By: Ken Weingartner
It has been a banner season for the Monroe High School wrestling team. Literally.
The Falcons, who won fewer than a half dozen matches a year ago, can look forward to raising a Greater Middlesex Conference Blue Division championship pennant in the Monroe High gym.
Monroe, which brought a 10-4 overall record into last night’s season-ending triangular against West Windsor-Plainsboro South and WW-P North, completed division action with a 5-1 mark. The Falcons share the title with Metuchen, even though they defeated the Bulldogs 45-20 in early January.
The Falcons, whose only division loss was to South River, clinched their share of the title with a 67-6 win over Cardinal McCarrick last week.
It is the wrestling team’s first division championship in 18 years, according to longtime MHS assistant coach John Devine. He said the success was due in large part to the job done by second-year head coach Sal Profaci.
"It’s a credit to him and all the work he’s done," Devine said. "It’s nice after all these years to accomplish that. He’s really done a nice job. At practice, he’s so skilled as a coach. He’s really made an impression on the kids.
"The kids were ecstatic," he added. "This is a good way for the seniors to go out, and it’s made the younger kids even more hungry. They’re excited about going on from here next year."
In addition to beating Cardinal McCarrick, the Falcons who move up to the White Division next season posted a 34-31 victory over Red Division foe Edison. The squads split the 14 bouts, but Monroe picked up bonus points in five matches.
Matt Klein, Matt Horsch, Bryan Georges and Justin Bauman had pins for the Falcons while Dennis Chieffo had a major decision. Chet Urbanowicz had a 4-3 win at heavyweight while Rob Freedman recorded an impressive 7-5 win over Kevin Christie, who was seventh at 130 in the GMC Tournament earlier this month.
Leading the way for the Falcons has been Klein, a senior who is 19-4 at 145 this season. He placed fourth in the GMCT and should be one of the top choices in the upcoming District 20 Tournament.
Other top wrestlers for MHS have been freshman Anthony Mancini (12-7), junior Jeff DeCruz (12-5), freshman Mike Goff (12-8), freshman Bauman (11-8), junior Jared Axelrod (11-8), junior Georges (10-9), Urbanowicz (9-6), senior Chieffo (9-9), senior Danny Gibbons (7-7), sophomore Horsch (6-5) and junior Kevin Rodgers (5-5).
Monroe will head to the District 20 Tournament Feb. 22-23. The top three finishers in each weight class advance to the Region 5 Tournament.
