WMC Comeback Tops Sparta, Frayne and Campanaro Notch Big Wins

By David Yaskulka

LONG VALLEY, NJ -- 1/16/22

Coach Chris Marold’s wrestling Wolfpack of West Morris Central notched its fourth win of the season this week, but forfeits continue to plague the team’s chances in close matches. Nine standout wrestlers are having outstanding seasons, but WMC is 4-11.

Juniors Henry Frayne and Michael Campanaro had stellar wins this week. Frayne decked Delaware Valley’s best wrestler, and Campanaro took down a #13 ranked Kittatinny star, both in losing efforts.

Frayne pinned his way onto the Full Circle Wrestling rankings, appearing for the first time in the 11th slot at 215. Brandon Dean and Campanaro also remain highly ranked.

WMC Comes From Behind to Top Sparta 46-33 As Muttart, Frayne, Hare and Dean Pin

On 1/13, WMC came from behind for a 46-33 win over Sparta. Down 33-12 after eight bouts, the Wolfpack virtually ran the table from there.

They grabbed nearly all the remaining team points with pins from Michael Hare (120, 11-4) and Dean (132, 14-2), and an 8-0 shutout major by Sam Rizzuto (132, 9-3). Dean Muttart (144, 9-7) got the Pack on the board with a fall of his own in the second bout.

Sparta’s early lead was fueled in part by three WMC forfeits. But for once, WMC received as much as it gave, giving three forfeits right back. So only eight bouts were wrestled, and WMC took five of them.

Morris Knolls Squeeks By WMC With Big Upsets
Morris Knolls left the Wolfpack wishing for a rematch after taking down two returning WMC state qualifiers in big upsets and a 39-34 win Saturday 1/15. MK veteran Lenny Cocca caught Campanaro, and junior Dominic Dellemonache topped Malachi Shepard 10-5.

Frayne decked one of MK’s best, with Mark Montuore (106, 13-6) and Dean also notching pins for the Pack. Hare and Rizzuto both dominated by tech fall.

Notably, WMC wrestled 12 of 14 bouts with only two forfeits.

Henry DeFrance gutted out a huge 7-5 victory over a seven-win junior – that contributed three team points in a slot that often loses six – a tremendous nine team point swing. Michael Ferrante (113, 13-4) also notched a victory for the Pack.

Frayne Pins #33 Ranked Senior, But Pack Falls to Del Val

Frayne (215, 15-3) decked Del Val’s best, while Michael Ferrante (113, 13-4), Hare, Campanaro (126, 13-4), Dean and Malachi Shepard (138, 9-6) all beat highly ranked foes. But WMC fell to Delaware Valley 48-32 Saturday 1/15.

Even though Frayne, Hare, Dean and Shepard all delivered pins, the 18 points lost on forfeits could not be overcome, despite the emerging varsity presence of Brayden Schneider (144), DeFrance (157) and Shaun Seabeck (HWT) adding critical length to the Wolfpack lineup.

Campanaro Big Win Not Enough Vs. Kittatinny

Campanaro took down #13 ranked senior Shane Nelson 5-1 to highlight the Wolfpack side of a 48-30 Kittatinny win.

Dean decked a #39 ranked junior for another impressive win for the freshman phenom.

Ty Eldrid, another one of Kittatinny's best three wrestlers (all seniors) gave Frayne his first in-state loss of the season.

Frayne Dominance Continues, Even Versus Delbarton

The Pack took on the #1 team in New Jersey on Thursday (1/13), but WMC big man Frayne didn’t let that slow down his utterly dominant season, with 13 pins in a 14-2 start. Frayne was undefeated against in-state competition, falling narrowly to Malvern Prep’s Phillip Tabasso at X-Calibur.

Frayne topped Austin Quandt, who wrestled up for Frayne, but only lasted 24 seconds.

WMC wrestlers otherwise fell to a bevy of the state’s best grapplers, including Dean’s 8-3 loss to consensus #1 ranked junior and Beast of the East champion Tyler Vazquez.

Fun With Stats (RankWrestlers.com)

Through Saturday, the Pack boasts four wrestlers in the top-25 in their weights in New Jersey – Campanaro (15), Dean (16), Ferrante (18) and Frayne (23). Every other experienced starter is also highly ranked, including Montuore (34), Shepard (36), Hare (38), Rizzuto (95) and Muttart (110). For context, the median ranking at Muttart’s weight in New Jersey is 308, with 617 athletes wrestling.

Frayne is the team wins leader, followed by Dean, Campanaro, Montuore, Ferrante and Hare. Dean leads in win percentage, followed by Frayne and Campanaro. Frayne has an amazing 15 pins, but he’s closely followed by Dean (13) and then Hare (9), Muttart (8) and Rizzuto (7).

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Contributing writer David Yaskulka’s day job is Senior VP, Corporate Social Responsibility at Mid America Pet Food in Mt. Pleasant, TX. He’s also Board Chair of Greater Good Charities, and Board Vice Chair of the Pet Sustainability Coalition. His sons wrestled for the Pack.