The Mount Olive wrestling team beat Toms River East to win the state Group IV championship Sunday afternoon, two days after the Marauders beat North Hunterdon to win the state Group IV semifinals.
But let’s face it, those wins almost paled in comparison to what they pulled off last week.
Coach Sean Smyth’s Marauders toppled mighty Phillipsburg to win the North 1, Group IV championship.
That was the big one.
It was the first time a Morris County school had beaten PBurg since … get ready … 1972! That’s when Randolph knocked off the Stateliners with three straight pins to end the match and shock the world.
Mount Olive beating P-Burg wasn’t a shocker but the ease with which they won (49-20) was most certainly a surprise.
You want a dynasty? P-Burg’s is mighty tough to beat. Since the sectional playoffs began in 1982, P-Burg has won 42 sectional crowns and 22 Group championships.
Look at it this way: Since the sectionals began, PBurg has won their section every year except three times. Think of it.
But last week, the Marauders not only beat PBurg, they pretty much brushed the Stateliners aside.
From Day One, the Marauders knew they were in the same section as PBurg (and dangerous Ridge). Mount Olive knew the day was coming when they had to stand up to the bully and take a stand – and that is exactly what the Marauders did.
If Mount Olive wanted people to take them seriously this year, Smyth’s team simply had to knock off the program that is, arguably, the best one in all of New Jersey history.
And they pulled it off – resoundingly.
So if Mount Olive was able to do that, then the Marauders knew they could beat anybody – and then they did.
“Coming into the season we knew what we had,” Smyth told reporters after the Toms River East victory.
Now, the entire state of New Jersey does.
When it comes to wrestling, Mount Olive has plenty.
Against PBurg, the Marauders had four wrestlers go above and beyond themselves to pull off the win.
- Anthony Piemonte dropped to 126 and beat PBurg’s Anthony Pettinelli, 5-2.
- Colin Smyth (157) pinned Brad Kisselbach in 5:05.
- Justin Bullock went up to 175 and beat state-ranked Gavin Geleta in overtime, 8-5.
- At heavyweight, Jared Martini majored Ben Ellis, 9-0.
Mount Olive went on to dispose of North Hunterdon and Toms River East – two good teams, but without the clout that PBurg has.
With PBurg out of the way, Mount Olive continued ascending.
Thomas McDonald (150), Smyth (157), Scott Coppolo (165) and Stephen Hayek (175) finished the match with pins in a 47-25 win over North Hunterdon.
Smyth (pin at 157), Coppolo (pin at 165), Hayek (tech fall at 175), Bullock (tech fall at 190), Nicolas Gonzalez (forfeit at 215) and Martini (tech fall at 285) helped the team pull away against Toms River East in a 47-22 victory.
Mount Olive attained rare air status after beating Toms River East.
At one time, a Morris County school winning a public Group championship was extremely rare. It just didn’t happen. It didn’t happen in the first 10 years of the Groups until Jefferson won its first of three straight in 1992. Randolph (1993), Hanover Park (2015), Montville (2020) and Mount Olive (2022) are the others.
More often than not, Morris schools were always at the Groups after having won sectional championships. But when they went to the deep end of the pool and ran into Paulsboro, P-Burg, Delaware Valley, etc., Morris schools would simply fade away.
But not Sunday – and not last week against PBurg.
Smyth and his staff have built a true public school powerhouse, one of the finest in all of New Jersey – with wrestlers who actually live in town. Many of the other public schools cannot make that claim for a variety of reasons (choice schools, summer residents, etc.).
Now it’s on to District 5 at Morris Knolls for the Marauders, who have won seven straight district championships. Knolls, Morris Hills, Montville, and Cedar Grove are some of the schools to keep an eye on, but none will come into Denville riding the high that Mount Olive is on.
Trivia time
Trivia question: When Randolph came back to stun PBurg in 1972, who were the Rams three pinners? Answer below.
Hornets overachieve
Hanover Park had won four straight sectional titles but came into the North 2, Group 1 finals against Cedar Grove as the underdog – thanks to losing 10 seniors from the previous year.
But the Hornets rejected the label of underdog by winning another title.
Coach Tyler Branham’s team came from behind with four victories to close out the match and came away with a stunning, 34-30 victory over Cedar Grove to win its fifth sectional title in a row and 17th sectional crown.
“They have a lot to be proud of,” Branham said. “We were conference (NJAC Liberty) and section champs for a team that frankly, most people did not think was going to be very good this year. We graduated nine starting seniors and in addition lost two-time girls state champion Gaby Conte from the lineup.”
Hanover trailed 30-18 with four weights to go and then shocked the audience at Cedar Grove with four straight wins. Alex Spagnuolo went up to 113 and beat Tommy Sica, 5-3; Ethan Kaup (120) majored Anthony Sheridan, 15-3; Neil Della Torre (126) decisioned Logan Donlon, 9-5; Nick DiFrancescantonio (132) won the match when he pinned Luke Oeckel in 1:55.
“The team dealt with some adversity and took some tough losses throughout the year, but really came together when it mattered most during the sections,” Branham said. “Give credit to our seniors and captains Nicky DiFran and Aeden Hamilton (who pinned Cedar Grove’s Jake Saraiva in 35 seconds) for providing great leadership throughout the year. They were a part of three sectional championships and helped show the younger guys on the team the expectations and the way to get there. It was special this year because different from years past, we did it from the underdog role.”
Scarlet Knights come close
Morris Hills has one sectional championship to its credit (1987) and made a valiant bid for a second but fell short last week.
The Scarlet Knights are getting closer and closer to getting their second.
Coach Brian Bollette’s team navigated its way through one of New Jersey’s deepest sections before falling short against West Essex, losing 38-32. Hills held a 32-26 lead with just two weights to go but was pinned twice in the last two weights.
“It was a great run,” Bollette said. “It was a tough loss to West Essex, another exciting match that came down to the wire. We needed pins where we got techs, and we lost some close toss up matches. The kids competed hard and laid it all on the line. We really couldn’t ask for a better group of hard working, tough, and resilient kids.”
Hills is a young team and figures to build on the strong finish.
“We started nine different sophomores throughout the sectional tournament,” Bollette said. “We really like how our kids have progressed in our system and are proud of the work they’ve put in. We’ve got a lot coming back and a huge incoming freshman class, so we believe we are on the rise as a program.”
Morris Hills made West Essex work throughout the night.
The Knights won the first match of the evening by fall but Scarlet Knights 215-pounder Frank DiMarzio went on to win by technical fall over Danny Harraka, 22-7 (5:13).
Two weights later, Morris Hills’ Dom Lombardi tecked Adam Aydinov, 15-0 (3:04).
Later in the match, Hills won four of five weight classes to take a 32-26 lead.
Josh Levin (132) beat Rowan Tran by technical fall, 15-0 (3:06) before Andrew Mucci (138) pinned Mark Farah in 3:22, pulling Morris Hills to within 23-21. After West Essex won by decision, the Scarlet Knights took the lead in the next weight when Alexander Casarrubias beat Fedor Lustado by technical fall, 18-0 (2:48) and Victor Gallardo pinned Pedro Lima in 45 seconds.
The playoffs opened with Morris Hills capturing a 35-34 victory over South Plainfield. Bollette’s team had three big victories at 157 (Gallardo pinned Elias Perez Ramirez in 3:55),175 (Tyler DiSanto pinned Joseph Ronzo in 3:26), and at 106 (Lombardi tecked Anthony LaBella, 16-1, 5:43). Those wins helped the Scarlet Knights build a 35-16 lead with three weights to go, clinching the match.
“We had a great run in the playoffs and it started with the win over South Plainfield with big wins from DiSanto, Gallardo and Lombardi to seal the deal,” he said.
The Scarlet Knights then had to get past top-seeded Cranford and pulled out a 35-34 victory that came down to criteria (less forfeits; Cranford had two and Morris Hills had none).
How far has Morris Hills come on Bollette’s watch? Cranford overwhelmed Morris Hills last year, 74-0.
The pivotal win came in the very first bout of the match, when the 138-pound Mucci beat
two-time state qualifier Ryder Conners, 12-9. Ethan Smolinski followed by pinning Anthony Dispensa in 3:26. The match was scoreless at the time.
“It was just a huge win by Andrew and another big win by Ethan,” Bollette said.
Another key Morris Hills victory was when DiSanto beat Owen Woodruff, 8-3, avenging a loss to Woodruff last year.
WIth Morris Hills trailing 34-24 with two weight classes remaining, Andrew Gonzalez-Carela beat Declan McKittrick with a pin in 2:13 before Levin majored Tristan Ynchaustegui, 12-2, tying the match.
Trivia Answer
The three Randolph pinners were Glen Lusardi, Joe Mercurio, and Nick Mygas. Shout-out to reader and longtime Morris County sports enthusiast Jim McDermott.
