Next goal for Wolfpack gridiron champs? Grappling gold.

11/30/25
By David Yaskulka
Photos from Jen Sheppard, Sheryl Reed, and more.

Next time State Sectional Champion Wolfpack gridders cross the goal line might be on the wrestling mat.

Returning West Morris Central wrestling starters Tommy Borgia, Michael Borgia, Deacon Frayne, Robert Fazzino, John Garcia and Jonathan Cabarle take to the mat this week after a dominant football season, going 12-1 and winning a 2025 State Section crown.

“It would mean a lot to me to win a Sectional championship in both football and wrestling,” said Fazzino, the 165 lb. wrestling Region qualifier just named first-team All-Conference at linebacker.

“It’s been a goal for our wrestling team to win one, and we fell short last year – but so did we with football last year,” the senior continued. “We got the job done with football this year and hopefully we can do the same in wrestling.”

“Winning back to back sectional championships in wrestling and football would be unreal and feel great,” echoed Garcia. “I know how great winning one was – I can only imagine how great winning two the same year would feel.”

In the upcoming 2025-26 season under Coach Chris Marold, these Wolfpack grapplers – along with fellow starters Jake Reed, Mason Vazquez, Brody Neill (a NJ state medalist), Jacob Harrison (Region qualifier), Kurt Beyer and Chris Kowalik (State alternate) – have a legitimate chance to replicate WMC’s gridiron success.

“It is awesome having so many football players on the team,” said Kowalik, now a sophomore after a record-setting freshman year. He’s the only wrestling starter over 150 lbs. not on the football squad. Having so many gridders on the squad “does not create a division whatsoever. It attracts more fans to our matches because of the fan base from the football games.”

Two Coaches, Two Sports, Two Kids

The football-wrestling connection at WMC is deep. Wrestling coach Tom Borgia’s two sons are senior two-sport standouts. Michael Borgia qualified for Regions last wrestling season, and Tommy Borgia placed 7th in New Jersey. Tommy, the football All-Conference lineman and Princeton commit, will be a legitimate state title contender on the mat. All ranking sites place him at number three in New Jersey at heavyweight.

Football coach Henry Frayne’s two sons excelled on Reselite and FieldTurf as well, with WMC wrestling record-setter Henry Jr. now a decorated lineman at RPI. Deacon was an All-Conference running back on the football field after his standout freshman wrestling season as a Region qualifier.

“Wrestling can turn a good football player into a great one,” said Coach Borgia. “While football doesn’t help wrestling cardio, it helps with mental toughness. So football for the team mentality, and wrestling for toughness and personal accountability.

“I enjoy the boys doing multiple sports and it helped shape them into well rounded young men, learning to lose and win with class,” reflected Borgia – a noticeable characteristic of both sons.

Coach Frayne agrees. “The crossover between the two sports is great for the kids. If you look at upper weights on the podium in AC, most play football. If you look at the all county/all state football players a lot of them wrestle,” he said.

“The sports can build off of each other and help with movements, leverage, tackling, and reaction times all while being physical,” said Frayne. “Most importantly, I think the two sports build mental toughness. Guys that can gut out a win in the third period are the same kind of guys that can pull out a win in the fourth quarter.”

More Crossover

Fazzino said “football keeps me in shape and gets my body prepared for a physical wrestling season. Shooting a double leg in wrestling is the same form used to tackle in football. And it helps me stay mentally tough.”

Garcia said “wrestling helps me with tackling form and defense, while football helps me be more aggressive on the wrestling mat.”

But going so quickly from one sport to the other is a challenge.

“There isn’t much time to recover from injuries,” said Fazzino.

“It’s usually a tough transition due to the fact they always go deep into playoffs and have big games and turn around with no time off to heal up and get into wrestling mindset,” said Coach Borgia.

“Going right from football season into wrestling season can be exhausting,” said Garcia, just named 2nd-team All Conference on the gridiron and looking to improve on his first strong year as a wrestling starter.

This year, an unusually long list of students face that challenge.

In addition to Cabarle, who hit the gridiron after an extremely strong wrestling debut as a Region qualifier, two-sport WMC gridiron-grappler athletes include Seamus Buckley,
Tobi Kolawole, Ashton Babinec, Andrew Domingues and Jack Sheppard (the WMC wrestling Future Star Award winner).

Former wrestlers include 2025 Super Football Liberty White Division 1st Team All-Conference star A.J. Codella (a wrestling district champion his sophomore year), and 2nd team All Conference star Blake Parkinson-Gee.

Sites on State Sectional Supremacy

Last season, WMC wrestling entered the State Sectional playoffs as a 2-seed, falling to Governor Livingston in the semi-finals. Caldwell became the State Section champion.

The Pack’s sites are set on a North 2, Group 2 state sectional title.

In 2025-26, WMC won’t have all-time team great Mark Montuore (30-10 his senior season) – but keeps every other winning-record starter. Caldwell and Governor Livingston lose much more.

Caldwell graduated Jake Simon (34-7), Michael Mignone (33-5), Ben Lattimer (31-12), Dom Holler (30-10), and Andrew Fonseca (26-13).

Governor Livingston lost Nathan Faxon (41-3), Cristian Gioia (40-6), Vincent Capone (31-8), Henrique Ribeiro (30-10), Brandon Rayack (20-2) and five more seniors who totaled 23 wins.

Both squads usually reload with excellent freshmen, but that’s a lot of talent and experience to replace in one season.

They won’t be the only competition in the section, made up of schools with enrollment between 565 and 750 students (WMC is at the high end with 748). Clark, Bernards, Elmwood Park, Hackettstown, Hillside, Madison, Newark Collegiate, Parsippany, Parsippany Hills, and Voorhees round out the section.

NFL Grapplers

The long list of high school gridiron grapplers includes the Giants’ Dexter Lawrence and Evan Neal, and Jets’ Tanzel Smart and Breece Hall. Elite linemen across the NFL, such as the Browns' Myles Garrett and former Cardinal Taylor Lewan (an undefeated state champion), often attribute their dominance and quickness to their backgrounds as high school heavyweights. NFL Hall of Famer Ray Lewis was undefeated as a Florida state wrestling champion in high school.

How Wrestling Created The BEST Football Players | NFL Films Presents

https://youtu.be/9sp6GIZXY9g?si=azgoPRWHNvBKJlOR

Next Up

WMC opens the 2025-26 wrestling season Dec. 13 at the Caldwell Tournament. The season’s first dual is at home vs. Sparta Dec. 17. On Dec. 20 they’ll join the Morris Knolls Holiday Tournament, while some may venture to Delaware for Beast of the East. 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).

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.