Powered by upperweights, Hightstown in top position

The Hightstown High wrestling team has been on a nice run of late and in terms of being the team to beat in the Colonial Valley Conference’s Colonial Division look for that trend to continue this winter.

With one of the strongest sets of upperweights in the county to go along with some promising newcomers, the Rams will also re- main among the elite in the entire conference.

Because of Covid issues that greatly reduced last year’s schedule, it’s hard to get the usual pre-season reading on many wresting teams. With that in mind, only time will tell if any of the other Colonial Division teams are capable of hanging with Hightstown, although Princeton looks like it might be the most likely to mount a challenge.

Keep in mind there were very limited schedules last year so the resumes for the wrestlers do not have their usual list of accomplish- ments.

HIGHTSTOWN

Coach: Mike Russo.

Last year: 10-2.

106- Jason Desantis (So.) 113/ 120- Chris Cropanese (Fr.) Jack Kane (So.) Joe Delli Bovi (Sr.)

126- Dennis Bustos, Jr. (So.) Matt Ramos (Fr.) 132- Josh Greenberg (Jr.) 138- Chase Montgomery (So.) 144- Devron Lewis (So.) 150- Jacob Kochberg (Sr.) 157- Isaiah Thornton (Sr.) 165- Liam O’Donnell (Sr.) Aiden Carter (So.)

175- Eddie Abreu (Sr.) Kevin Lancaster (Jr.)

190- Franki Garcia (So.) 215- Chris Stavrou (Sr.) Hvy-Brenden Hansen (Sr.) Tyler Jerome (Sr.) Strengths: A district and county champion as a sophomore, Hansen was 12-2 last season after posting a 38-5 record the year before. Stavrou missed last year with an injury, but as a sophomore went 33-8 and advanced to Atlantic City. Garcia was 9-2, Rodriguez was 10-2 and O’Donnell was 8-4. Delli Bovi and Bustos posted winning records as well.

Outlook: Coach Russo is encouraged by what he’s seeing from some of his newcomers and if they come around Hightstown has a shot at being a sectional qualifier. It certainly remains one of the top teams in the CVC.

NOTRE DAME

Coach: E.J. Nemeth.

Last year: (1-11).

113/ 120-Liam Krimmel (Fr.), Sebastian Molina (Fr.) 126-Josh Ferdetta (Jr.) 132-Jack Madigan-Green (Jr.), Jayden Hunt (Fr.) 138-Nick Franzen (Jr.),Ryan Peterson (Fr.)0

144- Nicky DiPalma (So.) 144/ 150-KJ Honnig (Fr.), Michael Ortega (So.) 157-Gavin White (Sr.)

165/ 175-Tim Breslin (Sr.), Logan Whitlock (Jr.) 175-Jeffrey Merendino (Fr.) 190-Frank Hosmer (So.) 215-John Marhold (Sr.), Andy Onzik (Fr.) 285-Trevor Doan (Sr.), Aidan Wilson (Sr.)

Strengths: Covid really set the Irish back last year and they were forced to forfeit a bunch of weights in dual matches. This year the numbers are up with 29 wrestlers in the room, including 15 freshmen and five sophomores. Franzen was 7-4 and a Super 5⁄6 Region qualifier.

Outlook: Notre Dame is very young and that inexperience as well as lack of physical maturity will show at times. Still, it does have a full lineup and things are looking up after last year’s rough season.

PRINCETON

Coach: Jess Monzo.

Last year: (6-5) 106-Cole Rose (Fr.) 113-Ava Rose (Jr.) 120-Tyler Ehee (Jr.) 126-Blase Mele (Fr.) 132-Marty Brophy (Jr.) 138-Harry Ehee (Jr.) 144-Basil Rieger (So.), Christian Paul (So.) 150-Aaron Munford (Sr.) 157-Thomas Lambert (Sr.) 165-Matt Ellsworth (Sr.) 175-Jason Ling (Sr.), Jake Tepper-DeCarlo (Jr.) 190-Leon Wu (Jr.), Jordy Paredes (Jr.) Hvy-Jean Wes Henri (Sr.). Strengths: The Tigers have returned a solid nucleus of varsity wrestlers. Munford is coming off a 9-1 season and is part of a solid group of middleweights. Brophy was 8-2, Harry Ehee was 8-2 and Rieger was 6-for-5. In addition, Tyler Ehee posted a 6-2 record and Rose advanced to the finals of the girls state tournament for the second year in a row. There’s a lot of experience in the upper weights.

Outlook: Princeton should again be on the plus side of .500 and has the capability of pulling off a surprise or two if it matches up right against its tougher opponents.

STEINERT

Coach: Joe Panfili.

Last year: (2-5) 106-Alyssa Peake (Fr.) 113-Nathaniel Bigger (Fr.), Dana Volb (So.) 120-Devin Liriano (Jr.), Joey Mahon (Fr.) 126-Anthony LaPianna (Jr) 132-Sal Famularo (Sr.) 138-Nick Ricigliano (Sr.), Anthony Mottola (So.) 145-Alexander Hart (Fr.) 150-Zach Jones (Fr.)

157/ 165-Anthony Giglio (Fr.), Mason Waznis (So.) 175-Elliot Morris (Fr.) 195-Louis Billardo (Jr.) 215-Dream Hemingway (So.), Keiven Rezkalla (Jr.) Hvy-Maxwell Power (Fr.) Strengths: Famularo and Ricigliano are proven wrestlers while Liriano (5-2) returns in the lightweights. Bilardo was 5-2 last year as well.

Outlook: It will seem different this year with long-time coach Adam Jankos no longer in charge. On the plus side, Panfili is a very capable replacement and look for the Spartans to improve as their young upper weights come around.

TRENTON

Coach: Rob Prunetti.

Last year: (3-7) 106-Osward Aponte (Sr.) 120-Joseph Argueta (Sr..) 126-Jveiyon Parker (Fr.) 132-Jefferson Suchite (Jr.) 144-Eibin Soliz (So.) 150-George Zodua (So.), Fabio Villarevia (Sr.) 157-Terrell Bolitho-Brooks (Jr.), Fabricio Vega-Lima (Jr..) 165-Christian Reyes (Jr.) 175-Najay Sinclair (So.) 190-Eric Brown (Sr.) 215-Ronque Davis (So.) Hvy-Leudys Gomez (Jr.), Anthony Muse (Sr.), Miguel Lopez (Jr.), Jerimiah Williams (So.)

Strengths: The Tornadoes again have a strong set of girl wrestlers, including returning state place winners Karielys

Reyes and Jennifer Estrada. Brown looks like a promising wrestler and like many of his teammates should benefit from a year’s experience. Trenton always seems to produce its share of capable upper weights.

Outlook: As usual, Prunetti will have his team ready to scrap and Trenton could finish in the .500 range.

WEST WINDSOR NORTH

Coach: Bill Furlong

Last year: No season. 106-Dylan Gurram (Fr.) 113-Ryan Brown (Fr.), Will Lopez (So.), Chaitanya Rachakunta (Jr.) 120-Austin Coyle (Fr.), Zachary Owens (Fr.), Arnav Kativar (Fr.)

126-Jhondry Nolasco (So.). 132-Justin Musmanno (Jr.), Daniel Shields (So.) Rehan Jahangir (So.), Gio Jijavadze (Sr.), Suraj Bhardwaj (Sr) 138-Harshit Kolisetty (Sr.), Charlotte Gilani (Fr.), Victor Su (Sr.), Evan deJong (Fr.), Kieran Sattiraju (Jr.) 144-Trisha Nakka (So.), Indraneel Reddy Vaka (Sr.), Max Austin (Fr.). 157-Darren deJong (Fr.) 165-Jerry Du (Sr.). 175-Jacob Lasky (Jr.) 190-Lucas Kempler (Fr.) 215-Aditya Tripathi (So.) Hvy-Afua Apau (Fr.) Strengths: Along with sister school West Windsor South, the Knights didn’t wrestle at all last year. Taking it back to the 2020 season, Musmano had a big freshman year with a 21-8 record.

Outlook: The fact the Knights are listing a full lineup is encouraging. Look for improvement as its young wrestlers gain their varsity footing.

WEST WINDSOR SOUTH

Coach: Warren Gerstacker. Last year: No season. 106—Jack Weinberger (So.) 113—Colin Cote (Fr.) 120—Humza Khalid (Fr.) 126—Anthony Azzara, (Fr.) 132—Jordan Blaise (So.) 138—Keshav Bhavsar (Jr.) 144—Christian Tardieu (So.) 150—Rocco Valentine (Jr.), Vedant Makkar (So.) 157—Jason Carroll (Jr.), Aarav Nadkarni (So.) 165—Manuel Ramirez (So.), Varman Ponnayiram, (Sr.), Saket Kuchadi (Fr.), Harish Kumar (Sr.) 175—Shyam Kumar (Jr.), Nicky Lennox (Sr.), Nayan Yadav (So.)

190—Sushin Banda (Jr.) 215—Franco Valentine (Sr.), Jason George (So.) Strengths: South appears to have had a pretty good turnout following last year’s aborted season.

Outlook: With massive inexperience in its lineup, the Pirates will look to be more competitive as the season unfolds.