Seniors Shine: Caruso, McBride Lead WMC to Playoffs, Topping Mendham

2/4/24

By David Yaskulka
Photos by Olivia Montuore

On the night celebrating its wrestling seniors Wednesday, West Morris Central elders delivered a 60-18 victory over Mendham, sending the Pack to the postseason. Seniors Brendan McBride, who delivered an upset pin; Vince Caruso, who defeated a Minuteman senior, and Henry DeFrance and Sam Rizzuto, who procured a pair of pins, all shined.

Seniors shined again Feb. 3 when the Pack pummeled Paramus by the same 60-18 score.

The team was 2-8 as of Jan. 6 after a tough Morris Knolls quad. Now they’re 10-9 with five wins in a row to secure a spot in the sectional (team) playoffs Monday Feb. 5.

WMC Manhandles Mendham 60-18

Pack freshman phenom Brody Neill (106 lbs., 23-4 record, ranked #21) started the Jan. 31 Senior Night match with a first period pinfall over Mendham Linn Crawn champion Aidan Reilly (22-8, #57).

Mark Montoure (113, 21-7, #28) followed suit, then Minuteman state qualifier Rafe Fonte (19-3, #38) put his team on the board with a pin.

WMC stand out freshman Jacob Harrison (126, 15-13, #67) kept his dual winning streak alive with another pin, followed by the Caruso (132, 8-14, #196) Rizzuto (138, 19-9, #57), McBride (144, 4-8, #252) and DeFrance (157, 9-12, #186) victories, with a Robert Fazzino (150, 17-10, #70) pin mixed in.

WMC’s Joseph Wagner delivered a gutty 3-2 hard fought decision for the Pack for his first victory.

Mendham junior Paul LeBow (165, 13-16) spoiled an otherwise perfect night for Wolfpack seniors with a pin of his own, followed by another from classmate Brayden Yokum (190, 9-13).

Pins from WMC’s sophomore twin towers of Tommy Borgia (215, 24-4, #15) and AJ Codella (HWT, 16-12, #84) finished the scoring.

Mendham fell to 3-16 in a rebuilding year, with only Pravith and Nelith Siriwardhana providing senior leadership.

Last year WMC prevailed 57-20 over its sister school, with big pins from Montuore, Caruso, Rizzuto and DeFrance. In 2022, an epic comeback and Rizzuto heroics were needed for the Wolfpack win.

Pack Pummels Paramus 60-18 Behind Montuore, McBride, Rizzuto and DeFrance

On Feb. 3 Coach Marold got the team an extra match, traveling to Paramus to overwhelm the home team 60-18. Neill started things off by pinning Paramus’ fourth-winningest wrestler, then Montuore fully set the tone by decking their best, #46 ranked Nick Guastello, in under a minute.

Seniors again shined with pins from Rizzuto, McBride, and DeFrance, a win from Caruso and six more points from Barisonek via forfeit – that’s 27-0 in team points for the seniors. Fazzino, Borgia and Codella added three more pins, and Jacob Fahmi (120, 8-15, #123) added another victory, to assure the Wolfpack route.

Playoffs!

The Wolfpack qualified for the 2024 NJSIAA Wrestling North Jersey, Section 2 Group 3 Team Tournament. As the five-seed, on Monday Feb. 5 they will face four-seed Passaic Valley (13-1) Feb. 5 at West Essex. Winner immediately faces the top-seeded home team (12-0) vs. Roxbury (6-9, eight-seed) winner. That winner faces the Cranford-Morris Hills vs. Warren Hills-Parsippany Hills winner on Wednesday Feb. 7. WMC will likely be the underdog in all its matches.

Senior Night

The team and crowd of Wolfpack faithful celebrated the careers of its seniors: Barisonek, McBride, Caruso, DeFrance, and Rizzuto. Their collective 39 wins this season (so far) and mature leadership will be difficult to replace next season.

Barisonek will win his second prestigious varsity letter this season. His Wolfpack career highlights include an incredible sixth place medal at the grueling X-Calibur tournament, and critical dual meet wins including Hanover Park, and the recent epic momentum-turning pinfall against Randolph.

Caruso has been a strong starter for the Pack this year and last, with wins at the X-Calibur, Goles and MCT tournaments, and key dual match victories including Kittatinny, Cranford, Mendham, Hanover Park, and his epic pinfall against arch rival Mendham last season. He ranked one of the 2023 top Morris County Tournament competitors for seed-place difference (exceeding expectations), and received a prestigious All-Conference nod last season.

Defrance will also become a three-time winner of the toughest varsity letter in sports, with wins at the Goles Tournament and many dual meet victories helping the Pack, including Sparta, Morris Hills, the recent huge match-winning victory over Montville and last season’s pin versus Mendham. He’s won five dual meet bouts in a row.

McBride will be a three-time winner of the toughest varsity letter in sports, and has earned wins at the Goles and Morris County Championship tournaments. His dual match victories helping the Pack include Hackettstown, Montville and recently over Columbia. His recent pin contributed to WMC’s public County bronze.

Rizzuto will graduate as one of the most successful wrestlers 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.

Streaks and Stats

In dual meets, Montuore and Borgia have won 12 in a row, Neill nine in a row, Fazzino eight, DeFrance four. Borgia’s losses are only to top-10 wrestlers. Neill’s only losses since the first week of the season are to top-5 wrestlers.

Next Up

North 2 Group 3 Sectional (team) playoff rounds 1, and 2 are Feb. 5, with sectional finals on Feb. 7. The D11 (individual) championship is Feb. 17 at Morristown. Top-three medalists advance to the Region 3 championship at West Orange Feb. 23-24. Top-four placers there advance to the NJSIAA State Championships in Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Hall Feb. 29 - Mar. 2 where the best of the best compete for wrestling history.

Last season, among current wrestlers, Borgia, Montuore and Fahmi advanced from Districts (where Chris Marold was named Coach of the Year); Brandon Dean was Region 3 champ, advancing to States with Michael Campanaro, Michael Hare and Borgia; and Dean placed sixth in Atlantic City where Borgia became one of two WMC freshman to ever win a match.

Ranking and records based on RankWrestlers.com’s algorithm, which pulls from TrackWrestling.com data.

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 serves as Board Chair of the Pet Sustainability Coalition, and as Board Director at Greater Good Charities.