Frayne, Galvin Lead WMC Wrestlers to Historic Shutout of Short-handed Mendham

1/21/26
By David Yaskulka
Photos by Jen Sheppard and Sheryl Reed
Statisticians: Adriana Georgiev, Alexa Moscotello and Kaylee Viera.

West Morris Central wrestling head coach Chris Marold has experienced seasons when shorthanded Wolfpack squads forfeited multiple bouts in every dual.

“It’s demoralizing,” said Marold. “It’s tough when you're going in, you know you have to wrestle a perfect match, and when one thing goes wrong, it's almost like, well, we're done."

Tuesday night (Jan 20) it was Mendham that was shorthanded, forfeiting five times. And it was Marold's Wolfpack that wrestled the historically perfect match, as WMC shut out the Minuteman 82-0.

On the mat, the Wolfpack won all nine, with seven pins and two tech falls – a 52-0 margin on bouts actually wrestled. No Mendham wrestler made it to the last 30 seconds of the match (one didn't make it through the first 30 seconds).

Deacon Frayne (215 lb. weight class, 17-4 record) won the marquee bout of the night, pinning Mendham senior district finalist Ralph Mangone (15-2) after a grueling dogfight.

Mangone is having a standout season for Mendham. His 15 wins include a Laker Holiday Tournament championship. Last season, he placed third at the Morris County Tournament which is coming up again this weekend.

Nick Galvin (113, 2-16) won his first varsity competition with an impressive 20-4 tech fall as the sparse but raucous home crowd and delighted teammates cheered him on. Galvin countered every shot with outstanding defense, and an ultimate score. Prior, he had won four matches via forfeit in his career.

Jonathan Cabarle (150, 8-3) pinned one of Mendham's best, Bradley Jedziniak (16-4), for his seventh straight since returning from injury (six pins, one forfeit).

Second Year Standouts

Marold was impressed with his sophomores.

“Deacon had the most impressive win. That's a really good kid he beat,” he said. “And Jonathan Cabarle is wrestling really well right now, a win over one of their better guys in pretty impressive fashion.

“And Nick Galvin, first wrestling win, very happy to see.” Galvin had previously faced a brutal stretch of five top-130 ranked wrestlers in a row (meaning well above average, ranks from RankWrestlers.com).

All Grades Contribute

Freshmen Julian Healy (144, 2-2) and Van Muttart (120, 2-6) delivered pins for the Pack.

So did senior Tommy Borgia (285, 18-0), and juniors Mason Vazquez (132, 7-6) and Brody Neill (138, 19-1). Lucas Harrison (126, 11-7) won by tech fall.

The sophomore Harrison has won four straight, and seven of eight. Borgia has won 19 in a row, and Neil 17. For Healy, it was his second straight win by pinfall. Vazquez has won four of five, including beating wrestlers ranked #57 and #93.

Mendham sophomore Joe Fonte (10-7) wrestled well, not looking intimidated against WMC state medalist Neill, despite the score and Neill pin on a wild move.

A Historic Win

These West Morris Regional School District sister schools share a long and heated athletic rivalry. Last season WMC won a wild and raucous contest in Mendham, its fourth straight. But prior, Mendham had won four straight.

The 82-0 score represented not only the most lopsided match in this story rivalry's history, it's the biggest margin of victory in WMC history. Google Gemini, which is not always accurate, suggests it's the single most lopsided win in all of New Jersey wrestling this season. Of course, it can't be far off, with 84 - 0 the mathematical maximum (without referee awarded penalty points).

Frayne was asked if he had ever seen anything like it.

“No. It was crazy."

Marold said " "I don't think I've ever been involved in a shutout in either my wrestling or coaching career.”

"It's always great to beat a rival, and it's pretty awesome when everyone could walk away with a pin or a tech fall.”

Frayne on Fire

Frayne is the fourth ranked sophomore in the state at 215 at #26, and second in pins with 13. He’s faced a brutal schedule of top-ranked wrestlers – ranked (in reverse chrono) #39 (), #35, #69, #47, #5, #58, #81 and #3 – and won all except for the two state medalists.

Frayne’s ended 16 opponents’ days early this season (with pins and tech falls), tied for 30th most in NJ.

What was his mindset against Mangone? "I was thinking just go out there, do my moves, work even if I get taken down, just keep battling."

In a dogfight as expected, Frayne said Mangone “caught my arm, and I got his head trapped under my arm. He was putting a lot of pressure on his posted arm. And so I just went with it, rolled, and got the pin.”

WMC/Mendham Playoff History

WMC/Mendham’s most consequential matches were in the team sectional playoffs.

In 2011, the rivals met in the North 2 Group 3 Sectional quarterfinals, when WMC prevailed 42-30. WMC then fell to Roxbury in semis.

But 2017 was the biggest math of all. After getting schooled by Mendham 37-19 in the regular season, and beating Fairlawn in section quarters and Roxbury in semis, WMC faced the Minutemen again in the team North 1 Group 4 state section championship.

WMC narrowed the gap on a pin from Justin LeMay and swing bout victories from Christian Trimarchi and Robert Bohr, but Mendham prevailed 29-27 behind state-ranked hammers Troy Navarino and Dom DiGina for its first sectional crown.

WMC narrowed the gap on a pin from Justin LeMay and swing bout victories from Christian Trimarchi and Robert Bohr, but Mendham prevailed 29-27 behind state-ranked hammers Troy Navarino and Dom DiGina for its first sectional crown.

Recent Mendham / WMC History

2025
Fazzino's Return, Cabarle, Vazquez Pins Lead WMC Over Mendham 53-23 | Long Valley, NJ Patch

2024
Seniors Shine: Caruso, McBride Lead WMC to Playoffs, Topping Mendham | Long Valley, NJ Patch

2023
DeFrance, Caruso Lead Pinfall Parade at Mendham, Pack Playoffs Bound | Long Valley, NJ Patch

Next Up

The Morris County Tournament at Mt. Olive is Jan. 24th. Here’s a preview.

WMC visits Hackettstown the 26th (a critical match for section seeding), then hosts Pope John the 28th, before heading to the Pascack Valley quad with Raritan and Jackson on the 31st. February starts at Morris Hills Feb. 4, and then a tri at Governor Livingston Feb. 7. Senior night is home versus Jefferson Feb. 11, then home again Feb. 13 against Morristown.

Here’s our cheat sheet on rankings.

State Sectional (team) Playoffs and Power Point Standings

As of 1/21/26, WMC is 2nd in Power Points standings in the section with 28.22 points versus 30.29 for Caldwell and 27 for Hackettstown. Parsippany Hills is a pretty distant fourth at 24.

NJSIAA wrestling power points are a mathematical formula used to seed the team state tournament by awarding teams points for each dual-meet victory (Quality Points) plus additional points based on their opponents' success (Residual Points). For the 2025-26 season, a team’s final ranking is determined by averaging the values of their best nine power-point-producing matches through the February cutoff.

If playoffs started today, as the #2, WMC would host the first two section playoff rounds (just as it did last year). Currently, WMC would face #7 Governor Livingston in quarters (this year WMC would be a strong favorite), and then the winner of #3 Hackettstown vs. #6 Madison in the semifinals the same night, Feb. 16. If in this scenario WMC beat Hackettstown, it would travel to face (most likely) #1 Caldwell Feb. 18. This writer thinks the current top-three are likely to hold, and the section crown will come down to Caldwell, WMC and Hackettstown.

Based on 1/18/26 RW rankings, WMC would likely win five and lose four bouts vs. Hackettstown, with five coin toss matches deciding. We’ll get one preview when the neighbors face off Jan. 26.

Against Caldwell, WMC would likely win five, lose four, and five coin toss bouts would decide the match.

You can track WMC’s Group 2, Section 2 power points (which determine playoff seeds) here.

And here’s a cheat sheet on tournament and playoff structure for the season:
Districts? Goles? Sections? AC? Oh My! A Guide to WMC Wrestling's Road to Glory

About David Yaskulka

To avoid concession duty when his sons Noah and Ben joined WMC in 2012, David revived his sportswriter dream, and still covers the Pack. He’s a sustainability advocate and pet industry executive, having served as CEO of Nature’s Logic, SVP of Mid America Pet Food, and Board Chair of the Pet Sustainability Coalition and Greater Good Charities. He currently advises Love, Nala cat food, Archway Pet Food, rePurpose Global plastic action platform, and New Zealand Trade & Enterprise. He invites all WMC wrestlers and their families to connect with him (and with each other!) on LinkedIn.