Wolfpack's Wrestling Wins Come From Total Team Effort

Long Valley NJ

23 January, 2022

12:58 PM

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by David Yaskulka. Photos by Laura Ferrante. (1/23/22, Chester, NJ) The West Morris Central Wolfpack wrestlers topped Montclair, and lost to High Point and Morristown this week. At 5-13, they've won five more times than last season. It's been a tale of two tenacious segments of Coach Chris Marold's team this season. One is a group of experienced wrestlers preparing for postseason glory. The second group, also critical but unheralded, has been stepping up for the Pack with little to no varsity experience, and some with little to no wrestling experience at all. The first group features nine Pack grapplers ranked in the top-100, characteristic of stars who place in Districts and advance to Regions and beyond. WMC Nine Region Hopefuls Brandon Dean's (132) only loss this season is to the #1 ranked wrestler in NJ – who couldn't score bonus points against the WMC freshman phenom. Dean's won seven in a row, and all three this week. Michael Ferrante (113) has won 15 of his last 16, including all three bouts this week. He's wrestling well enough to make it to Atlantic City for the championships in his final year. After suffering his first two in-state losses to some of New Jersey's best, junior Henry Frayne (215) continued his dominant season with two more falls this week. He's joined Dean (#3) and Michael Campanaro (#17) in Wrestling Full Circle's top-20 rankings, at #11. Returning WMC hammer and top-12 state placewinner Campanaro (126) suffered a tough loss, but also added another signature victory against a top competitor this week. He's shown he can beat anyone. Fellow returning state qualifier Malachi Shepard (144) won all three bouts this week, and four in a row. He's poised for another Atlantic City run. Junior Michael Hare (120) had a huge win at Morristown this week, and added his third tech fall of the year, going 2-1. It seems like team's are ducking WMC's other freshman phenom, Mark Montuore (106), who has received forfeits in five of his last eight bouts, including two this week. Sophomore Sam Rizzuto (138) and junior Dean Muttart (150) are 23-10 between them, and both were 2-1 this week. Eight Tenacious Grinders is Almost Enough The second tenacious group includes Vincent Caruso (144) and Henry Defrance (157), each contributing two critical wins. Brendan McBride (165) and Shaun Seabeck (285) have contributed a dozen challenging but meaningful mat appearances each. Patrick Stetz (215), Ethan Toe (190), Lucas Barisonek (215) and Gabriel Morgan (190) – all underclassmen, have contributed to the team this season, often in thankless and grueling spots. Their mat experience bodes well for next season as well. Campanaro Wins Another Big One as Pack Falls to High Point 48-29 (1/18) If only it ended in the middle… Through half time, West Morris Central dominated High Point 29-6, and for once received forfeit points (6 to Dean) without giving up any. But in the second half, High Point scored a perfect six points for each bout, highlighted by the nation's #1 ranked and returning undefeated state champ Brian Soldano pinning Frayne. Campanaro gutted out a terrific 3-0 victory over one of High Point's best, #26 ranked junior Roman Citro, and the Pack scored on pins from Ferrante and Muttart, and major victories from Rizzuto and Shepard to put up a valiant 29 points, versus 48 from High Point. Frayne may well be ready for Atlantic City, but the popular wisdom is that no one there will be ready for Soldano as he seeks his third straight crown. Ferrante and Hare Lead Pack Over Depleted Montclair, 57-12 (1/21) As WMC is gradually filling its lineup holes, it found a team that has even bigger holes – Montclair only sent four wrestlers to the mat. Two of them are top-100 ranked grapplers taken down by Hare (16-0 tech fall) and Ferrante (10-1 major decision) in dominant displays. Toe took one for the team against Montclair's best. Sadly, 10 bouts were forfeits, including two double forfeits as the Pack won 57-12. Hare's Big Victory, Wins From Dean, Sheppard, Muttart and Frayne Not Enough Vs. Morristown (1/21) Marold could not have scripted a better start, as Hare gutted out a dramatic 6-5 victory over Morristown senior stud Mason Gervasic, ranked #33. The table was set for a Wolfpack upset. But Morristown sophomore phenom Jack Myers flipped the script with a 7-6 upset over WMC hammer Campanaro. Perhaps now the 30th-ranked Myers' wins won't be upsets any more as he remains undefeated at 14-0. Dean, Shepard and Frayne all pinned, and Muttart delivered a strong 6-2 decision for the Wolfpack scoring. But Morristown was able to put all four of WMC's less experienced wrestlers on their backs, and benefitted from two forfeits on the way to a 39-36 victory. After it clinched the win, Morristown forfeited the last two bouts. Alongside Hare's big win, Dean topped a promising fellow freshman, and both Muttart and Frayne beat wrestlers with winning records. Contributing writer David Yaskulka's day job is Senior VP, Corporate Social Responsibility at Mid America Pet Food in Mt. Pleasant, TX. He's also Board Chair of Greater Good Charities, and Board Vice Chair of the Pet Sustainability Coalition. His sons wrestled for the Pack.