Frayne, Reed Debuts Dazzle, but WMC Wrestling Falls to Hanover Park

12/15/24

By David Yaskulka
Photos from Jen Sheppard, Sheryl Reed

Freshmen Deacon Frayne and Jake Reed dominated in their high school wrestling debuts, but West Morris Central fell to host Hanover Park 48-33 in its Dec. 14 season opener. Wolfpack two-time District Coach of the Year Chris Marold enters his fourth season at the helm.

Rush Hour

Not a single bout went the distance as the rivals combined for 81 team points – three shy of the maximum. After Tommy Borgia (HWT weight class), Mark Montuore (120 lbs.) and Reed (106) tech falls (when a bout is ended by a 15 point margin) gave WMC an early lead, all bouts were won by pinfall.

Montuore said that was the problem. “The team looked pretty good. We were very competitive against a good team. But we need to stay off our backs.” The Pack had three pinfalls to the Hornets’ eight.

Junior hammer Tommy Borgia, named captain along with Montuore, opened the Wolfpack season with a merciless 17-2 win over a 15-win sophomore. Then Reed, showing technical prowess beyond his brief wrestling experience, pitched a methodical 15-0 shutout.

HP’s #49 ranked (RankWrestlers.com) senior Region qualifier Gio Conte spoiled Nicholas Galvin’s (113) debut with a pin. Kevin Dunn, coming off a 14-win rookie season for HP, did the same in Lucas Harrison’s (126) debut.

HP hammer Nick DiFrancescantonio (132), a state qualifier, gave HP the lead by pin, but Jacob Harrison (138) returned the favor to give WMC back the lead.

Four Hanover Park seniors – 15 win senior Cristian Cesaro (against Jonathan Cabarle who looked strong in his debut until he got caught), District champ Joey Tantawi, #54 Joey Borrello, and State qualifier Nando Ott all pinned for the Hornets.

“We need to stay off our backs in those big time matches by any means necessary,” emphasized
Borgia.

Packed Upper Weights

WMC’s highly-rated freshman Christopher Kowalik (190) began his career falling to possibly the best wrestler he'll face all year, State finalist (and nationally ranked) Vincenzo Lavalle. That bout was sandwiched by two of the day’s best for the Pack.

Frayne (175) was a heat-seeking missile, blasting off the whistle to send HP junior District placewinner and #117 ranked Ronny Madera straight to his back for a 24 second pin, the fastest of the day.

“It felt great being able to step on the mat for my first ever varsity match and helping my team out,” said Frayne. “I was glad I could do it for the team and give us a shot at winning.”

Junior Michael Borgia (215) sent the visiting crowd home with a thrilling come-from-behind pin of muscular HP senior Christian Carter to complete the match.

While six WMC Region qualifiers are back this season, HP did not have to face three of them – state medalist Brody Neill, two-time Region qualifier Jacob Fahmi, or District champ AJ Codella. For HP, state-ranked Santino Danise did not take the mat.

Pack Faithful Sees New Scoring

The crowd (which seemed at least as loud on the visitor Wolfpack side) witnessed three rule changes – the three-point takedown; two, three and four points for backs; and an action-preserving rule requiring that just one wrestler remain in touch with the circle to stay in bounds.

Family Ties

The Pack lineup featured two sets of brothers, Harrison and Borgia. Frayne is the brother of former Wolfpack great Henry. In recent years, siblings sharing a varsity lineup included Kade and Colin Loughney, Eli and Malachi Shepard, and Noah and Ben Yaskulka. John and Caleb Isemann, like the Fraynes, did not overlap. Caleb did wrestle with their cousin Marco Gaita.

HP Past

In 2023-24, HP escaped WMC on criteria, 36-35, despite big wins by Jacob Harrison, Vinnie Caruso, Fazzino, Lucas Barisonek and Codella. In 2021-22, the Pack’s loss was nearly as narrow, 39-37, and the last WMC win was in 2020. In 2019, the Pack scored a huge upset over then #17 HP.

Junior Circuit Shows Off High Level Wrestling

Junior Antonio Montella (175) started the Wolfpack season with a thrilling come from behind pin (his first of two) to start a very high-level 21-bout JV competition at Hanover Park.

Next, Haden Hurst (144) showed off some great shot defense and a nice blast double, winning by pin.

Grant Baker (157) put on a clinic against a never-say-die Hornet to win 16-2. JB Wagner (175) looked strong in an 8-1 victory. Sophomore Brendan Osetek (190) pushed the pace for some of the morning’s most exciting action in a back-and-forth first period, before ultimately winning by fall.

The junior circuit’s powerful pinfall parade was continued by senior Erin Villanueva (157), junior Alex Dymnicki (215), sophomore Ashton Babinec (157) via cradle, senior Evan Pizzutillo (215), and sophomore Andrew Dominguez (190).

Junior Zane Pershaud (190) came from behind to win 8-6 with a last second takedown. Sophomore Jack Sheppard (215) dramatically grabbed back points at the buzzer for a 9-6 victory. Junior Tobi Kolawole (215) had more gas in the tank than his opponent, winning 16-8. Junior Hayden Hurst (144) was aggressive throughout and came from behind to win 5-4. Freshman Grant Baker (157) pitched a shutout in his debut, winning 5-0.

The last JV match pitted two heavyweights with significant varsity experience as WMC District champ AJ Codella (HWT) secured the session’s fastest pin in 28 seconds.

Legend Appearance

WMC Wrestling’s Facebook page reported that Wolfpack legend, former Rutgers wrestler and now Voorhees head coach Shane Metzler scrapped with his original team this week. Metzler is the Pack’s career wins leader and only three-time state medalist. Borgia is on pace to challenge his wins record.

The Rossi Tree

Coach Marold predecessor Ken Rossi is building an impressive “coaching tree” with four NJSIAA head coaches who wrestled or coached for him. Marold was Rossi’s long-time #2, with Assistant Coach of the Year accolades before taking the helm. Sparta’s Dan Trapp wrestled for Rossi at Jefferson. Last year, Matt Liberato took Governor Livingston to the North 2, Group 2 section final, going 22-5. He came up through the Long Valley program and had one very successful season under Rossi before his family moved to Hanover Park. And now WMC legend Metzler is at the Voorhees helm.

Early Rankings

GardenStateHSwrestling team preview

The first week of rankings on Full Circle Wrestling came out on 12/11. Neill is WMC’s highest ranked wrestler, 5th at 113. Tommy Borgia is 9th at 215, and Kowalik 22nd at 190.

Hanover Park also has three state-ranked grapplers, Lavalle #2 at 190, Santino Denise 12th at 132, and DiFrancescantonio 13th at 120.

RankWresters.com went live for 2024-25 on 12/12. Neill is 9th, Tommy Borgia 11th and Montuore 25th to lead the team. Codella (50), Fazzino (52), and Jacob Harrison (55) are ranked in roughly the 94 percentile (top 6% of the weight class); followed by Fahmi (130), Vazquez (146) and Michael Borgia (167) in the 80-85 percentile range.

RankWrestlers is an algorithm-driven site using high school in-season data from TrackWrestling.com – youth and off-season accomplishments are not considered. So first-year wrestlers are typically ranked in the 800’s, bottom of the pack for the weight class, until their first wins. In simple terms, a wrestler’s rank improves by defeating a higher-ranked wrestler, and falls when defeated by a lower-ranked opponent.

See my guide to RankWrestlers for more info.

Next Up

WMC is at Jefferson 12/17 with #33 @215 Alexander DaSilva. Home opener is against powerhouse Pope John 12/18, with #3 @ 126 Dalton Weber, #4 @ 132 Carson Welsh, #10 @ 106 Jake Holly (whom Neill topped at States for 7th), and #21 @ 190 David Thomson.

The Morris Knolls Holiday Tournament is 12/21, and the John Goles Tournament 12/28. Goles’ degree of difficulty could ramp up a notch if powerhouse Southern (one of the nation’s top-ranked public schools, and #1 in NJ) brings their varsity squad this year.

Powerhouse Caldwell visits WMC 1/3/25 with #5 @ 106 Carmine Sipper (the only grappler to top Neill twice), #13 @ 190 Andrew Fonseca, #19 @ 175 Nicholas Mignone and #20 @215 Michael Mignone.

The Del Val quad is 1/4/25 with Kittatinny and Morris Knolls. WMC visits NJ #1 Delbarton 1/7 which could feature a rematch between nationally-ranked PJ Terranova, and Neill (who pinned Terranova last match). While WMC will not face Delbarton at the Morris County Tournament (Delby is going elsewhere), Pack District medalists will no doubt find Delbarton combattants as the Green Wave enters WMC’s Region 3.

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 passionate sustainability advocate and pet industry executive, serves as Board Chair of the Pet Sustainability Coalition, Board Director at Greater Good Charities; and Board Advisor at Arch 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.