Wolfpack Rallies to Thrilling 1-Point Victory at Voorhees

Down 27-8 with seven bouts to go, the WMC Wolfpack rallied to a thrilling 31-30 victory over powerhouse Voorhees High School in Glen Gardner Tuesday.

The list of heroes for the Pack was long, perhaps starting with Coach Ken Rossi. Knowing he would be forfeiting two weight classes, Rossi chose to forfeit 160 and bump Caleb Isemann up to 170.

Isemann rewarded Rossi’s call by majoring Voorhees senior Sam Lamport – who had already taken silver in two tournaments this season – by 11-2.

Kevin Sears delivered a major victory at 195, by 12-4 over Charlie Rodenberger.

Taylor Parkinson-Gee lost a heart-breaker 3-2, while Noah Yaskulka and Alex Kaltenhauser fell to two of Voorhees’ three undefeated starters, Michael Fernandes and Alex Fischetti respectively. With the two forfeits, the Wolfpack was down 27-8 half way through, and had little room for error.

Shane Metzler delivered 5 team points with a dominant tech-fall victory, 18-2 (2:23) at 106.

Kade Stecker-Loughney gutted out an 8-3 victory at 113.

Dylan Luciano faced District finalist and returning 25-win senior Harley Sacks, and delivered a much-needed fall at 5:13 for the Pack. Luciano remains undefeated, despite already facing two state qualifiers this season.

The Voorhees crowd wanted bonus points as the Vikings winningest wrestler, senior state qualifier Kyle DiNapoli, faced Marco Gaita. In a pivotal gut-check contest, the WMC freshman fell 9-3, denying critical bonus points to his opponent.

Matt Liberato delivered a 9-3 victory at 132, bringing the Wolfpack within five -- 30-25 with two bouts remaining. The math was simple – WMC had to win both, or go home disappointed.

Mike Oros fought tooth and nail, and finished three periods tied with Voorhees senior John Blunk at 138. In “sudden victory” overtime, Oros knew that a point for Voorhees would mean defeat for the Wolpack – and didn’t let it happen. With seconds to go, Oros scored for the victory, keeping his team’s hopes alive.

It all came down to WMC senior co-captain David Migliaccio versus Voorhees senior Devan Thomas, who was 14-11 last season. After two periods, neither wrestler managed to score. In the third, Migz escaped for one point, and held on to secure the victory for the team.

The Wolfpack are now 2-0 on the season, with victories against teams that had beaten the Pack last year.

The JV squad followed its excellent outing at the Roxbury Tournament with a dominant showing at Voorhees, winning all of its matches.

Coming up
The Wolfpack schedule takes them to “the pit” at Phillipsburg on January 2 to take on the nationally-ranked Stateliners and its lineup full of state-ranked wrestlers. The Mt. Olive Quad is Saturday January 3 against Cedar Grove, Somerville and Mt. Olive.

Photos by Jeff Metzler for the WMC Wrestling Parents Club.