Campanaro, Dean, Shepard, Frayne D11 champs; DiPaolo Medals Again

By David Yaskulka

2/20/22

Michael Campanaro, Brandon Dean, Malachi Shepard and Henry Frayne were crowned NJSIAA District 11 champions Saturday, as Coach Chris Marold’s West Morris Central wrestling took team bronze at Morristown High School.

Michael Ferrante and Dean Muttart won D11 silver, and Mark Montuore and Michael Hare won bronze.

All eight Wolfpack medalists advance to this week’s NJSIAA Region 3 Championships, where the top-four placers will advance to Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City for the State Championships.

NJSIAA Girls Championship in Phillipsburg

In only her second season of wrestling, WMC senior Marisa DiPaolo took home yet another state medal Sunday, placing fourth at the state championship. Last year she won bronze. Girls wrestling is one of the nation’s fastest-growing sports, and there was some evidence of that even in DiPaolo’s 185 lb. bracket. A senior, second-seeded DiPaolo was bookended by seniors in both the top and third seed slots. But seeds four through eight were completely filled by freshmen and sophomores who are stepping up throughout the state.

Teammates on the AC Podium?

Campanaro (120 lbs., 28-7 record) majored hometown favorite Mason Gervasio 8-0 to advance to the finals, where he prevailed 4-2 over Seton Hall’s Carlo Vanvolkenburgh. Both opponents are highly ranked. Campanaro took District 12 silver two years ago as a freshman, and advanced to top-12 in states last season. This year he’s gunning for the podium.

Dean’s (132, 31-4) gold medal adds to what is already one of the best rookie seasons in WMC history. His two opponents couldn’t go the distance against Dean, who is now ranked #4 in New Jersey. Dean was one of only four finalists to pin for gold. It won’t be easy, but he has a chance to become WMC’s all-time freshman wins leader, a record shattered by Campanaro just two years ago.

(Odd) Stuff Happens

Shepard’s (138, 26-7) gutty 8-7 finals win over Seton Hall Prep’s Brandon Bauer gives Shepard his second District championship. Bauer – a Long Valley native – was 23-2 before facing Shepard, who hopes to return to the State Championship where he competed as a sophomore.

Shepard advanced to the finals in odd circumstances when his semi finals opponent had to bow out due to a health-related accident, forcing both wrestlers to the showers, and an intermission to clean the mats.

Bumping Up

Frayne’s championship was also won in dramatic fashion, when the WMC junior nabbed a point against Seton Hall’s Jack Tierney in the second sudden-victory overtime for gold. Frayne made the strategic choice to bump back up to heavyweight from 215 where he has wrestled most of the season – and so far it’s paid off. Frayne won District bronze as a freshman.

Team Contributors

Brendan McBride, Ethan Toe, and Lucas Barisonek also contributed to the Wolfpack third place showing in the nine-school tournament.

Dean’s two pins, and his 26 team points were both tied for the most in this 113 wrestler competition. Hare was second of 113 in total match points, as Ferrante and Campanaro were tied for sixth, as Muttart and Shepard were tied for 15th. Dean left the tournament with more wins than anyone else in D11.

District History

Last season Districts were consolidated into “Super Regions” due to the pandemic, robbing a number of WMC wrestlers of the chance to earn their way to States.

In 2020, Malachi’s brother Eli Shepard joined him at the top of the podium, as did Colin Loughney, as the team took silver.

In 2019, the team won gold, as Robert Bohr, Eli Shepard, Loughney, Justin LeMay, and Luke Stefanelli all won championships for the Pack. Malachi won bronze, and Ferrante placed fourth.

LeMay, Marco Gaita, Stephanelli, and Robert Rosen were champs in 2018.

The Most Disappointing Match is The One That Didn’t Happen

In a sad twist, outstanding Wolfpack sophomore Sam Rizzuto (132, 17-3) would have been the top-seeded favorite to win the District championship if teammate Brandon Dean were out sick. But in the unfortunate structure of wrestling where “super subs” sit out once team competition ends, Rizzuto was left without a chance to compete.

Ferrante took silver in the tournament’s toughest bracket for WMC, hands down. It was the most challenging bracket in which to advance (with the four-seed ranked top 15 in the state), and the toughest to win. Ferrante won bronze as a sophomore two years back.

Campanaro won the second-toughest bracket, with the four-seed ranked #64 in the state. Dean and Frayne wrestled in two of the relatively less exemplary brackets, with two-seeds ranked outside the top-100. It was especially hard to reach the finals in Montuore’s bracket (with a top-10 ranked two-seed), but easier to advance (with the four-seed ranked outside the upper-half of wrestlers).

R3 Projections

The NJSIAA Region 3 Championships are February 25-26 at West Orange, featuring the top-3 wrestlers from each weight class in Districts 9, 10, 11 and 12. Only four from each 12-man bracket will advance to the NJSIAA State Championship in Atlantic City’s storied Boardwalk Hall.

Dean is the third-highest ranked wrestler in his bracket, and is a solid favorite to advance. Campanaro is the second-highest ranked in his bracket, but has a tougher weight class with five top-35 wrestlers.

Frayne ranks third in his bracket, with the fifth ranked wrestler outside of NJ’s top-60. But upsets abound at HWT. Shepard ranks fourth at 138 so his odds are good, but the fifth-ranked wrestler is right behind him.

Ferrante ranks just outside the top-four at 113, but needs just one coin-toss win to advance.

Montuore, Hare and Muttart would need to nab their biggest upsets of the season to advance – but that’s something we see every year in the postseason.

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.