Borgia Boardwalk Bound Brandishing Region Gold, Neill Bronze

2/25/24

By David Yaskulka
Photos from Jen Sheppard and the WMC Parents Club

West Morris Central sophomore Tommy Borgia won the NJSIAA/Rothman Orthopaedics Region 3 Wrestling Championship Saturday Feb. 24 at West Orange, punching his ticket to the State Championship in Atlantic City. Freshman Brody Neill will join him, taking bronze to become the school’s third-ever freshman to qualify for States (Michael Campanaro and Borgia), and completing WMC’s first-ever all-underclassmen State Championship contingency.

Junior Mark Montuore finished fifth, completing a Wolfpack sweep in the medal rounds, and making him an alternate for States. On the R3 Tournament’s first day Friday, Montuore’s co-captain Sam Rizzuto completed one of the outstanding careers in Wolfpack history.

“Coming to this tournament for so many years and watching guys I know from Central winning titles, I knew that's where I wanted to be,” said Borgia. “It's a great feeling. This is only going to up my confidence for a tough push to the podium in AC.”

Unofficially, WMC finished seventh out of 39 schools competing, with freshman Jacob Harrison contributing four team points with a pin, and Rizzuto, Jacob Fahmi and AJ Codella joining the prestigious list of Region qualifiers for the third, second, and first time respectively. Bergen Catholic easily scored the most points, but Delaware Valley won the unofficial public crown.

Borgia and Neill’s next goal is the podium in Atlantic City’s hallowed Boardwalk Hall, where NCAA champions Patrick Glory, Nick Soriano, Shane Griffith, Anthony Ashnault and Jordan Burroughs have stood. Where NCAA hopefuls Luke Stanich, Dean Peterson, Chris Foca, Brian Soldano and Jacob Cardenas stood. And where WMC legends Brandon Dean, Colin Loughney, Justin LeMay, Marco Gaita, Shane Metzler (thrice) and Nick Matthews stood.

Borgia’s Path to History

Borgia (215, 34-5), the top seed, defeated Bergen Catholic sophomore District Champion Mason Marck (25-11) 4-3 in the finals.

“I knew I would need some type of momentum swing against a competitor as solid as Marck,” said Borgia. “So the key was the reversal I got in the third period. I felt his leg slip in, and knew I needed to act quick. I got my hips up and hopped over and that was just what I needed to secure the lead.”

Borgia became the Wolfpack’s third straight Region Champion, following Dean last season, and Campanaro in 2022. He’ll get a chance to tie or surpass Gaita and Metzler as two-time Region Champions.

Borgia dominated West Essex District Champ Chris Nigro (19-8) in quarterfinals, and then teched Cliffside Park’s Bryann Mejias (27-7) in semis. Borgia improves on last year’s District and Region silver medals.

Neill Avenges Losses to Nab Bronze

At 34-6 and now ranked #11 in NJ, freshman 106 lb. phenom Neill is taking names, already avenging half of his losses. Neill dramatically pinned Pope John D11 champ Jake Holly (29-7) in the consolation finals match, avenging a 7-2 loss to the State qualifier in the season’s first dual.

On Friday, Neill avenged his illness-hampered D11 loss to friend and training partner Joe Rowinski (29-10) of Hackettstown, with Neill winning 14-4 in quarterfinals rubber match. Then State 5th place medalist Carmine Sipper (39-1) bested Neill for the second time this season.

In December, Neill won the Goles Tournament by avenging his earlier loss to now-Region 1 champion Augie Szamreta.

“I love coming back after a loss and giving it my all,” said Neill. “It felt great to be the third freshman to advance. It took a lot of commitment to make it. And I wouldn't be here without all the help of my coaches.”

Neill was third among all competitors for “most pins least time” with three in 4:14.

Montuore a Heartbeat Away

Montuore likely concluded a stellar season, going 31-10. In his last match, he defeated D12 Champion Christian Bastante (22-14) of West Essex by 5-0 for fifth place. That means if any of the placers above him bow out, Montuore goes to States.

On Friday Montuore pinned Nutley’s Jack Finkelstein (28-11) before falling to eventual champion and State silver medalist Nathan Braun of Bergen Catholic. Montuore also pinned North Bergen’s David Vazquez in consolations.

Montuore was seeded eighth, despite being the fourth-ranked wrestler in the bracket. With a better seed, he likely would have advanced, with losses only to the top two seeds. Montuore tied for second among 168 R3 wrestlers in seed-place difference. That means exceeding expectations, but in Montuore’s case, it means unfairly low expectations.

Friday Night Fights: Day 1

Pack pre-quarterfinals began perfectly with Neill and Montuore pins, the latter over Nutley’s Jack Finkelstein (28-10).

Jacob Fahme’s strong season (120, 12-20) was ended by his second loss to Hackettstown's Giovanni Gutierrez (29-9). Marold Will look to Fahme next year to lead the team as one of six returning Region qualifiers.

Harrison (126, 20-19) once again thrilled the Wolfpack faithful with a come from behind pin after storming back from a 5-0 deficit vs. Belleville’s Lorenzo Tiankee (14-7).

The most powerful moments of the night came when senior warrior Sam Rizzuto (23-11) wrestled his last match, falling to Becton's Brandon Dimase (26-11), returning to an ovation from Wolfpack fans in appreciation for an outstanding career.

Quarterfinals

The highlight of the round was Neill avenging his flu-impaired loss to friend and workout partner Joe Rowinski (27-8) with an invigorating 14-4 major victory. Montuore, Harrison and Codella (medical forfeit) dropped to the consolation round. But Borgia rewarded the crowd’s patience for his match by delivering a 75 second pin over West Essex District champion Chris Nigro.

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Harrison’s stellar rookie year was ended by Rutherford’s Joseph Keeler (35-7). District champ Codella’s breakout year ended with an illness-aided pin at the hands of Irvington junior Isiah Lambert (23-12). They’ll no doubt return as hammers for coach Marold next season.

Rizzuto's Outstanding Career

Rizzuto concludes one of the most successful careers in WMC history. Among his many accomplishments wrestling for the Wolfpack include leading the team to a dramatic upset of High Point, an epic comeback against Mendham, and most recently Morris Knolls Tournament silver and a bronze medal at the Morris County Championship and winning D11 bronze. Filling the co-captain’s shoes will be coach Marold’s toughest challenge next season.

Local Wrestlers Advancing to States

Locally, Hackettstown’s Nick Balella (nephew of WMC’s former coach) took silver, and Joe Rowinski fifth. Mendham’s Rafe Fonte returns to states with a bronze medal. Closer to home in Region 1, Mt. Olive advanced Tyeler Hagensen and Tyler Bienus as champions, Tyler Cumming with silver, bronze for Anthony Piemonte and Tanner Perez; and Brandon Beres and Nicolas Gonzalez also advancing.

WMC Region History

Last season in 2023, then sophomore Brandon Dean won the Region Championship and Most Outstanding Wrestler, and was joined in Atlantic City by Michael Campanaro, Michael Hare, and freshman Tommy Borgia (who joined Camp as the only freshman to qualify in WMC history).

In 2022, Campanaro was crowned Region Champ, and was joined in AC by Henry Frayne. In 2021, only Campanaro emerged from the Covid-era Super Regions.

But in 2020, a Pack of five wrestlers emerged from Regions, including Eli Shepard, Colin Loughney, Campanaro, Malachi Shepard, and Kevin Ramos. It was six for States in 2019, a WMC record set by Robby Bohr, Eli Shepard, Colin Loughney, Justin LeMay, now assistant coach John DeVito and Luke Stefanelli.

In 2018 Marco Gaita repeated as Region champ, and was joined by Michael Caso, Bohr, LeMay and DeVito at States. In 2017, Gaita won the Region crown for his first trip to States, as Shane Metzler qualified for his third (a record broken by Campanaro), and LeMay and Kade Loughney advanced.

The 2016 Region was a birthday party for Metzler, where he became the first junior in school history to reach 100 career wins, and the first repeat Region champion in 43 years. Future WMC assistant coach Caleb Isemann joined him qualifying for Atlantic City.

Next Up

The NJSIAA/Rothman Orthopaedics State Championships is in Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Hall Feb. 29 - Mar. 2 where the best of the best compete for wrestling history. Last season, Dean placed sixth in Atlantic City where Borgia became one of two WMC freshmen to ever win a match. Campanaro completed an illustrious career.

*Ranking and records based on RankWrestlers.com’s algorithm, which pulls from TrackWrestling.com data. For fellow stat geeks, here’s my explanation of RankWrestlers.

About David Yaskulka

David began living his sportswriter dream to avoid concession duty when his sons Noah and Ben began wrestling for the Wolfpack in 2012. He is a pet industry executive, passionate sustainability advocate, and also serves as Board Chair of the Pet Sustainability Coalition, and as Board Director at Greater Good Charities.