Loughney, Gaita, Hill Triumphs Lead WMC Wrestlers Over West Essex 33-31

(Dover, NJ). Kade Loughney, Marco Gaita and AJ Hill topped three of West Essex Regional’s best wrestlers, leading West Morris Central wrestling to a come-from-behind 33-31 victory Saturday. Coach Ken Rossi’s Wolfpack also defeated Dover 52-30 on the last day of the dual meet season.

West Essex Regional

Against West Essex, Justin LeMay (15-14) gave the Pack its first points with a pin at 132.

At 138, Loughney (22-8) topped district champion Chris Zaccaria by 2-1, giving WMC a 9-3 lead. Zaccaria, 22-7 this season, is West Essex’s only region place winner.

Gaita (24-7), a sophomore at 152, defeated senior Matthew Jones (22-10) by 5-2. Then co-captain Caleb Isemann (26-5) delivered a pin to give WMC an 18-7 lead – but it was short lived.

After five forfeits (one of them a double forfeit), WMC trailed 31-18. The Pack needed all three remaining bouts – and bonus points – to sweep the tri-meet.

Michael Caso (22-7) did his part at 106, winning by fall at 1:54.

AJ Hill (8-10) faced a daunting challenge against Mike Ruane. At 18-10, Ruane was a clear favorite over the WMC freshman. Undaunted, Hill triumphed 8-3 to keep Wolfpack hopes for a win, and a winning season, alive.

The match came down to undefeated co-captain Shane Metzler (29-0). He would need to deliver bonus points to give his team the win. He didn’t disappoint, securing the win, and a winning season, for his teammates by fall at 2:53.

WMC completes its dual season with a winning record at 10-9. After sweeping Hackettstown, North Warren and top-20 ranked Warren Hills on January 16, the team lost seven duals in a row, unable to overcome injuries and three to four forfeits every match.

Three of the team’s upper weight wrestlers -- Michael Brown (3-2), Jacob Rutter (0-1), and Robert Rosen (6-11) – along with 126 lb. starter Jonathan Vazquez (4-5), have all missed significant time with injury. Alex Kaltenhauser (18-12) was out of action Saturday as well.

Dover

Only six bouts were wrestled, but WMC emerged victorious in all of them to top home team Dover 52-30. Isemann, Caso, Hill, Metzler and Vazquez all delivered pins, and Christian Trimarchi (13-13) delivered four points with a 12-4 major to pace the Pack.

Caso, Metzler and Isemann each delivered two pins on the day for the Pack. Loughney, Gaita, Hill and LeMay also contributed two wins each to give WMC the tri-meet sweep.

Metzler shines among all-time greats

Metzler’s second pin of the day was his 96th career victory. He moves past Jesse Windt (94) for the sixth most wins in team history.

Only Wolfpack century club members Nick Matthews (131), Dylan Luciano (111), Brandon Carcuffe (110), David Migliaccio (107) and John Sickles (105) have had their arms raised more.

Metzler, now ranked #3 in NJ by Full Circle, is on pace to become the team’s first junior to reach 100 wins. That could happen at the Region 1 championships. Unofficially, Metzler’s 132 team points this season -- without giving up a single team point launches him into first all time for WMC in net team points, passing Luciano for the school record. Net team points measure how much a wrestler contributes to his team’s success.

Isemann’s second pin of the day gave him 73 career wins, moving him past Mike Sickles for 15th most in school history.

Loughney’s big win over Zaccaria was his 68th, tying John Schade for 16th place all-time. He’ll have a fighting chance to join the 100 win club as a senior next season.

Junior varsity

Luke Stefanelli brought the Pack two gold medals, rising to the top of the podium at both the Newton and Morris Knolls JV Tournaments this month. At Morris Knolls, Chris Parisi and John DeVito were also champions, with Louis Mautone, Jack Dunn and Zach Fuchs grabbing silver, Dan Kern and Austin Gast bronze, and Karan Bajaj fifth. At Newton, Dan Kern also won gold, DeVito silver, Mautone bronze, and Jayden Melicharek fourth place.

Next Up: District Championships

WMC will compete in the District 1 championships at Mt. Olive Saturday. Open Mike’s Mike Weilamann’s February 2 Region 1 rankings predicted a number of Wolfpack placers.

Open Mike predicted: Caso to qualify for Regions as a District 1 finalist; Metzler to repeat as District 1 champion; Loughney to win his first District 1 championship; Gaita to qualify for Regions with District 1 bronze; Isemann to win silver; and Kaltenhauser to win silver.

While LeMay doesn’t appear on Open Mike’s list, he defeated Alex Winant from Mendham, who is picked for bronze. He also narrowly lost to High Point’s Shane Kobis, picked for silver at District 3. Stefanelli, who has wrestled extremely well in some tough varsity losses, may also see an opening at 170, with Open Mike only citing one likely medalist in District 1.