Gaita is County Champion, Caso 2nd as team takes silver

Marco Gaita was losing with just seconds left in his Morris County Tournament career, and Delbarton’s state-ranked A.J. Lonski stood in the way of an elusive crown. “All I thought was keep wrestling and leave it all on the mat,” said Gaita. He shot, and scored gold as the crowd roared.

Nine West Morris Central medalists led the team to second among 24 schools at Mt. Olive Friday and Saturday. Mike Caso won silver; Colin Loughney, Justin LeMay, John DeVito and Luke Stefanelli bronze; Eli Shepard fourth, Robby Bohr fifth and Jonathan Vazquez sixth in grueling brackets.

WMC was Morris County’s top public school for the first time since 2013. Gaita said “That was a big goal of ours. It just shows how much everyone has improved from last year and what the team is really capable of.”

Private powerhouse Delbarton, ranked #2 in New Jersey, won its 10th straight title with 316 points, 10 finalists and seven champions with state and nationally-ranked wrestlers from across New Jersey, including finalist Trey Zgombic from Long Valley. WMC scored 168.5 team points, followed by Hanover Park (155.5), Mount Olive (139.5) and Mendham (136.5).

Caso scored a critical semifinal victory to help buoy the team to second. In the finals, Caso faced Delbarton’s state champ Anthony Clark (#6 in the USA) – and came within a takedown, losing 3-1. Caso said “I went on the mat relaxed and confident. I am very proud … the team did an amazing job. We put our hearts on the mat and just wrestled to win!”

“Caso showed how tough he can be,” said Coach Ken Rossi.

Caso, Loughney, LeMay, DeVito, and Stefanelli were thwarted by eventual Delbarton champions. Shepard experienced falling to Delbarton’s Pat Glory, the nation’s #1 126 pounder.

Loughney took bronze by upsetting Butler senior Randy Wyble, then Randolph’s Charlie Treston. Among 42 medalists, only two finished three places above seeding, including Loughney.

LeMay majored Montville’s Michael Conrad to advance, but LeMay and top seed Evan Vazquez of Roxbury fell to Delbarton’s Vincent Andreano (#6 in NJ, Full Circle).

DeVito said “It felt great to medal and see all the hard work from the offseason and this season paying off for me and my teammates.” He topped Mt. Olive’s Vincent DeCarlo for bronze, his first MCT medal. My goals are to keep working hard in the practice room, help the team in Sectionals and make it to Atlantic City.”

Stefanelli upset third-seeded Mt. Lakes’ senior Paul Boerstoel for bronze.

Chris Parisi and Adrian Hefner contributed team points with prelim pins. Third-seed Robert Rosen had to withdraw.

Last year, Shane Metzler repeated as County champ as WMC took fourth. Kade Loughney and LeMay won silver, Caso and Gaita bronze, Rosen fifth, and Christian Trimarchi and Bohr sixth.

WMC’s only previous champs were Jesse Windt (2012 and 2013), Dillon Landi (2006), Daren Carfaro (1995), Scott Cummins and Brian McGuire (1993), Mike (1991) and Tim (1990) Mulrooney, and Chris Pierson and Dave McAllister (1987).

‘Pack crushes Roxbury 40-16

WMC won 10 bouts at Roxbury Jan. 24, virtually securing a repeat National Conference Championship.

A.J. Hill dominated the first bout with a pin, staking the Wolfpack to a 6-0 lead they would not relinquish. Stefanelli and Loughney toppled District champions; Bohr, DeVito and Gaita took down top-50 wrestlers; Caso and Vazquez pinned, Rosen bumped two weight classes to defeat a 14-win heavyweight; and Shepard won 5-3.

“Beating Roxbury is a tall order and the boys were up to the task,” said Rossi. “We won critical toss up matches that propelled us to a great win.”

Roxbury’s top-ranked Vazquez topped LeMay, who could not recover from a five-point move after slipping. The Gaels wrestled without two of their best wrestlers, but even they would not have changed the outcome.

Now 11-2, WMC must defeat undermanned ParHills to win the Conference. WMC is now the likely #1 seed in Sectional team playoffs.

Loughney leads WMC over Morris Knolls 56-12

Loughney was the underdog vs. top-ranked Golden Eagle Jack Wemmlinger, but the Wolfpack sophomore triumphed 5-2. Jack Lyden and Parisi pinned, and Hill won in the night’s toss up matches – assuring victory for a packed WMC house Jan. 23.

Freshman first-year (ever) wrestler Nick Chisari aggressively wrestled one of Knolls’ best, refusing bonus points. WMC got pins from Caso, Shepard, LeMay and Stefanelli, and majors from Rosen and Gaita to dominate.

Next Up

The team visits Warren Hills 1/31 and hosts powerhouse Hunterdon Central 2/2. The week of 2/5 features Sectional playoffs and championship matches (at least one at home).

Photo credits:

JoAnn Vazquez and Susan Hill

Top photo:

WMC and its nine medalists took 2nd of 24 teams at the Morris County Wrestling Championship. Kneeling: Jonathan Vazquez, Eli Shepard, Mike Caso, Robby Bohr, Colin Loughney and Justin LeMay. Standing: coaches Jim Balella and Chris Marold, Marco Gaita, A.J. Hill, John DeVito, Luke Stefanelli, Adrian Hefner, coach Tom Borgia, and head coach Ken Rossi. Credit: JoAnn Vazquez.