Brick Memorial Wrestling's Caravella Receiving National Honor

BRICK, NJ — For years, when you mentioned Brick Memorial wrestling, the name Tony Caravella was the first one mentioned.

Caravella was the coach who built the Mustangs' wrestling program from the mats up when Brick Memorial opened for the 1980-81 school year and led the program to the state championship pinnacle twice in his 23 years as the program's coach.

Caravella, who now assists his longtime friend Dennis D'Andrea with the St. John Vianney wrestling program, will be honored for his contributions to the sport of wrestling on Sunday by the New Jersey chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.

In a town long known for its football prowess, Caravella made the Brick Memorial program a force to be reckoned with. Over his career, the Mustangs racked up 317 victories, finishing No. 1 in the state in 1986 and 1994. The Mustangs won 19 district titles, 12 Shore Conference titles (including 10 straight), 10 South Jersey sectionals, five Group 3 titles and in 1993 won Beast of the East, according to the Hall of Fame biography.

His teams also produced 120 individual district champs, 44 regional champs, 42 state medalists and four state champions.

Caravella, who graduated from Brick Township High School and Bloomsburg State College, was a fourth-place finisher in the NJSIAA championships in high school and finished with a college record of 112-28-2 that included a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference championship. He was a three-time Division I qualifier and in 1980 was All-America with a seventh-place finish at Nationals.

The induction banquet is Sunday, Sept. 15, at The Westin in Princeton.

The Lifetime Service to Wrestling award that Caravella is receiving is "given in recognition of years of dedication to the development of leadership and citizenship in the youth through the sport of wrestling."

Caravella was honored by the New Jersey Interscholastic Athletic Association in 2018 for his long years of service to New Jersey wrestling with the Harry E. Lake Award for outstanding contributions to New Jersey wrestling.

The Star-Ledger named him Coach of the Decade for the 1990s. In addition to wrestling, Tony also coached football, gymnastics, cross country and track and field. He was athletic director at Brick Township High from 2003-05.

This will be Caravella's seventh Hall of Fame membership. He is also in Brick Township’s High School Wall of Fame, Memorial’s Hall of Fame, the NJSIAA Region 6 Hall, Bloomsburg State, the South Jersey Hall and the Eastern Wrestling League Hall of Fame. He is also a member of the National Wrestling Coaches Association and the USWA.

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