Memorial wrestlers to face stiff early tests

Mustangs look to
continue tradition under new coach
BY WAYNE WITKOWSKI
Staff Writer

With young but experienced wrestlers, and others just coming out late last week from playing on the NJSIAA Group IV Central championship football team, new coach Dean Albanese’s Brick Memorial’s wrestling team gets thrown into the fire Saturday in the Caldwell Tournament against some of the toughest teams in the state.

"It’s going well, but we don’t have a lot of numbers," said Albanese, a longtime assistant under Anthony Caravella. Caravella stepped down after last season to become assistant athletic director for the two high schools in town.

"We’re hurting with the football players just coming out, and hopefully we can get a dozen," Albanese said.

But Albanese is well familiar with the talent he has, after taking over the team for a month last season when Caravella had knee surgery. He helped the team weather perhaps the most frustrating of its 23 seasons with injuries, a leading wrestler quitting, another star injured for most of the season, and yet another star declared ineligible because of a residency issue. But Caravella returned for the postseason and the Mustangs pulled it together to win an 18th straight district championship, the last 12 in District 12.

Dave Kiley, Outstanding Wrestler of the district at 145 and who was 16-8, returns to a team that will be tested Saturday against the likes of Caldwell, Paulsboro, Kittatinny, Hunterdon Central and Eastern Regional, and then hosts some top teams in the state at its Mustang Classic the following Saturday. Phillipsburg, North Hunterdon, High Point and the reserves and junior varsity from nationally recognized Blair Academy will converge on Brick.

Kiley was 6-2 competing for Team New Jersey in the national championships in Colorado in early July.

Also back is defending district champion Jay Rosenthal, a junior who was 17-11 at 125 pounds; junior Mike Elshamy, who was third in the district at 189 in a 10-10 season; sophomore Nick Davis, who was third in the district at 103 to finish 9-11; and junior Mike Shevlino, who was third in the district at 125 in a 7-7 season. John Havens, a sophomore who was 6-6 but finished fourth in the district, will wrestle either at 152 or 160. Chris Neland, a senior who was 16-10 last season, looks good at either 130 or 135.

Albanese said he also will look to sophomore John Barrett, up from the junior varsity, at 140 or 145 pounds.

"They have a good work ethic," said Albanese, who was 70-12 as a two-time captain at Brick Memorial in the late 1980s. "They’re a little crazy, which you have to be to be a wrestler. But they’re a good group of kids. The thing is, we have to fill holes [in the lineup]."

Help could come in that regard from Pat Brady, a senior who was 9-6 and can wrestle 140 or 145; heavyweight Mike Anderson, who broke his wrist last year; and senior middleweight Nick Jacobini, who was 3-1. Junior Jim Davis saw some action at 112. In the higher weights, sophomore Sean McCrossen can wrestle from 160-170, and part-time starter Mike Hudak, a junior, can compete anywhere from 170 to 189.

Adding to the depth are seniors Nate McClellan and Chris Mazzar, while juniors Zach Northrup and Mike Slatter were 30-match winners on the junior varsity. Junior Matt Lawson also has looked sharp in workouts while freshman John Guzzi at 103 has gotten the attention of Albanese.

Brick Memorial, which finished around .500 in dual meets and had an unusually early first-round exit in the Shore Conference Tournament, expects toughest competition in the fiercely competitive Shore Conference A Division from Jackson, Southern and Toms River East.

Added to the staff are assistants Anthony Vitolo, a star at Freehold Township who wrestled for No. 2 nationally ranked The College of New Jersey; Tony Nash, a former teammate of Albanese’s at Brick Memorial; and Paul Poitbus, who coached at Point Pleasant Beach.