On the boardwalk at....

Got to Atlantic City for the state wrestling tournament at about 2 p.m. and waited for my colleague Jason Sherman to arrive.

We're staying in Absecon at a hotel on Route 30. The place got demolished by most reviewers, but it's probably unfair for me to reveal the name of it. It's not that bad, but we just got here, so give me and Jason one more day. The place is right off the Garden State Parkway, which means its a hike to Atlantic City and Boardwalk Hall where we'll have 12 wrestlers in the state quarterfinals Saturday morning.

The nature of how we report on this event has changed drastically from the days of Jadwin Gymnasium in Princeton where the tournament was held for many years before moving here in the early 90s.

The Internet age has dramatically changed everything. Since nearly all of the more than 10,000 folks who attended tonight's first night action have cel phones and can update family and friends with results as bouts end, we've had to change the way we go about things in the newspaper business. So Jason Sherman typed and typed results via his wireless card and got them back to Bridgewater where the boys and girls put the result up immediately on our website. All the press corp now has wireless, we're doing things differently to keep up.

I tried to talk to kids down on the floor. We lay in wait in the corner near the bleachers where coaches, wrestlers and trainers wait for the bouts.

Speaking of coaches, Hillsborough head coach Steve Molinaro and Brian West told me that they have promised senior 160-pounder John Mangini and senior 152-pounder Frankie McLaughlin that they will dive into the Atlantic Ocean Sunday afternoon if either of them win titles. The ocean looked rough today. I don't know about the ocean temperature, but maybe Molinaro and West can fill us in Sunday afternoon.

Both McLaughlin and Mangini are wrestling very, very well.