Campanaro Brandishes X-Calibur Gold as Borgia-led Rookies Shine

By David Yaskulka
Photography by Lisa Montuore

12/18/22

Michael Campanaro won his first X-Calibur Tournament championship, as freshman Tommy Borgia took silver to highlight an outstanding West Morris Central wrestling team performance in Wilkes Barre 12/17-18/22.

Michael Hare, Brandon Dean and Henry Frayne won bronze; Mark Montuore, Sam Rizzuto and AJ Codella took fourth; Lucas Barisonek sixth, Jacob Fahmi seventh, and Michael Borgia and Vincent Caruso eighth – an astounding 12 place winners and team bronze medal performance for the Wolfpack.

“The team wrestled great – I'm very proud of the effort,” said head coach Chris Marold. “Guys were able to push through not being 100%, but still wanted to compete and pushed through.”

Head Coach Chris Marold’s right hand man and father to two starters, Coach Tom Borgia, said “I’m very proud of the team. The experienced kids stepped up, and we saw an outstanding showing by our freshmen and sophomores – a total team effort.”

Finalists and Freshmen

Tommy Borgia (215 lb. weight class) led four freshmen, trumpeting their WMC arrivals by placing at this grueling Pennsylvania tournament – including Codella, Fahmi and Michael Borgia.

“I couldn’t be prouder of Tommy and Mikey,” reflected the senior Borgia. “Competing at their weights as freshmen is no easy task and they went after it. It was the highlight of my 28 year coaching career.”

Senior captain Campanaro (133) pinned his way to the finals, overwhelming Council Rock’s Nikos Katsos in just 22 seconds, and then Bergen Catholic senior Ethan Washurn in under a minute. Wyoming Seminary’s Matthew Botello forfeited the finals. The WMC senior hammer had taken X-Calibur bronze twice, and now joins Shane Metzler as the only Wolfpack champions.

“Camp looked very focused and wrestled some of the best matches I've seen him wrestle,” said Marold. “His pace at practice has brought his game to a whole new level.”

“It felt great finally winning X-Calibur,” said Campanaro. “It wasn't the way I wanted to win, but it was long overdue. But the best part was competing alongside the team, hanging out, and watching this team doing something no one would've expected. Watch out!”

Tommy Borgia debuted with flair, dispatching St. Anthony junior Salvatore Cascio and North Penn senior Ruke Walton with dominating pinfall performances. Borgia fell in the finals to Penn State commit AJ Fricchione, ranked number one in New Jersey (Full Circle). Multiple observers reported the match was closer than the scorecard indicated.

“Borgia did not seem intimidated at all,” observed Marold. “He pushed the pace and was able to get some good leg attacks.”

Bronze Battlers

Senior captain Hare (120), down 6-2 with the clock ticking down in wrestle back finals, dramatically decked Hazelton's Simon Zamudio for bronze. Hare placed sixth last year.

“I lost the lead early, but I battled through the match and my coaches put me in the right position,” reflected Hare. After that it was just up to me to hit my move [a cross-face cradle] and I did.”

In consolation finals, Dean (145) faced Bergen Catholic's Joey Canova – who had just defeated the wrestler who majored Dean in quarterfinals. Dean dominated start to finish, winning bronze 9-1. Last season, Dean shocked BC’s state-ranked Ryan Ford to place second.

“I looked over and [Canova] was just standing next to the scoring table, not warming up, so I could already feel that I had the mental advantage,” reflected Dean, who also noted how well Borgia performed in the finals versus Fricchione.

Senior captain Frayne (285) impressed in only four minutes on the mat all day, based mostly on first period pins vs. Pocono Mt. East’s Jermaine Moxam and teammate Codella.

“The tournament showed us what we need to work on individually, and as a team,” reflected Frane.

But how did it feel wrestling a young gun teammate?

“It was pretty cool. I mean you never want to see a teammate lose, but I really just thought of it as going live with him in the practice room.”

Pack of 12 Placewinners

Codella (285) pinned West Chester Henderson’s Faizan Ahmad in 28 seconds to reach the consolation finals, where he succumbed to teammate and senior hammer Frayne for fourth place.

Montuore (106) decked West Chester Henderson’s Alex Jackman and St. Anthony’s Brett Crawford before falling to BC’s Nathan Braun in consolation finals for his second X-Calibur fourth place finish.

Rizzuto (152) decked two Pennsylvania grapplers on his way to finishing fifth, his first X-Calibur placement. Earlier, Jersey Wrestling (on Rokfin) named Rizzuto NJ’s number one breakout candidate for this season.

Lucas Barisonek (189) also scored two pins for the pack against PA opponents on the way to his first placement.

Fahmi and Michael Borgia had strong WMC debuts, with Fahmi decking two Pennsylvania wrestlers, and Borgia nabbing a pinfall for the Pack in his first day on varsity.

Vincent Caruso (127) ascended the podium for the first time, placing eighth.

X-Calibur Team Race

The Wolfpack charged out of the gate Sunday morning. After Campanaro took gold, Montoure, Dean, Hare, Rizzuto, Codella and Frayne won in rapid succession, punching their tickets to the bronze medal match – and rocketing the team into second place, passing Wyoming Seminary.

Bergen Catholic, the defending #1 ranked team in New Jersey, ran away with the tournament with 296.5 points from five champions, five more finalists, three bronzes and four more placewinners. National powerhouse and host team Wyoming Seminary finished second (161 points), despite sending eight starters to Beast of the East this weekend.

WMC was the highest placing public school, and came within a hair of passing Seminary (160.5) – despite missing one of the Pack’s top starters, and losing another on day two. Twelve schools competed in all.

X-Calibur Day 1

Fahmi started his varsity career with a bang, decking eighth-seeded North Penn sophomore Dylan Long in the first, and then giving top-seeded Ethan Shirk a scare, falling 4-2.

Neil Lertola (172) fell to Michael Borgia’s friendly fire. Prior, Lertola took one for the team against Seminary’s Columbia recruit Dom Federici, ranked #9 nationally.

Brendan Mcbride (160) added points for the Pack receiving a forfeit, but ran into BC senior Eric Broadie, ranked top-10 in NJ, to end the day.

Henry Defrance also took the mat at 160, falling to two Pennsylvania grapplers who came in a combined 13-3.

Next Up

On 12/23 the Wolfpack will face Lenape Valley, Hanover Park and home team Randolph. The 12/27 John Goles Tournament at Warren Hills and the team’s home opener 12/30 vs. High Point will close out the 2022 schedule before visiting Hackettstown 1/3/23. Next is a home quad vs. Delaware Valley, Morris Knolls and Kittatinny on 1/7, visiting Morristown on 1/11 and Sparta 1/13, then another home quad on 1/14 vs. Cranford, Livingston and St. Thomas Aquinas.

About David Yaskulka

David began living his sportswriter dream to avoid concession duty when his sons Noah and Ben began wrestling for the Wolfpack in 2012. His day job is Senior Vice President Corporate Social Responsibility for Mid America Pet Food, whose family of brands is led by VICTOR and Nature’s Logic. He also serves as Board Chair of the Pet Sustainability Coalition, and as Board Director at Greater Good Charities.