SPORTS

GMC WRESTLING: Blue Division team previews

Greg Tufaro
@GregTufaro

CARTERET

Coach: Dan Farrar.

Last year: 8-7 overall, 6-1 Blue Division.

Key losses: Christian Mendoza (23-7, 8th GMC, 3rd district at 138); Tyler Pitchford (24-6, 8th GMC, 2nd district at 152); Javier Gonzalez (25-5, 5th GMC, 2nd district at 145); Charles Faulkner (27-3, 3rd GMC, 2nd district at 195).

Probable lineup: 106 - Oanes Mahmoud (Sr.); 113 Mohammed Dhillo (Sr., 22-8 at 106); 120 - Ethan Doda (Fr.); 126 - Angel Pitts (Fr.); 132 - Ishmael Pitts (Jr.); 138 - James Halladay (Sr., 20-10, 8th GMC, 2nd district at 120); 145 - Antoran Chandler (Fr.); 152 - Alex Ortiz (Jr.); 160 - Elias Vega (Jr., 27-3, 3rd GMC, 1st district at 160); 170 - Frank Cohgan (Fr.); 182 - Hacienda Daavedra (Sr.); 195 - Farhan Khan (So., 20-10, 7th GMC, 3rd district at 170); 285 - Fred Lawson (So.).

Outlook: The Ramblers, who were decimated by graduation, will rebuild their program around incumbent region qualifiers Halladay, Vega and Khan. Carteret must replace more than 100 bouts won from a year ago. As many as four freshman and one sophomore could be in the starting lineup. Carteret does not have a wrestler at 220 pounds.

HIGHLAND PARK

Coach: Craig Girvan.

Last Year: 0-20 overall, 0-7 Blue Division.

Key Losses: Tyler Vella (19-18, 4th District at 189).

Probable Lineup: 106 - Liam Burke (Fr.); 113 - Jeffery Reyes (Fr.) or Jake McCrone (Fr.); 120 - Kumayl Qureshi (Fr.); 126 - Sam Guerrero (Sr., 23-14, 5th GMC, 1st district at 120/126); 132 - Jose Ruiz (Sr., 17-12 at 126/132) or Ish Zubairu (So., 2-18 at 113/120); 138 - Jonah Beberman (Fr.); 145 - Matt Schrager (So., 2-21 at 145); 152 - Yusep Badiev (So.); 160 - Jeffery Mathis (Sr., 11-16 at 170); 195 - Dylan Boynton (So. 18-14, 8th GMC at 195) 220 - Sean Li (Fr.).

Outlook: Highland Park returns District 19 champion Guerrero and two other seniors – Ruiz (132) and Matthis (160) – that have had success at the varsity level. Boynton at 195 is an excellent football player and should improve on his GMCT showing. The rest of the Owls are young but looking to improve. Highland Park could yield up to 18 points in every dual meet, forfeiting at three weight classes.

METUCHEN

Coach: Nick Zaneto, 7th season (44-58).

Last year: 6-10 overall, 3-3 Blue Division.

Key losses: Gianni Pascucci (16-16, 3rd district at 120), Joe Stern (16-16, 4th district at 145), Mike Rehorn (13-15 at 170).

Probable lineup: 106 - Arun Chezian (Fr.) or Michael Navarez (Fr.); 113 - Christian Navarro (So., 7-16 at 103); 120 - Chris Little (So.), 126 - Chris Kwok (So.); 132- Tom Annarumma (Jr.); 138 - Ben Pincus (So.); 145 - Nate Green (Sr., 7-2 at 138); 152 - Kevin Coleman (Sr., 32-5 at 126, 1st district, 4th GMC); 160 - Derek Shapiro (So.); 182 - Jeff Serratelli (Jr.) or Alex Buzzi (Jr.) 195 - Anthony Maloney (Jr ., 14-9 at 195); 220 - Joe Maloney (Jr., 19-7, 7th GMC at 220); 285 Joel Gil (Jr.).

Outlook: Arun Chezian (106), Michael Navarez (106), Dan Kindler (126) and Jordan Gosdick (120) are the team's top newcomers. Metuchen has a void at 170 pounds. The Bulldogs feature just two senior starters. A lot of young wrestlers will be thrown into the varsity lineup and will gain valuable experience. Kevin Coleman hopes to have another successful season. He will move up to 145 or 152 pounds. Anthony and Joe Maloney will anchor the upper weights. Zaneto said his team is looking to make a statement in every match it wrestles.

MIDDLESEX

Coach: Patrick Appello, 7th season (74-76).

Last Year: 16-11 overall, 7-0 Blue Division.

Key Losses: Ryan Paff (2nd GMC, 28-6 at 138); Brandon Bollin (26-13, 5th GMC, 3rd district at 170); Joel Feliciano (14-11 at 113).

Probable Lineup: 113 - Tom Dinger (So., 16-16, 4th district at 106); 120 - Charles Zaccardi (So., 8-6 at 106); 126 - Elizbar Papalashvili (Sr., 3-3 at 126) or Carlos Lopez (So.); 132 - Bob Dinger (So., 30-10, 2nd district, 3rd GMC at 126); 138 - Chris Dessino (So., 19-13, 4th district at 120); 145 - Bryan Velasquez (Fr.) or Connor McCrimmon (Fr.); 160 - Jefferson Galeano (Sr.) or Nodari Bedianashvili (Fr.); 170 - Samaad Rawlins (Sr.); 182 - Kevin Ambicki (Jr., 26-10, 4th district, 5th GMC at 182); 195 - Matt Hode (Sr., 24-9, 5th GMC at 195); 220 - Jack Sweeney (Jr., 23-10, 4th district at 220).

Outlook: The defending division champions need to fill vacancies at 106, 152 and 285. A promising group of freshmen complements a nice corps of returning letterwinners. The Blue Jays hope to defend their division crown and qualify for the NJSIAA Team Tournament.

NEW BRUNSWICK

Coach: Jason McLean, 7th season.

Last year: 8-8 overall, 2-5 Blue Division.

Returning letterwinners: Leslie Carbajal (3-7 at 106); Enrique Cuevas (13-10 at 120); Yoscar Diaz (19-11 at 126); Wilfredo Soto (11-12 at 152); Algenis Nunez (16-14 at 160); Edwin Aguilera (19-14 at 170); Christian Sanchez (5-0 at 160); Frankelly Rosario (14-14 at 182); Xavier Valentine (9-16 at 220); Sam Torres (16-15 at 138); Alexix Jaquez; Ricardo Sanchez; Carlos Tucabal; Anthony Sanchez; Jonathan Torres; Bernie Herrara; Jesus Juarez; Manuel Cerda; Cirsitan Pinto; Kelvin Peralta.

Outlook: New Brunswick is hoping to build after a busy offseason. The Zebras are relying on a strong group of upperclassmen to lead the way. They will stay busy working hard and blazing trails for future New Brunswick wrestlers.

NORTH BRUNSWICK

Coach: Mark Salge, 4th season.

Last year: 3-19 overall, 2-5 Blue Division.

Key losses: Kenny Bongiovanni (26-13 at 138).

Probable lineup: 106 - Juan Gonzalez (Sr., 17-17 at 113); 120 - Mario Castellanos (Sr., 0-17 at 126); 126 - Devin Bongiovanni (So., 1-1 at 106) or Lane Ackerman (So., 15-16 at 106); 132- John Santiago (Jr., 3-13 at 126); 138 - Cullen McArdle (So., 0-2 at 138) or Mikell Stafford (Fr.); 145 - Mitchell Arciniega (Sr.,) 152 - Mitchell Arciniega (Jr.) or Kenny Abode (Fr.); 160 - John Mueller (Sr., 12-15 at 160); 170/182 - James Duffy (Sr., 21-15 at 170), Matt Mueller (Sr., 16-20 at 152) or Shane Tieger (Sr., 5-9 at 160); 220 - Matt Tadros (so.) or Billy Krezwick (Sr., 5-14 at 220); 285- Anthony Tacinelli (Sr.).

Outlook: The Raiders, who were an underclassmen-laden team a year ago, graduated just one key senior. Numbers continue to increase in the program, but North Brunswick still enters the season with vacancies at two weight classes.

SOUTH RIVER

Coach: Bobby Young, 11th season.

Last year: 4-15 overall, 2-5 Blue Division.

Key losses: Shane Ciesielski, Dalton Dougherty.

Probable lineup: 106 - Alex Amare (So., 4-20 at 106); 113/120 - Mark Pacheco (Fr.) or Alex Lizardo (So., 3-11 at 113); 126/132 - Tyler Burgess (Sr., 29-4 at 120), Joe Kowolski (So.) or Dan Colon (Fr.); 132- Brandon Szerszen (Fr.), Dylan Andrejic (Jr.), John Ramos (Fr.) or Leandlo Santos (Fr.); 138 - Brandon Pacheco (Sr., 24-11 at 132), John Ortiz (Jr.), Youssef Bassam (Fr.), Christian Juarez (Fr.) or Ismael Cisneros (So.); 145 - Jared Smith (Sr., 13-11 at 145), Ariel Kozak (Sr.) or Jason Tuapante (So.); 152 - Quinn Ciesielski (Jr., 12-14 at 138) or Kyle Baszak (Fr.); 160/170 - Aldo Posas (Sr.) or Lucas Reberio; 182/195 - Adrian Moreira (Fr.); 220 - Doug Ryan (Sr., 26-1 at 195) or Emilliano Torres (So.); 285 - Rich Leogrande (Sr.).

Outlook: With the help of some incoming talented freshman and a good corps of returning upperclassman the Rams hope to improve upon last year's record. Ryan will return to the lineup despite missing the entire football season with a broken leg. Leogrande returns following a one-year hiatus.

SPOTSWOOD

Coach: Dan Krainski, 3rd season (20-24).

Last year: 10-12 overall, 5-2 GMC Blue Division.

Key losses: Ryan Fahy (34-4, 2nd GMC, 1st district, 5/6 region at 113); Max Pavlis (32-7, 2nd GMC, 2nd district, 4th region at 220); Jake Teetsel (21-11, 7th GMC at 126); Shane White (19-15, 6th GMC, 4th district at 182).

Probable lineup: 106 - Thomas Saulle (Sr., 13-13 at 106); 113- Justin Thompson (So.); 120 - Tyler Jacobs (Fr.); 126 - Michael Egan (So.); 132 - Ryan Donovan (So.) or Shea Obado (Fr.); 138 - Brandon Grover (So., 5-13 at 132) or Vasco Azinheira (Sr.); 145 - Will Witt (Sr., 7-15 at 132/138); 152 - Chris Bruce (Sr., 12-12 at 145) or Michael LeRoy (Fr.); 160 - Richard Melvin (Sr., 9-15 at 152); 170 - James Witt (Sr., 11-16 at 160/170); 182 - Ejike Okafor (Sr., 18-16 4th GMC at 152); 195 - Jordan Rodriguez (Sr., 4-7 at 170); 220/285 - Adam Khodier (Sr.) or Youseff Elhakala (Fr.).

Outlook: The Chargers are looking to rebuild after losing close to 275 career wins among a quartet of recently graduated seniors. Spotswood has a roster of 10 seniors (seven of who are returning three-year starters) and 18 freshman and sophomores. Okafor is looking to have a breakout year. Saulle returns for his senior year at 106. Sophomores Grover and Donovan are looking to solidify the middle of the lineup, while freshmen Obado and LeRoy are looking add depth.