Wolfpack Grapplers Grab Nine Xcalibur Medals as WMC Places 3rd

(Wilkes-Barre, PA 12/18/17). A record nine West Morris Central wrestlers grabbed medals at the prestigious Xcalibur Tournament in Pennsylvania, as the Wolfpack placed third of 23 teams. Last season, WMC won seven medals, and five in 2015.

Robert Rosen and Marco Gaita earned bronze; Luke Stefanelli and John DeVito placed fourth; A.J. Hill, Mike Caso and Robbie Bohr took fifth; Billy Apostolico earned sixth, and Nicolas Kaltenhauser seventh.

“The team as a whole did a great job, and this should give us all confidence moving on to the duals season,” said senior captain Gaita (170, 4-1), now ranked #3 in New Jersey (Full Circle).

Statement Starts

Hill, Apostolico and Kaltenhauser had statement starts to the season, medaling for the first time.

Hill (145, 4-2), returning from injury, relished every minute. “My favorite moment was competing hard with the team throughout the whole weekend. I feel the team performed very well.”

WMC Coach Ken Rossi said Apostolico (113, 2-3) “worked hard for four years and struggled to work into the lineup. He got an opportunity to wrestle this weekend and made the most of it.”

Team Standings

Wyoming Seminary, nationally ranked #4 (Intermat), utterly dominated, winning 12 weight classes. St. Anthony’s placed second, followed by WMC. NJ’s undermanned Bound Brook, second last year, fell to 19th. WMC excelled despite holes at 152, 220 and HWT.

“We wrestled well in spots and it was an overall success,” reflected Rossi. “We need to hit it hard in the practice room and fine tune some of the errors we made.” He also praised Rosen, DeVito and Hill’s performances.

Gaita and the team were repeat bronze medalists, while Bohr and Caso repeated at fifth. All six other medalists were Xcalibur firsts.

Bronze Medals

Rosen (195, 5-1) slipped on the mat moments into the tournament, getting caught and pinned by TJ Meehan of Lake Lehman. But Rosen roared back in wrestle backs with five straight wins – including payback over Meehan, saying “that was my favorite moment of the tournament.”

Rosen said “my teammates demonstrated significant improvement in their technical skills and match strategy,” ultimately yielding nine medals.

More Medals

Stefanelli (182, 3-2) did his part to help the Pack versus St. Anthony’s; he topped St. Anthony’s Rob McGee Saturday, then beat him again Sunday for fourth.

After winning his first bout, DeVito (160, 4-2) faced one of the nation’s best, Seminary’s #11 ranked Jake Hendricks. DeVito bounced back with three more wins, earning fourth with a 4-1 decision over WVW Spartan Jaylon Brunson.

Bohr (106, 3-2) majored Upper Merion’s Collin Power 13-2; Caso (120, 5-2) topped WVW Spartan JJ White 3-0; and Hill pinned Seminary’s Carter Tuttle, then triumphed over Lake Lehman’s Jake Trumbower to take fifth.

After pinning Zack Pelton from Greater Nanticoke, Kaltenhauser (170, 2-2) topped Lake Lehman’s Thomas Galbone 3-2 to nab seventh.

Mike Caso, Billy Apostolico and Robby Bohr wearing their Xcalibur medals.

Points for the Team

Jack Lyden (170) decked two opponents in a row in consolations, while Adrian Hefner’s (195) varsity action debut was a 45 second pin over Northwestern Lehigh’s Peter Yablonski. Along with Kaltenhauser, they can help Rossi bump the lineup to avoid forfeiting at 220.

Christopher Parisi contributed a pin over Northwestern Lehigh’s Donavan White at 126, then just missed the quarter-finals with a two point loss. Eli Shepard (126) did his part to help the team against St. Anthony’s with an 8-2 win over Tommy Lotito. Jonathan Vazquez (132) delivered a 10-1 major over Isaiah Vizcarrondo from Faith Christian Academy.

Matthew Borgia’s unenviable varsity debut at 138 was against Seminary’s #11 ranked Jack Davis, who topped WMC’s Shane Metzler for Xcalibur 2016 gold.

Colin Loughney fell to Seminary’s second-seeded Ezekiel Escalera, then decked his first consolation round opponent before being eliminated in a one point loss to teammate Caso.

Career Win Milestones

Gaita passed Mark Fleming to become WMC’s 11th winningest wrestler all time with 90. Caso passed Zak “Big Cat” Krulan, State qualifier Tim Mulrooney and Mike Oros for 27th place with 59 wins. He could approach top-10 despite spending freshman year stuck behind Metzler.

Next Up

12/19 home opener vs. Voorhees; 12/21 High Point @WMC, 12/27 Goles Tournament @ Warren Hills, 12/30 Kearney at WMC.

Credits

Photo credits Susan Hill (top photo), JoAnn Vazquez (other photos).

Top photo: WMC’s record nine Xcalibur medalists, from left: A.J. Hill, Marco Gaita, Nick Kaltenhauser, Robby Bohr, John DeVito, Billy Apostolico, Mike Caso, Luke Stefanelli and Robert Rosen.

Note:

Multiple spellings have been used for this tournament’s name, but the current official web page uses Xcalibur. This article updates previously-reported spellings.