Region 1 champ Windt bound for Boardwalk Hall

West Morris Central senior Jesse Windt won the NJSIAA Region 1 Championship at 220 lbs Saturday, defeating Wayne Valley’s Justin Walker 3-1, and punching his ticket to Atlantic City.

Windt will compete at the NJ Wrestling Championship this weekend in front of tens of thousands of fans in Atlantic City’s fabled Boardwalk Hall. 

“It feels awesome. It's been my goal ever since middle school,” Windt (37-1) explained. “I can’t be satisfied, though. I need to keep going forward.” His goal is the podium, where the top-8 wrestlers in each weight class are awarded the state’s most prestigious medals.

Coach Ken Rossi likes his chances, saying “If you win Region 1 you have a good chance to stand on the podium because Region 1 is the most competitive in New Jersey.”

Saturday’s Region 1 championship tournament at Wallkill Valley Regional was one of eight such events state-wide. Each Region advances its top-three wrestlers (competing from over 30 schools per Region) to populate a field of 24 State Qualifiers per weight class – the best of the best.

Dylan Luciano (28-11) avenged his District 1 finals loss to North Warren’s Matty Ritchie, winning 16-13 Saturday in the wrestleback semis. But then it was Kittatinny’s Christian Silva turning the table on Luciano, avenging his quarterfinals 9-4 loss to Luciano. Luciano came within one point of advancing, but lost a heart-breaker in triple-overtime to Silva in the wrestleback finals, placing 4th. 

Last year, WMC’s Nick Matthews, Brandon Carcuffe and Adam Kratch each placed 3rd in Region 1 to become State Qualifiers. Matthews went on to place 6th in the State at 138 lbs.

Shane Metzler (29-9), Kade Loughney (21-18), John Schade (22-16) and David Migliaccio (26-11) all won impressive Region matches, but along with Luciano and Mike Oros (17-18), fell short of qualifying.

Metzler tied John Sickles’ record for most wins by a West Morris Central freshman.

Schade finished an outstanding high school career Saturday, defeating Sal Puglisi 7-3 before falling to the eventual 120 pound champion, Bryan Damon, and Hackettstown’s Joe Renne.  This season was Schade’s second consecutive with over 20 victories.

"John made major contributions to the program this year,” Rossi said.  “His daily, focused work-ethic is something for the other guys to emulate.  His physical and aggressive style is what we preach to the kids and he embraced it which was fun to watch.”

Rossi also reflected on Windt’s entire career:

“Some wrestlers struggle during their freshman season and go on to being very successful as they get older.   C.J. Carcuffe, Herbie Skinner, and Adam Kratch are three that come to mind. They had similar careers to Jesse because they won 6 to 8 matches as freshman and then improved throughout their careers and ended with a stellar senior year.  

“Carcuffe ended up being a Region 1 qualifier.  Skinner became a District 1 Champion.  Kratch became a State Qualifier.  Jesse took the progression to a new level.  

“He has become the programs poster child for work-ethic and gradual improvement.  He went from 7-18 as a freshman to 17-16 as a sophomore.  His junior year he broke out and went 31-9.  He won a District 1 title and Morris County title along the way.  His senior year has been one of the best in West Morris Central history.  

“In the wrestling community we call the gradual daily improvement over time grinding it out.  That is exactly what he did.”

As Region champion, Windt receives a first-round bye into the final 16 in Atlantic City. He’s the first WMC Region champ since Dillon Landi (2006), and the 12th ever.

Prior to Windt’s victory over Walker in the Region finals, Windt was ranked #7 by NJ.com, and Walker #6. Full Circle Wrestling ranked Windt higher, at #4.

Windt, who was not a dominant wrestler his first two years, thanked many for his success. “My family has supported me this whole time. NJ Wrestling Academy and SIR (wrestling clubs) both helped me dramatically. My school coaches are always there to help you succeed … I want to thank all of them.”

Coach Ken Rossi often sites Jesse Windt as a model for young wrestlers.

Windt’s father Mike Windt, who helped the team take advantage of off-season wrestling opportunities, reflected on his son’s lessons.

“Hard work pays off. It really does. Jesse really busted his hump, getting 2-4 days a week of mat time, plus tournaments. There are no secrets to it. Lisa (Jesse’s Mom) and I are so proud of him. He set his goals and he’s reaching them. It takes doing the work. He’s done things very gracefully, and has been very classy on the mat and off.”

In January, Anthony Cassar (36-0) of Montgomery handed Windt his only loss of the year.  Ranked #2 in NJ at 195, Cassar’s win over Windt was one of six over otherwise-undefeated wrestlers this year. Cassar will compete in Atlantic City as the Region 5 champion.

Windt is undefeated in tournament competition this season, taking gold at the WMC, John Goles, Morris County, District 1 and now Region 1 tourneys.

What does Rossi’s crystal ball say about the final tournament of Windt’s high school career?

“Jesse’s style lends itself to winning in big tournaments because he is hard to score on and can score on his opponents in a variety of ways,” he said.

 “I think Jesse can make a big splash in Atlantic City” concluded Rossi.

A team-first captain, Windt is now journeying to Atlantic City with just his coaches.  

“My message to the team is to leave your high school career with no regrets. The worst thing you can do is not work hard enough and end up with disappointment. You can never work too hard.”