Harrison and Borgia Win County Crowns, 11 Medalists Earn Team Silver for WMC Wrestling

1/25/26

By David Yaskulka
Photos from Jen Sheppard, Sheryl Reed

Special thanks to team statisticians Adriana Georgiev, Alexa Moscotello, Kaylee Viera and Tilly Vazquez

West Morris Central wrestlers Jacob Harrison and Tommy Borgia won Morris County Championships Saturday (Jan. 24), leading an unprecedented Pack of 11 medalists to a team best-ever (tied) second place finish. WMC had been third among public schools for six years straight.

“Coaches told us the county tournament is a turning point between the regular season, and the post-season,” said captain Kurt Beyer. “This accomplishment should boost our overall confidence heading into the post-season.” Coach Chris Marold has said his primary goals are for the post-season, including a team section championship and individual advancement.

Brody Neill and Deacon Frayne won Morris County Tournament (MCT) silver medals, and captain Rob Fazzino bronze. Beyer, Mason Vazquez and Jonathan Cabarle placed fourth; Ryan Tie and John Garcia fifth; and Lucas Harrison sixth in the historic showing.

“We did great,” said champion Harrison. “We put in a lot of work, and we have a great mood in the room. We’re always working, always bonding and it just really helps. It shows on the mat too.”

Captain and now repeat county champion Borgia agreed, saying, “The group did amazing. Like I said a few weeks ago I’m really excited to see what this team has to offer in the coming months. This huge accomplishment is just proving how much better we are getting every day in the room, individually and as a group.”

Exceeding Expectations: Seed-Place-Difference

Going into quarterfinals, WMC had five favorites, and six underdogs – and emerged with eight victories. Those upsets by Vazquez, Cabarle and Beyer, and another in semifinals by Frayne, led to WMC being one of only two schools at the tournament whose wrestlers collectively exceeded expectations (“seed-place-difference”).

Seed-place-difference is significant because a lower seed is not only a lower expectation, but is also a huge handicap to overcome (due to facing much tougher wrestlers in earlier rounds). So placing above one’s seed is a significant accomplishment.

Individually, Cabarle and Garcia tied for fourth in the entire tournament in seed-place-difference out of 250 wrestlers. Beyer tied for 15th. Tie, Vazquez, Alex Dymnicki and Frayne tied for 26th (top 10%). Eighty percent of all wrestlers at the tournament equaled or placed lower than their seed, further emphasizing the difficulty of exceeding it.

All I See is Gold

“It was awesome,” reflected Harrison after winning his first county championship, and WMC’s first of the day, at 144 lbs.

Beyer agreed. “Jacob Harrison stood out to me. In all of his matches, including the finals, I watched him win decisively. To me, this is another testament to the work ethic that the team has had in the room.”

Harrison (now 17-8) dominated every opponent, pinning three times on the way to finals, and then majoring Mt. Olive’s Thomas McDonald with an 11-0 shutout for the crown.

“I've been putting a lot of work in the room and it just really shows, from going live to working out in the lifting room.”

In the finals, “the biggest key was knowing his attacks,” he said. “ I studied this kid before I went into the match and I knew his shots, I knew his go-tos, so figuring out what to do to counter that really helped me. And I just kept attacking and pressuring.”

Captain Fazzino also praised Harrison, saying, “Jacob Harrison has improved and worked throughout the offseason and now as you can see it is paying off.” Last season, Harrison placed fifth at MCT, after finishing sixth as a freshman.

Borgia, now 22-0, has won every tournament this year and last, except for the state championship where he finished seventh. His sights this year are on winning that one, too.

HWT Borgia pinned his first three opponents in 97 seconds combined – the tournament’s fastest three pins. In finals, Borgia topped NJ #8 ranked (RankWresters.com) Jared Martini for the third time in a row, by 4-1. Martini has narrowed the gap, but Borgia stayed on top.

Martini was MCT’s highest-ranked wrestler denied a championship.

Going into the weekend, only 30 wrestlers in the state were undefeated. Borgia is one who remained perfect. He’s also fourth in the entire state in career wins (135-19), as he inches closer to Shane Metzler’s WMC record 144 with possibly 15 or more bouts remaining in his career.

Sterling Performances

Frayne (215, 20-5) had perhaps WMC’s biggest win, upsetting NJ #17 ranked state qualifier Wyatt Sisco of Kinnelon 5-3 in the semifinals.

“Possibly the biggest win of his young career,” reflected Borgia. “It was amazing to watch. He went out and beat a senior who is a top level wrestler in not only the county, but the state. Deacon’s a battle tested competitor and it showed on the mat this weekend.”

Prior, Frayne pinned both opponents in under one minute each.

Mt. Olive’s state championship hopeful Nico Gonzalez (#4) won the title in dominating fashion.

For his second MCT, sophomore standout Frayne once again faced only seniors, and improved on last year’s bronze medal. Frayne was the only underclassman in the top-eight, which included five seniors, two juniors, and sophomore Frayne.

WMC hammer Brody Neill (138, 22-2) added a silver medal to his historic MCT resume, having won gold last year and bronze as a freshman.

After dominating his first three opponents, Neill faced a rematch with fellow district champ and state qualifier Nick DiFrancescantonio, and the HP senior won again.

The finals loss was Neill’s second of the season, both in tournament finals. In a testament to the respect coaches have for WMC’s junior state medalist, both victories earned Neil's opponent the tournament’s Most Outstanding Wrestler award.

Frayne and Neill’s silver medals came in two of the most grueling brackets.

Frayne’s boasted two state qualifiers, six top-50 ranked wrestlers (some brackets had zero), and a tournament-topping nine in the top-65 of the state.

In addition to the two state qualifiers, Neill’s bracket had six wrestlers ranked #63 or better.

Wolfpack Semifinalists

Fazzino (175, 17-8) upset Mt. Olive’s Stephen Hayek 4-2 in the dramatic nail-biting medal round for bronze.

Before falling to #30 ranked two-seed Nolan Monaghan of Roxbury in semis, Fazzino won by fall and by tech fall. The WMC senior had never placed at MCT before, having missed it due to injury last year. In the Morris Knolls Tournament finals, MCT 2026 champ Shivas topped Fazzino by one, but that rematch was not to be.

Jacob Harrison pointed to seven-seed Cabarle (150, 10-5) as his most impressive teammate, saying “he took down the second seed, that was amazing. I’m proud of him.”

Indeed, Cabarle upset #54 ranked Roman Ritacco of Kinnelon (17-6) by 7-4 in quarterfinals to finish fourth. Cabarle tied for fourth across all weights by placing two rungs above his seed.

Vazquez (132, 9-8) won his first-ever tournament medal in impressive fashion, defeating Montville’s Vincent Palmiero (14-10) 7-5 in quarterfinals – as Palmiero pounded his fist against the mat in frustration. Facing the three-seed in the bronze match, Vazquez stormed back from an 8-0 deficit to nearly pull off another upset, falling 11-9 for fourth.

Six-seed Beyer (165, 15-10) upset Montville’s Gage Dembowski (18-7) in a 10-7 nail biter in quarterfinals. In the medal round, Beyer scored first for a 3-0 lead and scored again to make it 6-1. But the ref then waved off the score, and Nick Drake from Mountain Lakes took the momentum for a 10-4 win. Beyer’s fourth improves on last season’s 7-8 finish.

More Wolfpack Medalists

Freshman Tie (106, 15-10) avenged his earlier loss to Mt. Olive’s five-seed and #80 ranked Jack Rawa in the medal round, with a dominating 13-1 major decision for fifth. Former Long Valley youth coach Tom Whittmore predicted it after watching Tie out-wrestle Rawa in the second and third periods of their prior dual meeting.

Garcia (157, 13-12) won his third and most impressive tournament medal of the season, taking fifth by major decision over Jusuf Daraku of Whippany Park (15-8) with a 17-8 major decision. Garcia tied for fourth across all weights by placing two rungs above his seed. His only loss of the tournament was to NJ #3 (and USA #18) ranked Joe Monticello of HP (22-4), the eventual champ.

Lucas Harrison (126, 13-9) won twice on the day with two first-period pins, and also tied for fourth across all weights by placing two rungs above his seed. “Larry” almost advanced to semis, denying third-seeded William Jones of Butler (14-4) even a single takedown, but falling 3-1.

Wolfpack Team Glory, and Other Champs

With an historic 11 medalists, WMC has never placed higher in the county. The Pack also came in second in 2018 and 2013. This writer could find no record of WMC ever having medalists numbering in the double-digits before.

MCT host squad and NJ #14 ranked Mt. Olive won the championship with 279 team points. WMC had 213.5. Hanover Park, which finished second last season, had 181.5, and Morris Hills placed fourth with 150, out of 21 schools competing.

Mt. Olive crowned five champions, Cole Rebels (120), Kristian Beres (126), Colin Smyth (150), Justin Bullock (165), and Nicolas Gonzalez (215).

Other champions were Hanover Park’s Alex Spagnulo (106), Parsippany Hills Logan Forgatch (113), Morris Hills Josh Levin (132), HP’s Nick DiFrancescantonio (138), HP Joey Monticello (157), Morris Knolls Luke Shivas (175), and MH Frank Dimarzio (190).

11 Advance from MCT Day 1, Dymnicki’s Hand Raised

In Friday’s MCT preliminary round and pre-quarterfinals, it’s win or go home, with no wrestlebacks.

Alex Dymnicki (190) found the sweet taste of victory in his first (and as a senior, his last) county championships. His 8-1 win made WMC a perfect 1-0 in prelims.

Dymnicki, Nick Galvin (113) and Van Muttart (120) then fell victim to their lower seeds, taken out by some of Morris County’s best wrestlers.

Eleven Pack members advanced to quarterfinals, on nine pins (second most of any team), and two decisions.

The Pack finished the day in second place with 64.5 team points.

Morris County Hall of Fame

Long-time WMC head coach (and Marold predecessor) Ken Rossi was inducted into the Morris County Wrestling Hall of Fame at the tournament. Rossi, one of the most successful wrestlers in county history with three state medals, coached the Wolfpack for 16 seasons. Rossi sat with his former squad at MCT.

MCT Video Features

Here is Garden State HS Wrestling’s recorded-live coverage of the MCT finals, including Harrison and Borgia’s huge wins:

https://www.youtube.com/live/1NMvfDgoCNA?si=VmQObRfSLisYHyPr

And here is Jacob Harrison’s interview, recorded just after he secured the crown:

Seeding Problems? Mostly No

Comparing seed to rank in the weight class, every WMC wrestler but two received a seed equal to, or plus or minus one from their rank in the weight. Van Muttart received WMC’s most disadvantaged seed, getting the 13 seed despite being ranked #10 in the bracket. Garcia received the eight seed despite being the sixth highest ranked wrestler in his bracket. That difference could have a significant impact.

Wrestlers with (very slightly) favorable seeds included Tie, Neill, Beyer, and Fazzino.

Slightly disadvantageous seeds went to Lucas Harrison, and Dymnicki.

About 30 wrestlers received seeds +/- 3 or more away from their ranks, with Muttart WMC’s only entry. Seven wrestlers were +/- five or more away from their rankings.

Missing from the Party

Among the 135 wrestlers who have competed on varsity this year missing from MCT, Mt. Olive’s Anthony Piemonte (a champion last year) is the highest ranked, but WMC has two of the top 10 in Michael Borgia (3rd highest missing, placed 6th in 2025), and Hayden Hurst (9th).

WMC County Championship History

In 2025, Brody Neill and Tommy Borgia won county championships in the start of the post-Delbarton MCT era (appropriately, since Delby often crowned multiple non-Morris county grapplers as Morris County champs). The Pack celebrated Mark Montuore’s 100th win. Montuore finished his legendary WMC career with 113 wins (5th) and 68 pins (1st), both numbers tied with his co-captain Tommy Borgia in the record books. Freshmen bigs Deacon Frayne (175 lbs.) and Chris Kowalik (190) also dazzled, nabbing bronze and fourth respectively. Jacob Harrison (132) took fifth and Michael Borgia (215) sixth in 20-man brackets.

Recent Wolfpack MCT champs include Brandon Dean (2023), Marco Gaita (2018), Metzler (2016 and 2017), and Jesse Windt (2013 and 2014).

Scott Cummins and Brian MacGuire were the last WMC teammates to win County championships in 1993. Prior, Chris Pierson and Dave McAllister won in 1987. Neill is the first 120 title winner since Metzler in 2016, and Borgia the first HWT since McAllister.

Borgia won silver, Neill and Sam Rizzuto nabbed bronze in 2024. Neill’s only loss was to eventual state champion Cameron Sontz of Delbarton. Rizzuto’s only loss was to eventual state champ Jayden James of Delbarton. Of the three Delbarton champs, only Sontz is a Morris County resident. Sophomore AJ Codella and Montuore took fifth, and freshman Jacob Harrison (6th)

In 2023, sophomore Brandon Dean became WMC’s first County Champion since Marco Gaita in 2018. Borgia won bronze, Montuore was fourth with Jacob Fahmi and Sam Rizzuto finishing top-eight. Wolfpack legend Michael Campanaro won silver, falling to Luke Stanich.

In 2022, Dean led the team with bronze. Montuore, Campanaro, Henry Frayne, Michael Ferrante and Malachi Shepard all took fourth. Hare placed fifth, and Dean Muttart top-eight. Dean and Montuore’s accomplishments were unprecedented among WMC rookies. The team took public bronze.

There was no Morris County Tournament in 2021 due to Covid.

In 2020, WMC placed third among public schools, with Campanaro placing fifth in a legendary bracket, in which three wrestlers who placed above him went on to become state finalists, including two champions. Colin Loughney and Eli Shepard took silver, Kevin Ramos and Malachi Shepard bronze, Robert Bohr fourth, Matt Borgia and Jorge Montenegro sixth.

In 2019, WMC placed third among public schools, highlighted by silver for Eli Shepard and Justin LeMay, and bronze for John DeVito and Luke Stefanelli.

Prior to 2023, the last champion for the Wolfpack was Gaita in 2018, as the team won the public school crown for the second time. Prior, Shane Metzler won back-to-back titles in 2016 and 2017, on his way to two of his three NJ state medals.

In 2013 the team won public gold for the first time, as Jesse Windt was WMC’s first champion since Dillon Landi (2006), who was the only champ in the 18 years between Darren Carfaro in 1995 and Windt.

Next Up

CANCELLED: WMC vs. Hackettstown the 26th (a critical match for section seeding).

WMC hosts Pope John the Wednesday 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 1/25/26, WMC narrowly passed Caldwell for first place in Power Points standing in North Group 2, Section 2 by 30.78 to 30.56. Hackettstown remains a solid third with 28.33, followed by Parsippany Hills.

2026 Public Team Tournament Schedule

• Rounds 1 & 2 (Quarterfinals & Semifinals): Monday, February 16, 2026.
• Note: The #1 and #2 seeds in each section will host these opening rounds.
• Sectional Finals: Wednesday, February 18, 2026.*
• Note: Hosted by the higher remaining seed.
• State Group Semifinals: Friday, February 20, 2026.
• Note: Hosted by the higher seed.
• State Group Finals: Sunday, February 22, 2026.
• Location: Rutgers University (Jersey Mike's Arena).

*This is the State Section Championship that Coach Marold and the team have been gunning for!

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.

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.