Loughney Lifts WMC to Playoff Win as Hare and Shepard Shine

By David Yaskulka

Senior co-captain and NYU commit Colin Loughney delivered three huge pins this week, leading West Morris Central into the sectional playoffs. Loughney, Michael Hare, and co-captain Eli Shepard led the Wolfpack to a 35-30 playoff opening round victory Monday night over Nutley at WMC. The team advances to face powerhouse West Essex in the North 2 Group 3 Sectional playoff semifinals Wednesday.

In his opening gambit, Coach Ken Rossi bumped super-sub Hare (106, 13-6, No. 126) up a weight to 113 to force a clash of solid, equally ranked freshmen. Hare delivered the boom with a first period pin. It was the Pack’s only true coin-toss-match win of the night.

After a high-energy Robert Bohr (132, 18-8, No. 27) major and two forfeits, Shepard’s (145, 21-7, No. 13) strong 10-5 win over 26-win senior Jacob Gonzalez staked WMC to a 25-3 lead. Loughney (170, 24-6, No. 14) stopped a mini Raiders comeback with a 15-6 major over 20-win junior Anthony Haines, bringing the score to 29-12.

The Raiders’ big men rallied with two pins and two razor-thin victories, including an impressive HWT overtime victory by Charles Searle to give Nutley its first lead, 30-29 going into the final bout.

That proved anticlimactic, as the shorthanded Nutley had no answer for WMC freshman phenom Michael Campanaro (106, 26-5, No. 24), who accepted Nutley’s third forfeit of the night for the Wolfpack victory.

Loughney, Hare Lead WMC Past Northern Highlands 51-23

On Feb 5, trailing 23-21, Loughney launched a devastating streak of Pack pinfalls by decking NH junior 19-win No. 58 ranked Nicolino Berlingeri in the first period. Inspired, Frayne, Montenegro, Battaglino and Ramos all won by fall to close out the match with a 51-23 win for the Pack.

Michael Hare’s opening win looked pivotal, as the freshman dominated junior Erick Narvaez by a 14-1 major victory. Malachi Shepard and Bohr won by pin, and Eli Shepard by tech fall.

Northern Highlands falls to 16-3 on the season with the loss.

Campanaro, Eli, Loughney and Ferrante Statements Not Enough as North Prevails 51-15

Campanaro, Eli Shepard, and Loughney delivered statement victories vs. top-30 ranked wrestlers – including Loughney’s pin of 18-win James Holder -- but it was not enough as No. 4 ranked North Hunterdon prevailed 51-15 Feb. 4. Ferrante also delivered an impressive 4-0 win over No. 68 ranked fellow sophomore Nick DeLorenzo. Campanaro moved up the state rankings with a 5-4 win over No. 20 Logan Wadle.

North Hunterdon remains undefeated at 18-0 on the season including wins over Paulsboro, Kingsway, Phillipsburg, West Essex, High Point and Hunterdon Central.

Michaels and the Big Men Crush Sparta 36-25 on Senior Night

Every bout went according to rank as Michaels and the WMC big men allowed WMC to split the bouts on Feb. 5. But the Pack dominated bonus points for a 36-25 victory over Sparta. Montenegro, Battaglino, Ramos and Hare delivered consecutive pins, and Campanaro a 6-3 win to stake WMC to a 27-3 lead.

Sparta rallied to win six straight, including three from the top-8 ranked Stewart brothers. But the Stewarts could only muster one bonus point between them, and Kaltenhauser’s win and Loughney’s pin finished the match with WMC on top.

Sparta is 13-8 on the season, and is just above WMC in the NWJAC American Division.

Prior to the match, WMC celebrated its seniors and their families, posing for pictures with Coach Ken Rossi for posterity. Celebrated seniors included: Bohr, Omero Guerrero, Shepard, Matt Borgia, Loughney, Nick Kaltenhauser, Jorge Montenegro, Mike Battaglino, and Kevin Ramos.

Collectively, that’s eight starters, three captains, 130 wins (so far this season), and six top-100 wrestlers Coach Rossi will need to somehow replace next year – a very tall task.

Pack Notes, thanks to RankWrestlers.com

Heading into the post-season, Campanaro remains the team wins leader with 26, followed by Loughney and Kevin Ramos (HWT, 22-8, No. 30). Eli Shepard has the three biggest wins (scored at 98.2% by RankWrestlers), followed by Loughney and Bohr.

Hare is 9-2 in duals. If he broke the starting lineup, he’d be ranked No. 3 in District 12 and predicted to advance to Regions (Campanaro is No. 1).

Malachi Shepard (120, 17-14, No. 50) won six of his last seven, including two against top-50 wrestlers from Mendham.

Henry Frayne (182, 9-16, No. 176) is the No. 12 ranked freshman at his weight. But some of his top future competition is local: Mt. Olive’s Anthony Moscatello is No. 1, and Jarett Pantuso from Warren Hills is No. 4. Campanaro is the No. 10 freshman at 106.

Bohr’s faced especially brutal competition of late, with five of his last seven opponents in NJ’s top-35.

How tough is WMC’s schedule? Michael Ferrante (113, 13-15, No. 65) has a losing record despite being ranked in the top-15% of New Jersey wrestlers in his weight class. Virtually all of his losses have come to top-50 wrestlers.

Next Up

Sectional playoffs continue 2/12 West Essex. Individual post season is next, starting with District 12 Championships 2/22 @ Becton; Region 3 Championships are 2/26, 2/28-29 at West Orange; and the NJSIAA State Championships in Atlantic City are 3/5-7 in storied Boardwalk Hall – the place of every New Jersey high school wrestler’s dreams.

Credits

Contributing writer David Yaskulka was inspired by his wrestling sons to live out his high school dream of being a sportswriter. He’s also the CEO of Nature’s Logic 100% natural pet food, based in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Photos by Susan Hill and Laura Ferrante.