Sports
Brown, Rosen, Big Kalt Lead WMC Past Par Hills Wrestlers
Mike Brown won in 19 seconds, providing excitement on a night with oddly little wrestling.
Mike Brown (1-0) pinned his opponent in 19 seconds, helping launch the WMC Wolfpack to a 57-12 victory at Parsippany Hills Wednesday night. Robert Rosen (3-5) prevailed by 8-1, and Alex “Big Kalt” Kaltenhauser (8-5) won by fall.
Woody Allen famously said “eighty percent of success is showing up” – which proved predictive for this match. The night had the absurd feel of some Allen movies, as match after match after match was decided by forfeit - that is, by the guy who showed up.
Only four of 14 matches were actually fought. The string of forfeits even had the referee laughing about his early night.
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WMC raised its record to 2-1, as Par Hills fell to 0-3.
Freshman AJ Hill made his varsity debut at 113, wrestling tough before falling to Par Hills’ top wrestler, the undefeated junior Justin Carifi (9-0). Hill got the varsity nod after a stellar JV start to his high school career, taking a gold and silver in two tournaments.
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For Brown, it was his first-ever varsity win. The senior battled back from injuries that limited his action the last two years.
Mike Caso (6-4) cut to 106 lbs. for the first time this season, taking a forfeit. After wrestling well at 113, Caso will be a wrestler to watch at his new weight.
John DeVito also made his varsity debut, accepting the forfeit at 138. The freshman recently took gold at the Roxbury JV Tournament.
In all, two bouts were double-forfeits (with neither team sending a wrestler to the mat), seven forfeits were won by WMC, and one forfeit went to Par Hills.
The night began with six forfeits before Brown took the mat for his rapid win.
In the four bouts actually wrestled, WMC won three, outscoring ParHills 15-6.
Adding to the oddity of the night, there were significantly more JV bouts than varsity. The Wolfpack dominated those matches as well.
Next up
The Pack wrestles at the Mt. Olive Quad on Saturday 1/9, taking on Morristown, Cedar Grove and the hosting Marauders. WMC visits powerhouse Roxbury Wednesday 1/13, with some anticipated top-talent matches such as Regional finalist Craig Roumes (7-0) vs. Isemann, and Evan Vazquez (8-1) vs. Metzler.
The team hosts the WMC JV Tournament 1/10.
Photo
Seniors Mike Brown (left) and Alex Kaltenhauser won by pin at Parsippany Hills. Credit Mollissa LeMay.
