Monroe wrestlers produce results through hard work

As training partners in the Monroe High School wrestling room, Sal Profaci and Chris Muce, the cornerstones of the team, epitomize a program philosophy that stresses hard work to generate results.

"We don't really talk about it," Muce said of team goals. "We keep it in the back of our mind. We just try to grind during practice."

As Profaci, who recently committed to the University of Michigan after placing fourth in the NJSIAA Tournament and sixth at the Super 32 Tournament earlier this year, noted: "Put in the work, and the goals take care of themselves."

The duo, which combined for 72 wins a year ago, is part of a senior class that has compiled a 53-18 dual meet record over the past three seasons and which led the Falcons to a Greater Middlesex Conference White Division championship and the school's first district title a year ago.

South Plainfield head coach Kevin McCann, whose team has won six consecutive GMCT crowns and a state record 30 consecutive district tournament titles, said he believes the Falcons, who make the move to the Red Division this winter, are ready to take the next step.

"I don't think they are up-and-coming," said McCann, adding he believes Monroe has already arrived.

"I think coach (Billy) Jacoutot has taken them to the next level. They are where they need to be as a program. You've got to be ready to wrestle them. They've turned it around the last couple of years."

South Plainfield and Monroe, ranked No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, in the Home News Tribune preseason Top 10, will meet prior to a Big Ten Conference dual between Rutgers and Penn State on Jan. 16 at the Rutgers Athletics Center.

The dual will be a measuring stick for the Falcons, who have finished runner-up to the Tigers in each of the last two league tournaments.

"It's good for the GMC and it's good for the program," Jacoutot said of wrestling in a college setting, something South Plainfield has done annually for the last several years. "But (the Tigers) have been decades in the making. We are just a few years in the making."

Monroe finished with a 6-14 record before the current senior class arrived.

The year-round commitment to the sport Profaci and Muse demonstrate has set the tone for the Falcons, who return eight region qualifiers. Muce, however, was the lone Falcon to join Profaci in Atlantic City.

Nicky Lombard (113), Joe Zargo (126), Kevin Creech (170), Pat Dressel (195), Nick Goff (220) and Nick Fromhold (285) all placed top three in the district and each boasted 21 or more wins a year ago. Shawn Gardini (120) and Donny Albach (145) won 17 and 16 bouts, respectively.

"I think some of the younger kids have seen the year-round commitment to the sport," Jacoutot said, noting that sub-varsity and even recreation level grapplers are impacted by Monroe's recent team success.

Monroe, which was a Group I school in the 1980s, is currently classified as Group V, a result of the township's population explosion, from which the wrestling program has benefited.

Jacoutot said the rec programs in Jamesburg and Monroe, which both feed the high school, exceed 90 wrestlers, while the middle school program is off to a 4-1 start with the lone blemish a narrow setback to Jackson Memorial.

Named the GMC's Coach of the Year at the end of last season, Jacoutot is quick to credit his assistants and the recreation and middle school coaches with Monroe's success.

"I appreciate the fact that they do a great job," he said. "There's a lot of people contributing to this and you have to have that."

Newcomers Andy Lombard (106), Jared Parisen (152), Chris Turchio (160) and Kaylon Bradley (182) round out Monroe's projected starting lineup.

Profaci credits some of the program's recent success to camaraderie, noting he and his teammates are as close off the mats as they are in the room, which helps make a demanding sport enjoyable.

"I know a lot of teams are close, but we really are a close bunch of guys," he said, noting that Friday nights after practice the Falcons "hang out."

"We are like brothers. We've been wrestling since we were little kids. We've been through it all together. It makes the whole thing fun."