Matawan Wrestling: Team News
Sunday, December 19Huskies take 2nd at Icebreaker
Sophomore 171 pounder Glenn Cross won his first of what sure is to be many tournament championships in his high school career by winning the season opening Matawan Icebreaker. He won by pin in the finals.
Finishing in second place was Tommy Dillon, who lost a tough 3-2 decision in the finals. Zeke Vega also finished in second place, losing a back and forth 11-8 battle to SJV's Rob Cigna.
Pat O'Donnell finished 3rd.
Matt Morenz finished 4th.
Hakan Yuksel, Andre Hodge and Francis Palumbo finished in 5th place.
Some encouraging performances were put in my Mike Sansone, Steve Varsanyi and Danny Salib, who all finished 6th but won 3 matches on the day. Freshman Chris Hartigan won his first Varsity Match.
Thursday, September 9
Changes for the Program -- Monzo Takes Over
There are many changes for the Matawan Wrestling team. The team is coming off its best season ever with first ever championship and will have to go at it with a new skipper. Jess Monzo takes over for Coach Lasko as head coach. Coach Lasko becomes an assistant and Coach Marsh moves up to the high school team. Coach DiMario takes over the middle school program.
Sunday, January 17
Huskies knock off Raritan
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It was a long time coming but the Matawan Wrestling team finally broke through and beat Raritan High School. In what was billed as the A-Central championship, Matawan and Raritan did not dissappoint.
The match started at 171 and Raritan bumped up their undefeated Ryan Lynch to face Charlie Cook. Lynch was too tough on top with his cradles and won the match by pin. 0-6
At 189 Glenn Cross won by a pin after falling behind early. Glenn has proven to be a bear on top and today was no different by pinning with an arm bar. 6-3
At 215 Andre Hodge used his tradmark cradle and pinned Vic Ianello in the second period. 12-6
At Heavy, Jimmy Alvarez lost 5-0 in another spot where Raritan bumped up a wrestler. They moved up 215 pounder Sebastian Lodato. 12-9
At 103 Raritan's Matt Lindo came out like a ball of fire and pinned Timmy Birch to take back the lead for Raritan. 12-15.
At 112 is where the fireworks began. After a scoreless match, first and second overtime. Raritans Vin Masi escaped with 25 seconds left in the overtime. The referee blew the whistle like the match was over and raised the Raritan's wrestler's hand. After discussion he continued the match. It was during that 25 seconds did Hakan Yuksel take down Masi but he put him to his back for a 5-1 overtime win. 15-15.
At 119 Pat O'Donnell lost a major decision in what turned out to be a chippy match with a few penalty points and warnings being doled out. 15-19.
At 125 Johnny Short came out and i nthe second period, shot a double, lifted his opponent in the air, carried him to the middle of the mat and pinned with with a half. 21-19
At 130, Nick Proto used a 6 point 3rd period to win 8-2 over Brian French. 24-19.
At 135 Tommy Dillon lost a tough 2-1 decision to Nick Ligouri on a stalling call. 24-22.
At 140, Zeke Vega dominated the match going up 4-0 in the first to win by decision over Devin Holmes and increase the lead to 27-22.
At 145 Jordan Long used a hip toss to pin Conor McGrath and take an 11 point team lead. 33-22.
At 152, Raritan had to put out first, they put out Vin Masi and John Kozman got injured before getting pinned and that closed the lead to 5 points.
Int he last match, Chris Carrillo was wrestling Raritan's normal 171 pounder in Cameron Lentz. Chris almost got a pin in the first period but held on for a 9-2 decision and a 36-28 win that gives Matawan the inside track for the A-Central championship.
Friday, January 22
Huskies Clinch share of Division title
The Matawan Wrestling team clinched a share of the A-Central championship with their 65-7 victory over Manasquan. The First wrestling championship of any kind in school history. The Highlight of the match was Chris Carrillo's Technical Fall of Squan's Vinnie Belleran. The Huskies can claim sole possession of the Championship with a Victory over St. John Vianney.
Sunday, January 17
Carrillo seals victory
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From Asbury Park Press
Three-hundred sixty-four days later, Matawan Regional senior Chris Carillo found himself in a very similar spot.
The Huskies' 152-pounder was involved in the last bout of the match against Shore Conference Class A Central rival Raritan with the match and divisional championship on the line.
Last year, Carillo needed to pin Ryan Lynch in the final bout to give Matawan the win. Lynch defeated him 4-2.
On Saturday, Carillo bumped up to 160 to face Cameron Lentze, who normally wrestles at 171, but weighed in at 160 on Saturday
"I was hoping to redeem myself from last year," Carillo said.
Carillo got his redemption. With Matawan up five points, all he needed to do was avoid getting pinned.
He did far better than that as he recorded a 9-2 win to clinch the Huskies' 36-28 win.
According to Matawan 10th-year head coach Andy Lasko, it is the first time the Huskies have defeated Raritan since 1997.
Matawan (10-0, 4-0), ranked No. 9 in the Asbury Park Press Top 10, also gained the inside track to the Class A Central championship.
It would be the first wrestling divisional championship for Matawan, according to athletic director Joe Martucci. The Huskies can clinch a tie with a win over Manasquan on Wednesday and the championship outright with wins over Manasquan and St. John Vianney next Saturday.
With Matawan ahead 33-22, but likely to get pinned in one of the final two bouts, the Matawan coaching staff had to decide whether to have Carillo (10-0 with nine pins) wrestle Joe Masi (12-3) at 152 or Lentze (10-6).
"We think him (Carillo) and Masi would be a great match," said Matawan assistant coach Joe DiMario. "We thought that (bumping Carillo) was our best shot."
When Masi pinned John Kozman, it put Carillo on the spot, again.
"I've bumped up to 60 a few times," Carillo said. "I'm used to the weight. I wrestle guys in practice two weight classes above me to just to keep myself in that position so I could wrestle that weight class."
"I have a lot of confidence in Chris," said senior 125-pounder Johnny Short, the NJSIAA fifth-place finisher at 125 last season. "I wrestle him in practice . . . you can never hold him down. He's a hard person to wrestle.
With the fans of both teams screaming, the athletic and strong Carillo took Lentze down and to his back late in the first period to build a 5-0 lead. He was never in any danger the final two periods.
"My move is the Olympic Roll and I've gotten it many times," Carillo said.
Matawan had other heroes, too. It recorded four pins, including a key one by freshman Glenn Cross at 189 in a bout that Raritan coach Rob Nucci thought was a tossup going in.
Sophomore Hakan Yuksel pulled out another big win at 112 when he defeated Vin Masi 5-1 with a five-point move in the final 20 seconds of the second portion of the second overtime period.
Short put the Huskies ahead for good with a pin and unbeaten Jordan Long (145) gave Matawan the 11-point lead with a pin.
"Coach Lasko has done a great job," said Nucci, whose team's run of five consecutive Class A Central championships is likely to end. "Last year, they took us to the last match. In 2007, we had a pretty damned good team and they took us to the last match. They've been getting there. My congratulations goes out to them. They're a good team."
"We came in with the right mindset," Short said. "We were quiet the whole bus ride and weigh-ins. Even when we were eating, we weren't talking that much. We were visualizing the whole match in our heads.
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