Gaita is District champion, Pack of 8 advances for WMC wrestling

(Morristown, NJ 2/19/17) Marco Gaita won the 170 lb. District 11 Championship Saturday, leading eight West Morris Central wrestlers to the podium in Morristown. Justin LeMay, Kade Loughney, Christian Trimarchi, Robert Rosen and Shane Metzler all won silver, as Mike Caso and Eli Shepard took third.

All eight advance to the Region 3 Championship in West Orange for the Wolfpack.

“It felt great to win, and finally get my name on the wrestling room wall,” said junior captain Gaita. “For Regions, I am focused on repeating my performance at Districts.”

Gaita (36-2) won by tech fall to advance to the finals, where he found NJ’s #14 wrestler (ranked by Full Circle), Jacob Cardenas from Queen of Peace. But Gaita, ranked #12, prevailed 8-5 for his first District crown.

In perhaps the marquee District match in New Jersey, #2 ranked Metzler wrestled #1 Nick Raimo into triple overtime. Metzler had a third period lead, but Raimo tied it. In ultimate tie breaker, Raimo “pancaked” the WMC senior captain for the 10-5 win.

Ranked #1 at 126 all year, Raimo was the State Championship runner up. FloWrestling ranks him #5 in the USA. He’s the two-time defending USAW Cadet Greco Nationals and Freestyle Nationals champion. Many predict the two will spar again at both the Region and State finals.

Last year Metzler won his second 1 District championship, and Loughney won his first. Gaita took bronze.

As a team, WMC took District bronze. Queen of Peace won gold, and Hanover Park silver. Belvidere was fourth, followed by Morris Catholic, Kearny, Rutherford, Morristown, Belleville, and East Orange.

WMC’s Ken Rossi was honored as District 11 Coach of the Year, and Chris Marold as Assistant Coach of the Year.

“We had a very balanced team this year so it is not surprising we are sending eight guys to the Regions,” said Rossi. Only the 2013 team advanced more (nine).

LeMay (27-10, 145) pinned Hanover Park’s Marco Zecca in the semifinals to take silver. Queen of Peace’s #8 ranked Garret Beam topped LeMay for gold.

“Although I didn’t win it, it feels good to move on to Regions where I can get revenge,” predicted LeMay.

Loughney (31-7, 152) pinned Kearny’s Travis Whitt in the semifinals for silver, falling to #5 ranked Omar Abdelhamid in the finals.

Trimarchi (25-13, 160) topped Queen’s Michael Pillott in overtime to advance, ultimately winning silver as former Wolfpack wrestler Matt Liberato, ranked #16, won 9-2 in finals.

Rosen (21-13, 195) defeated Devonne Swan for the second time this season, winning by fall for District silver. Hanover’s Rory DeLuca (28-6) won gold in a 6-4 thriller over the WMC junior.

Caso (27-10, 113) fell to #13 ranked Hanover sophomore Dom Difrancescantonio in the semifinals. But the WMC junior dominated consolation finals 18-1, taking bronze.

Shepard (14-15, 120), a freshman, conquered Belvidere’s Ryan Lensi 15-2 for third.

Jonathan Vazquez (17-14, 132) and Luke Stefanelli (18-18, 182) narrowly missed advancing, placing fourth.

Vazquez, who pinned East Orange’s Josuh David to place, had a breakout junior year, with critical dual meet wins vs. Montville, Southern, Mendham (twice), Gateway, Kittatinny, and more. He’s expected to be a force in the middle of lineup next season.

Stefanelli pinned Morristown’s Osman Hernandez at 5:36 of quarterfinals to advance, but then fell to #4 ranked Dominic Maniero (25-1) by fall, and Ryan Kokawski (25-7) by 10-7. A sophomore, Stefanelli also had a breakout year, taking bronze at John Goles, and playing a critical role in the team’s Division Championship. He was undefeated in the division.

Ten of the Pack’s 12 starters advanced to semifinals, while two first-year starters fell by two points to Queen of Peace wrestlers in quarterfinals.

Robby Bohr (21-11, 106) completed a stellar freshman season. Bohr took 5th at the X-Calibur, and 6th at the Morris County Tournaments. He won huge dual meet matches, including vs. Del Val, Gateway, Southern, Mendham, and Roxbury (twice). Bohr was among the state’s pinfall leaders with 17.

John DeVito (14-19, 138) completed a very solid sophomore season, placing 4th at the John Goles Tournament, and winning big dual meet matches over High Point, Voorhees, Randolph, Westfield, Pompton Lakes and more.

“All 12 guys had a chance to qualify, but the post season is tough and the guys that didn't qualify lost some really close matches,” said Rossi.

“Bohr, Vasquez, DeVito, and Stefanelli were all key contributors to our team success and I am proud of their efforts this season. They all return next year and I expect they will put in the time to improve and get to the Regions next season.”

Next Up

The Region 3 championship is February 22-24 in West Orange. Top-four there advance to the NJSIAA State Championship March 3-5 in storied Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City.

Photos

By JoAnn Vazquez