DeFrance, Caruso Lead Pinfall Parade at Mendham, Pack Playoffs Bound

By David Yaskulka

2/4/23

Junior Henry DeFrance delivered his signature victory of the season with a second period pin of Mendham senior Leron Hadar, delivering the 57-20 Wolfpack victory with an exclamation point in its ultimate bout. The Feb. 1. contest at Mendham was the WMC junior’s first all season that didn’t require bumping up to a higher weight to help the team.

Vincent Caruso, finishing the season bumped up a weight class to 132, guaranteed the Wolfpack win with a powerful pin, his second of the season.

Mark Montuore pinned Mendham’s second-highest-ranked competitor Aidan Reilly to highlight a seven-pin night for the Pack, with Brandon Dean (bumping up two weight classes), Michael Hare, Michael Campanaro and Sam Rizzuto all joining the pinfall parade. Dean Muttart’s 8-3 victory and two forfeits rounded out the Wolfpack scoring.

“Coach Marold has been saying all year, ‘save bonus, get bonus,’” shared Campanaro. Jacob Fahmi and Lucas Barisonek did the former, and virtually every other WMC wrestler did the latter Wednesday.

Mendham’s scoring came from pins by seniors Patrick Rooney and Jack Suchanek, a tech fall from outstanding sophomore Rafe Fonte, and a decision by Paul LeBow to maintain his winning record. After Mendham’s returning division medalist Suchanek staked the home team to a 15-6 lead, WMC would win nine of the next 10.

The Pack raised its record to 11-5, advancing to the team championship playoffs. The Minutemen fell to 7-12.

"It was huge that we had some wrestlers like DeFrance and Caruso step and get wins against Mendham," said Coach Chris Marold. They have both run into some very tough competition this season so it's great to see them succeed against our cross town rivals."

The Tuesday night win at Mendham is the Pack’s second in a row over the Minutemen. Mendham had won eight in row (including sectional playoffs), until Rizzuto’s major and big wins from the three “Michaels” (Ferrante, Hare and Campanaro) nailed the 40-37 Wolfpack victory last season. Before then, the Pack last beat their rivals in 2015, when a huge David Migliaccio pin and a gutty Noah Yaskulka (who was 6-15 that season) going the distance against County and Region champion Troy Navarino highlighted a 35-30 victory.

"Any win against Mendham stands out," reflected Marold, "but actually the matches that stand out the most in mind were actually two of our losses in the sectionals. Two years in a row we came up just short despite forfeiting a few weight classes. Both of the matches came down to the wire and we had unbelievable crowds and it was a really great environment. Losing those matches also inspired our guys to work even harder and I think helped fuel them to make deep runs in their individual postseason."

Wolfpack - Gaels Rematch and Possible Cranford Rematch in Team Playoffs

“We have some great teams in our section,” said Frayne. “If we want to win, it’s going to have to be a full team effort, whether it’s pulling off upsets or saving bonus points, we’re going to need everyone.”

Camp concurred, saying that efforts from the less-heralded wrestlers – “‘save bonus, get bonus’ – make a huge difference in winning tight matches as a team.”

Monday Feb. 6 WMC will face Roxbury in the Sectional (team state championship) quarterfinals at Cranford. The winner will face the Cranford/Passaic Valley winner (Cranford is the strong favorite) in the semis the same night. WMC defeated Roxbury Jan. 18 by 48-30, and fell to Cranford Jan. 14 by 36-28 in a match that came down to the last bout. Section finals are Feb. 8. hosted by the higher-seeded finalist.

“It's easy to look past a team that you've already beat, but we know that Roxbury isn't going to go down without a fight,” said Frayne. “We need to be wrestling at the top of our game to beat them because they're going to want revenge.”

“To beat Roxbury we need to wrestle our match the way we've been and it should play out right,” said Campanaro. “Against Cranford, there are toss ups throughout. We need them to be on our side.

“We need the team to be devoted to the match the whole time, and loud,” said Campanaro. He spoke of out-working and out-pacing the competition, believing in their training, as the Wolfpack is recognized for its outstanding conditioning and persistence on the mat.

“We need to rattle these opposers,” Campanaro concluded.

As wrestlers take their hard-earned lessons off the mat, it shouldn’t surprise that Campanaro’s words reflect those of Dr. Orison Swett Marden, founder of Success magazine:

“There is genius in persistence. It conquers all opposers. It gives confidence. It annihilates obstacles. Everybody believes in a determined man. People know that when he undertakes a thing, the battle is half won, for his rule is to accomplish whatever he sets out to do.”

That seems to be the mindset of WMC’s team captains heading into the postseason.

Frayne’s key message from the coaches resonates especially for the seniors. “Coaches remind us that the playoffs are what we've practiced for. There's no more looking ahead.

“We need to get business done now.”

"We are in a very challenging section this season with three teams that are ranked in the state," said Marold. " I am confident that we can beat any team in the section, we just need everyone to be on their game and show up ready to compete. We are not looking past Roxbury at all. I'm sure they are going to be gunning for us and I expect that to be a competitive match. Assuming we do
win, the rematch with Cranford is something that we have had on our radar since we lost to them in the quad a couple of weeks ago. I expect them to make some adjustments to their lineup so we are going to just have to be physical and try and use our conditioning to get them tired."

Roxbury and Cranford Chapter 1 Review

On Jan. 18, Frayne, Montuore, Campanaro, Muttart, Rizzuto and Dean wins propelled the Wolfpack to the Conference championship over Roxbury. Dean’s pin was named a Jersey Wrestling (on Rokfin) Biggest Win of the Week (as was a Montuore win at MCT). Roxbury forfeited at 113 and 120, and did not enter any wrestlers at the Morris County Tournament at those weights last weekend. That could make WMC a strong favorite against Roxbury again.

Versus Cranford, WMC would again be the underdog and would need to improve on its impressive close loss last they met for the Wolfpack to advance to possibly face top-seeded Warren Hills. Against Cranford, Dean had a huge pin against a top-21 wrestler, and the Pack won four huge “coin-toss” wins from Borgia (a 10-2 major against a top-50 senior), Hare (4-0 against a district finalist), Campanaro (5-3 against a still otherwise-unbeaten freshman, and Caruso (4-2, bumping up against a senior who usually wrestles two weights above him).

WMC only lost one “coin toss” match, but one might be all Cranford needs to advance. They boast a deep lineup with 14 wrestlers ranked in NJ's top 112 (RankWrestlers.com), eight of them top 40. WMC has eight ranked in the top-50, but no one else in the top-200.

Next Up

Sectional playoffs are Feb. 6 at Cranford, and finals Feb. 8. Senior Night has been rescheduled for Friday Feb. 10, hosting Randolph. District seeding is Feb. 16. Districts are Feb. 18 at Morristown. Region seeding is Feb. 21, and Regions are Feb. 24-25. State seeding is Feb. 28, and States are March 2-4 at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City.

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 Super Premium Pet Food and Nature’s Logic. He also serves as Board Chair of the Pet Sustainability Coalition, and as Board Director at Greater Good Charities.