Watchung Hills' Anthony DiAndrea is the Courier News Wrestler of the Year
Move after move after move.
No spotlight. No medals at stake. No glory.
It’s just Anthony DiAndrea chasing perfection in a gym far away from a crowd.
“He’s never settling and he asks questions,” said Jim Huff, the former Watchung Hills wrestling coach. “You know a drill that he’s done a thousand times doesn’t get boring. He wants us to critique him and see what he’s doing wrong if it’s not perfect. He tries to be as perfect as he can and it’s just really cool to watch his growth and development throughout the past few years. He takes it to heart and you can see it on the mat.”
Perfection, of course, isn’t possible but steady improvement is and DiAndrea embodies that climb. The Watchung Hills junior earned three state medals, each one improving two places on the season before. This year, he took third at 126 for the highest finish in the area.
He is the Courier News Wrestler of the Year for his achievements. DiAndrea finished 39-3 and also topped the podium in Region 4, District 15, the Somerset County Tournament and the Sam Cali Battle for the Belt.
That’s a pretty good run.
He lost twice in December to out-of-state opponents at the Beast of the East, in which he reached the sixth consolation round of the prestigious tournament. DiAndrea didn’t fall again until the state semifinals when he dropped a 4-2 decision.
He previously placed fifth in the state last season at 113 and seventh as a freshman at 106.
“The goal’s obviously for the title,” DiAndrea said. “It’s still a great accomplishment to place especially three times so I’m definitely proud of all the work that I’ve put in with my coaches and all my teammates and I can’t thank them enough.”
Teamwise, Watchung Hills captured the Somerset County Tournament as underdogs. DiAndrea and his teammates watched and celebrated as they clinched in the next-to-last final after a Bridgewater-Raritan wrestler won.
The team jumped up and hugged one another in a fun celebration.
“Great experience and I’m just proud of the collective effort that me and my teammates have put in all year in the room,” DiAndrea said. “I think it really paid off in the postseason and those duals and the counties. The kids are seeing that the hard work we’re putting in means something and it pays off. I’m just so proud of all my teammates and all of our coaches for getting us to this point.”
His teammates also take something from DiAndrea's leadership on the mat and effort.
“He continues to improve,” said Huff, who stepped down as head coach earlier this month to become the athletic director at Parsippany Hills. “Some other people, they plateau at a certain point. He wants to learn and grow and he’s so coachable. He’s never too high, never too low. He’s business-like. He wants to put on the hard hat and go to work and he wants to put in the time … and it’s really cool to see that he benefits from that.”
DiAndrea got the bug after watching his cousin Danny Miller wrestle for Watchung Hills when he was in elementary school.
“I would always go to his matches and I was like, ‘hey this is kind of cool,’” he recalled. “Like I want to wrestle and I told my dad I want to wrestle and he signed me up and the rest is history.”
DiAndrea wasn’t a natural phenom the first time he stepped on the mat.
“As a kid I wasn’t very good,” he said, “so I got upset a lot.”
Still, DiAndrea found that he enjoyed the sport and kept coming back. Then, he saw over time his work was starting to translate to wins.
“That’s such a great feeling because you know how hard you work and how some days you may not want to put in the work but you do it anyway and it really pays off,” he said after earning his state medal. “Especially in moments like this where you can kind of look back and you know, be happy that you worked that hard. One thing in life you’ll never regret is working hard, so it’s important to just kind of always work your hardest. Accomplish your goals.”
One of DiAndrea's noticeable traits on the mat is he remains steady and keeps his composure through tense moments.
“We knew we had something special in Anthony,” Huff said. “His ceiling is so high because he’s such a great listener. His technique is really good and sound. Credit that to him. Our coaching staff and Edge wrestling, we’re all working together to get him better.
“Taking seventh was nice but he wanted more. And taking fifth was nice but he wanted more. Now, taking third is nice but he wants more and if the trend continues, now we’re going to go take first next year.”
Whatever happens, DiAndrea will surely be working for it.
This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: NJ Wrestling: Watchung Hills' Anthony DiAndrea is CN Wrestler of Year
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