LeMay and Shepard Lead Pack of 8 Morris County Place Winners

By David Yaskulka

The West Morris Central Wolfpack’s strong Morris County Championships showing ended in frightening fashion Saturday, as senior Justin LeMay’s quest for gold ended with the gutty senior writhing in pain on the mat after being kneed to the eye, according to Coach Ken Rossi.

A finals win over Delbarton’s state-ranked Dante Stefanelli – whom LeMay recently defeated 13-4 -- would have meant LeMay’s first County championship, and the Wolfpack’s second consecutive public team championship. The grueling injury forfeit left him settling for silver and the Pack placing fourth overall.

“I thought the team performed really well this weekend,” said Rossi. “Justin was disappointed, but he is a competitor and will use this adversity as a motivator to prepare for the postseason.”

There was plenty of Wolfpack glory at the 23-school weekend event at Mt. Olive High School.

Eli Shepard upset Mendham’s Peter Tringali 5-3 in an overtime thriller for silver. Shepard placed fourth last year.

“Eli has a relentless practice pace and it paid off in the overtime period when he had to call on his conditioning to push the pace,” said Rossi.

DeVito, Stefanelli, Bohr, Loughney, Montenegro and Ramos Place

John DeVito and Luke Stefanelli won their second straight bronze medals, respectively topping Whippany Park’s Thomas Stigliano and 2nd-seeded Justin Randizio from Jefferson for third.

Robby Bohr placed fourth, avenging an earlier loss by pinning Hanover Park’s Jack Bursese, before falling to Delbarton’s nationally-ranked Anthony Clark. Bohr was fifth last year.

“Robby has been wrestling really well. He’s been training hard lately, coming in early before school to lift and is seeing results,” said Rossi.

Colin Loughney beat Morris Knolls senior Michael Kaiser to earn his fourth place finish.

Jorge Montenegro and Kevin Ramos both placed sixth in their first ever County championships.

Bohr, Shepard and Stefanelli all placed above their seeds.

Mendham Wins Public Team Championship

Mendham nabbed public school gold with 153 points behind championships from Dom DiGena, who was named Outstanding Wrestler for defeating state champion Joe Olivieri, and Gage Armijo, who pinned every opponent in the first period. Roxbury was second with 150.5, followed by WMC with 150, and Hanover Park with 139.5. Private powerhouse Delbarton, with state-ranked wrestlers from numerous school systems, won their 11th straight overall title with 280 points behind eight champions.

MCT Day 1 – Wolfpack Eats Pigtails for Lunch

The Wolfpack reigned supreme in preliminaries, amassing a maximum-possible 20 team points from Michael Ferrante, Malachi Shepard, Dan Kern, Matt Borgia and Jack Lyden who all decked their opponents. Ferrante and Shepard’s pins were among the 12 fastest of the tournament.

WMC finished Day 1 with 64 team points, just behind Delbarton’s 67, as Loughney, DeVito, Stefanelli and Ramos pinned their way to quarter finals.

WMC County Championship History

Last year, Marco Gaita took gold and Mike Caso silver for the Wolfpack, among nine WMC medalists. WMC was Morris County's top public school (second overall) for the first time since 2013.

In 2017, Shane Metzler repeated as County champ as WMC took fourth overall. Kade Loughney and LeMay won silver. 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).

Mendham Reigns on Pin Cancer Night Despite Big Bohr Win

Rival sister schools joined forces to Pin Cancer -- and wrestled to a 32-32 tie after 14 fiercely fought bouts.

Referees reviewed the tiebreaker criteria in order. Criteria a, b, and c regard penalty points, and there were none for either team. Criterion d goes to the team having won the most matches – another tie, 7-7. It came down to criterion e – most falls or forfeits, which Mendham won on the strength of pins from Gage Armijo, Jack Bertha, and Dom DiGena, which fittingly raised funds for the cause. The Mendham crowd erupted with glee and stormed the mat when the referees made the long-delayed announcement of a 33-32 Mendham win.

The heartbreaking loss wasted a huge win from Bohr. With three bouts to go and WMC clinging to a 29-21 lead, Mendham was in the driver’s seat with three top-30 ranked competitors scheduled. Though Bohr and fellow state qualifier Tristan Navarino had traded victories at 106, Navarino has distinguished himself at 120. But Bohr delivered a convincing 5-2 victory to keep WMC alive.

Lyden delivered WMC’s only pin, LeMay served up a tech fall, Eli Shepard and DeVito secured majors.

Loughney’s narrow 5-3 loss impressively denied bonus points to No. 10 ranked Alex Winant.

The Mendham victory comes with post-season implications, as it could be seeded above WMC for sectional playoffs.

Kaltenhauser, Melicharek Golden at WMC JV Tournament

Nick Kaltenhauser and Jayden Melicharek won WMC JV Tournament championships Sunday as Tyler Torner and Nick Chisari took bronze.

Next Up

The team visits Sparta 1/30 and High Point 2/1. The road to Atlantic City begins 2/16 at the District 12 Tournament.

Credits

Photography by Mollissa LeMay, JoAnn Vazquez and Susan Hill.