guerra listened intently to what the Belleville wrestlers and coaches had to say, in particular the words of assistant coach Jay Isip.
“The coaches told him about offseason training and what he had to do,” Belleville head wrestling coach Joe Pizzi said. “And Jay told David about doing a drop step.”
The drop step is a particular move for wrestlers, one of the first basic moves in the sport. Isip taught Guerra the drop step and told him to practice the move in a room off to the side. In the course of events, Isip totally forgot about Guerra.
“He tells me about the drill and shows me the stance,” Guerra said. “He didn’t say to stop, so I didn’t stop.”
“It was about 45 minutes to an hour later and Jay found David still working on that drop step,” Pizzi said. “It said a lot about David.”
When Guerra entered Belleville High, he really didn’t know much about the sport – except that drop step.
“My freshman year, I wanted to quit like five times,” Guerra said. “That’s how hard it was. I was the youngest kid in the room and the smallest kid. I knew freshmen were the ones who got beat up the most.”
Guerra lost his first three matches.
“It was definitely a learning experience,” Guerra said.
But there was something Guerra learned that remained with him.
“I learned that I loved it,” Guerra said. “The coaches pushed me to keep on fighting, to keep working and keep coming. I trusted them and listened to them.”
Guerra eventually finished his freshman season with a 14-12 record.
“I made friends on the team,” said Guerra, crediting former Buccaneer wrestlers Brad Morillo and Santino Imperato as influential people who kept Guerra on the mat. “Brad took me under his wing and taught me a lot about the sport. Santino really encouraged me a lot. I didn’t have a goal in mind yet. I just wanted to learn as much as possible because I started late. Others start wrestling when they’re like five (years old). I tried my hardest to catch up.”
As a sophomore, Guerra showed immense improvement, posting a 25-6 record and finishing second in the District 11 tournament at 145 pounds.
“After the season, I was more determined to get better,” Guerra said. “It fired me up.”
He went to train at different wrestling clubs all over the state four days a week. On the fifth day, Guerra would head to the weight room to get stronger.
“I was going all over the place to train,” Guerra said. “I wanted to get better, but at first, I didn’t notice.”
When the high school wrestling season began in earnest in December, Guerra felt like he was an improved wrestler – but he didn’t know by how much.
“At first, I didn’t notice,” Guerra said. “But I won the Kearny tournament to start the season and the kid I beat in the finals (Jake Stein of Ridge) beat me last year, so that gave me a little boost.”
Guerra evolved into a dominant force this season, winning 17 times and losing just twice prior to last weekend’s Essex County Championships at the Codey Arena in West Orange. He was the No. 2 seed in the 145-pound weight class to Devin Rocha of Columbia, who gave Guerra only his second loss of the season in the finals of the Belleville Buccaneer Tournament last weekend, falling 5-4 in the finals of the first-ever tourney.
In the Essex County tourney, Guerra won via technical fall over Demetrius Roberts of Orange in the opening round, defeated William Messinger of Cedar Grove in the quarterfinals by virtue of a first period pin and then knocked off Jon Bartley of West Essex in the semifinals to advance to the championship round – where Guerra was pitted against old nemesis Rocha one more time.
“The coaches gave me a game plan to follow,” Guerra said. “Coach Pizzi calls me ‘Johnny Trouble’ because I always get myself into a hole and have to work my way back.”
“We went over a plan and he followed it to a tee,” Pizzi said. “It worked in his favor.”
Guerra and Rocha went into overtime with the match tied at 2-2 and in the second overtime, Guerra put Rocha to his back and earned a pin to capture the county championship.
“That was crazy,” Guerra said. “I forgot where I was for a second. I just wanted to avenge that loss. I forgot for a second it was for the county championship in front of all those people.”
Guerra became the first Belleville wrestler since Justin Colon in 2012 to win an Essex County title and only the fifth Belleville wrestler in the last 15 years to capture a county title.
For his efforts, Guerra has been selected as The Observer Athlete of the Week for the last week.
Guerra knows that the county title gives him a different status than just a kid with an impressive 20-2 record.
“This is not my end goal,” Guerra said. “I want to win the districts and maybe go on to the states (in Atlantic City). This definitely makes me more confident and more motivated. It’s just a start for me. I just want to thank my teammates and coaches for making this all possible.”
Pizzi was overjoyed for Guerra.
“I’m just so happy for David,” Pizzi said. “I’m extremely proud of the kid. He’s been working so hard for this. It’s been a long time for Belleville wrestling. I’m just glad we’ve worked so hard to get a kid back to the podium.”
Pizzi said that Guerra is a solid wrestler.
“He’s just more determined than anyone,” Pizzi said. “I love the way this kid wrestles. He’s extremely strong. He has a great upper body. He just wears kids down and breaks their will. He gets stronger during the match and it’s fun to watch. Nothing really fazes this kid. He breaks their will and then is able to push a little bit harder.”
Pizzi said it’s a championship well earned.
“I know the road he took to get there,” Pizzi said. “My heart was racing for the kid, maybe even more than when I was wrestling. It was just utter excitement and joy for the kid. He brings back everything that we preach as a coaching staff.”
Guerra is well aware of the historical perspective of his victory.
“I want to be part of the Belleville wrestling pride,” Guerra said. “Every day, I walk past the glass case near the gym and I see the names of all the great Belleville wrestlers, like (Anthony) Conte and (former Belleville head coach Junior) Nardone. I knock on the glass every day for good luck. I know what they did.”
And Guerra is well on his way to joining the list of all-time Belleville greats, as long as he just stops doing that drop step move.
CAPTION
Belleville 145-pound junior wrestler David Guerra. Photo by Jim Hague
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Jim Hague | Observer Sports Writer
Sports Writer Jim Hague was with The Observer for 20+ years — and his name is one of the most recognizable in all of sports journalism. The St. Peter’s Prep and Marquette alum kicked off his journalism career post Marquette at the Daily Record, where he remained until 1985. Following shorts stints at two other newspapers, in September 1986, he joined the now-closed Hudson Dispatch, where he remained until 1991, when its doors were finally shut.
It was during his tenure at The Dispatch that Hague’s name and reputation as one of country’s hardest-working sports reporters grew. He won several New Jersey Press Association and North Jersey Press Club Awards in that timeframe.
In 1991, he became a columnist for The Hudson Reporter chain of newspapers — and he remains with them to this day.
In addition to his work at The Observer and The Hudson Reporter, Hague is also an Associated Press stringer, where he covers Seton Hall University men’s basketball, New York Red Bulls soccer and occasionally, New Jersey Devils hockey.
He’s also doing work at The Morristown Daily Record, the very newspaper where his journalism career began.
During his career, he also worked for Dorf Feature Services, which provided material for the Star-Ledger. While there, he covered the New York Knicks and the New Jersey Nets.
Hague is also known for his announcing work — and he’s done PA work for Rutgers Newark and NJIT.
Hague is the author of the book “Braddock: The Rise of the Cinderella Man.”