Borgia Gold, Pack of 10 Placers Forge Caldwell Tournament Team Bronze for West Morris Central Wrestling

12/14/25
By David Yaskulka
Photos by Jen Sheppard

West Morris Central wrestling launched the 2025-26 season with a third place finish at the grueling Caldwell Tournament Saturday (Dec. 13), led by senior Tommy Borgia’s championship at heavyweight.

Juniors Brody Neill (138 lb. weight class), Jacob Harrison (144 and, Kurt Beyer (165), and sophomores Chris Kowalik (190) and Deacon Frayne (215) made the finals in the grueling nine-school tourney, nabbing silver.

“I think we performed awesome,” said co-captain Borgia. “We put a ton of guys into the finals and were competing all the way through. I’m super excited to see what this team can do and achieve this year.”

Robert Fazzino (175) took third, Jonathan Cabarle (150) fourth, John Garcia (157) fifth, and in his Wolfpack debut, freshman Ryan Tie (106) placed sixth.

“Overall, I'm happy with how the team wrestled,” said head coach Chris Marold. “As a team, we will continue to work on creating more motion on our feet and setting up our shots so we can get more takedowns.”

NJ #5 ranked Bergen Catholic (BC) dominated the tournament (329 points), Passaic Co. Tech (PCT) squad inched ahead of WMC for second (183.5 to 182.5), and host Caldwell placed fourth (143).

Section Title Preview?

Marold is focused on an elusive state section championship, which likely goes through defending champion Caldwell. Here’s a cheat sheet on season goals.

So it’s salient that WMC easily bested Caldwell for third, thanks to the Pack’s depth (10 placers vs. eight). But Caldwell remains fierce, crowning three champions.

Caldwell went 3-1 head-to-head vs. WMC, with only Garcia delivering a victory (in his medal match), while Lucas Harrison, Neill and Cabarle all fell to Chiefs.

“We lost some head to head matchups with Caldwell,” noted Marold, “so we will watch some film of those matches and start to develop a strategy on how we flip those results.”

WMC placed higher in eight of 14 weights. Caldwell outplaced at 106, 120, 126*, 132, 138 (in the championship), and 150. WMC prevailed at 113*, 144, 157 (5th place match), 165, 175*, 190, 215 and 285. Asterisks* indicate the other squad did not compete.

Last season WMC fell to Caldwell 48-20. Caldwell bested the Pack in 2023-24, but WMC was victorious in 2022-23.

Gold Brick Road

Returning NJ 7th place medalist Borgia’s pursuit of a state title began predictably at Caldwell, at the top of the podium, where he stood in every tournament last season before states. Like numerous WMC starters, he stepped off the gridiron and onto the mat this week.

“It’s been a while since I got the opportunity to lace up the shoes and go out and compete and I have definitely missed it,” said Borgia. “I’m super excited for the season”

Borgia pinned all three competitors in the first period, including region placers Ralphie Barca (BC) in semis, and Declan Joyce (Hunterdon Central) in the finals. Borgia led the tournament in most pins/least time.

Stairs to Silver

State medalist Neill bested district finalist Michael Archvadze in semis to earn silver. Fellow district champ and state qualifier Solomon Soriente (Caldwell) won the finals 12-5.

Every other Wolfpack silver medalist fell to BC in the finals.

Harrison dominated PCT’s district medalist Rayan Mohammed in semis 14-2 after nabbing WMC’s first win of the season in quarters. The WMC district champ fell to BC state medalist and region champ Gideon Gonzalez in the finals.

Beyer bonused his way to the finals, with a major in quarterfinals, and a first period pin in semis over Weston Herbert from River Dell. BC senior Daniel Washburn, who was undefeated as a BC backup, prevailed in the finals.

“My new co-caption Kurt looked great, a completely different wrestler from the last year version of himself,” said Borgia.

The proof is there. Last season Beyer’s highest placement was sixth at the Goles Tournament. Beyer also had the third fastest pin, and tied for second highest match points of the day Saturday.

Kowalik pinned his way to finals over Hunterdon, and a key team race pin over PCT. BC’s Chad Sadaka, ranked #5 in NJ (RankWrestlers.com) narrowly prevailed in the finals, 7-4. Kowalik is ranked #12.

Frayne’s debut at 215 lbs., up from 175 last season, yielded the tournament’s fastest two pins, over St. Benedicts and Kittatinny on the way to finals, where state qualifier and fellow star football player BC’s Mason Marck prevailed 14-6.

Frayne, Fazzino, and Kowalik were among 21 competitors with two or more pins. WMC had the second most team pins, to PCT.

More from Caldwell Tourney

Fazzino went 2-1 for bronze, with wins over Hunterdon and Kittatinny. The WMC senior fell to fellow region qualifier Nick Giella from Emerson Park Lake in semis.

Cabarle, a sophomore, narrowly fell 6-4 to eventual champion and Caldwell district finalist Rocco Conforti. Cabarle bested fellow district placer Justin Bradley in quarterfinals to place 4th.

Garcia, a junior, bonused his way through consolations, first with a tech, then a first period fall over Sam Neratka for fifth, the team’s only head-to-head victory over Caldwell.

Tie took sixth in his varsity debut with a first period pin over Kittatinny– an impressive showing from WMC’s only first-time starter. Tie was sent to consolations by eventual champ and USAW youth state champion Ryan Halal from BC.

Nick Galvin (113), Jake Reed (120), and Lucas Harrison (132) also grappled for the Wolfpack in starting roles. Notably, senior region finalist Michael Borgia was forced to the bench due to an abundance of big guy talent. WMC did not enter a wrestler at the 126 lb. weight class.

As a team, WMC was last in Seed-Place Difference, falling short of seeding expectations.
This is the first time WMC is opening its season at the Caldwell Tournament, a distinction held by the Morris Knolls Tournament the last two years, following a long string of appearances at the Pennsylvania X-Calibur Tournament. Prior, Knolls opened the 2014-15 season.

Textbook Toughness: WMC Scholar Athletes

It’s not easy to prepare for the wrestling season and keep up on grades, especially if you work or compete in another sport. This squad’s first marking period results prove it can be done.

High Honor Roll wrestlers include Ryan Groel, Erik Forsbrey, Nicholas Galvin, Grant Baker, Deacon Frayne, Kurtis Beyer, Brody Neill, Thomas Borgia, Hayden Hurst, and Antonio Montella – and statisticians Alexa Moscotello and Kaylee Viera.

Honor Roll wrestlers include Logan Reeves, Dean Forlenza, Jacob Reed, Jonathan Cabarle, Christopher Kowalik, Ashton Babinec, John Garcia, Jacob Harrison, Andrew Domingues, Michael Borgia, Alex Dymnicki, and Tobi Kolawole.

AC Podium Pursuit History

After Dillon Landi placed 4th in Atlantic City in 2006, WMC suffered a seven year state medal drought. Nick Matthews (6th) ended the slide in 2013. After another miss in 2014 when hammer Jesse Windt was deathly ill at states, WMC has had a medalist every year since, including Marisa Di Paolo carrying the banner on the girls side in 2021 (3rd) and 2022 (4th). Shane Metzler spent more time on the podium than anyone in WMC history, placing 4th, 5th and 7th from 2015-17. In between, Marco Gaita medaled in 2018 (5th), Justin LeMay in 2019 (7th), and Colin Loughney in 2020 (8th). Most recent were Brandon Dean in 2023 (6th), Brody Neill in 2024 (7th) and Tommy Borgia in 2025 (7th).

Borgia, Neill and others try to become WMC’s first state champion since Mike Mulrooney in 1991, with Greg Cholish in 1973 standing as WMC’s first (and only other) state champ.
Special thanks to team statisticians Adriana Georgiev, Alexa Moscotello and Kaylee Viera.

Next Up

The season’s first dual is at home vs. Sparta Dec. 17, 2025. Sparta only lost three starters to graduation, including star Logan Hrenenko. But they’ll bring state qualifier Ryan Hrenenko (138 last season), district champ Sean Brown (144), and region qualifiers Patrick Brusseo (138) and Liam Hassloch (215).

On Dec. 20 WMC joins the Morris Knolls Holiday Tournament (while some may venture to Delaware for Beast of the East). Last season Borgia won the Morris Knolls Tournament, with silver for Neill and Kowalik. This season they’ll face Hackettstown, Montville, Roxbury, Sayreville, Seton Hall, South Plainfield, Sparta, Warren Hills, Watchung, and the host squad.
Some of the highest ranked wrestlers (RW ranks), with last season’s weight, include #11 Preston Niche (Seton 113), #19 Luke Manieri (120, Montville), #10 Augie Szamreta (126, WH), #3 Andre Morero (132, SH), #20 Joseph Viola (132, SH), #20 Antonio Spina (138, SH), #11 Tyler Yildiz (144, SH), #14 Davey Rhinehart (144, WH), #17 Michael Pocius (150, SH), #19 Anthony Mateo (165, SP), #15 David Lopes (175, SH), #9 Luke Shivas (190, MK), #5 Brandon Papa (190, SH), #2 Rocco Salerno (HWT, SH), #3 Kacper Trzeciak (HWT, Say).
Here’s a cheat sheet explaining rankings.

WMC visits Hanover Park Dec. 23 for a quad including Randolph and TBA. The John Goles Tournament is Dec. 29 at Warren Hills. The new year starts at a Kittatinny quad with Del Val and Morris Knolls Jan. 3, 2026, followed by dual meets at Mount Olive Jan. 6 and High Point Jan. 7. (Schedule based on Garden State HS Wrestling calendar). The Jan. 10 Roxbury quad includes Livingston and Holmdel. Jan. 17 competition is TBA. Mark calendars for WMC hosting Mendham Jan. 20, and the Morris County Tournament at Mt. Olive Jan. 24.

About David Yaskulka

To avoid concession duty when his sons Noah and Ben joined WMC in 2012, David revived his sportswriter dream, and still covers the Pack. He’s a sustainability advocate and pet industry executive, having served as CEO of Nature’s Logic, SVP of Mid America Pet Food, and Board Chair of the Pet Sustainability Coalition and Greater Good Charities. He currently advises Love, Nala cat food, Archway Pet Food, rePurpose Global plastic action platform, and New Zealand Trade & Enterprise. He invites all WMC wrestlers and their families to connect with him (and with each other!) on LinkedIn.