Team beats Newark Central for third win
By: Rudy Brandl
Manville High sophomore Ed Zuza felt somewhat insulted by Newark Central’s strategy during last week’s home wrestling match. While he understood why the visitors chose to go after him instead of his older brother, senior 189-pounder Joe Zuza, the younger Zuza decided to make them pay for their decision.
The match was tied at 27-27 with three bouts remaining, but Central only had two wrestlers left to send to the mat. Manville still had the Zuza brothers and senior heavyweight Kile Galasso waiting in the wings, so the home team only needed one victory in two contested bouts to emerge with the team triumph.
Newark Central forfeited to Joe Zuza at 189 and sent Akeem Kirkland to challenge Ed Zuza at 215, hoping to make the heavyweight bout the decisive one. While the younger Zuza knew his teammate had already won a match for the Mustangs with a big pin at Governor Livingston earlier this season, he wasn’t about to take any chances.
Ed Zuza took all of 12 seconds to notch the fastest pin of his career to clinch the victory for the Mustangs. He needed 10 seconds to put down Kirkland and only two more ticks to hear the official slap the mat.
"My brother was supposed to wrestle that kid but he’d rather wrestle a sophomore than a senior," Ed Zuza said. "I used that as an insult to motivate me. I just went right out after him."
MHS head coach Brett Stibitz figured the visitors would try to challenge his younger wrestler. In fact, he discussed the matter with the Newark Central coaching staff before the match.
"They asked me who I thought would be a better match for their kid," Stibitz said. "It didn’t matter to me, but I figured they’d go after Ed. He’s a solid wrestler."
Galasso wound up dropping an 8-5 decision to Danny Wright, making Zuza look like an even bigger hero. Zuza went out on a mission and brought home the 39-30 victory for his team to end a six-match losing streak.
"I like the thrill of that," Zuza said. "It got me fired-up for the team. It gave me more inspiration to win."
Kirkland tried to do a little rough-housing with Zuza, but he wasn’t about to let the Central wrestler get physical with him.
"He pushed into me trying to intimidate me," Zuza said. "I went under, lifted his leg and took him down. I just put him to his back as quickly as I could. I was supposed to have a forfeit but I wanted to wrestle today."
Two additional falls in the first minute helped the Mustangs win this match. Senior 103-pounder Mark Gregor set the table for the day by decking Miguel Solar in 25 seconds. Junior 152-pounder Jason Lebedz packed Damian Robinson in 40 seconds.
It took 17 seconds for Gregor to record the takedown and eight more for Manville to enjoy a 6-0 lead.
"I haven’t had a pin in a while so I was looking for a quick pin," Gregor said. "He shot in, I got below him and snapped him over and stuck him."
Gregor knew he was in a key spot and enjoyed the opportunity to give his team the early momentum. The Mustangs expected a tight match so every point was critical.
"It’s much more even with the forfeits today," Gregor said while watching his teammates wrestle. "We have to stay off our backs and get pins and we can win this."
The critical early swing bout came at 112 pounds, where MHS freshman Nick Williams posted his first career triumph with a 7-3 decision over Adbullah Abud-Hakim. Williams took the early lead with a takedown 30 seconds into the bout and scored the rest of his points on violations against the Central wrestler.
Williams fought off one half-Nelson late in the second period but never got out from the defensive position and was still clinging to a 3-2 lead with two minutes left. Abud-Hakim chose the top position for the third period and rode Williams for two minutes but committed three more violations and was nearly disqualified from the bout.
The Williams victory gave the Mustangs a 9-0 lead.
"That was a key bout, a turning point," Stibitz said. "That’s the first time Nick ever lasted six minutes and that was a swing of six points for us. He made no mistakes. He’s coming along."
After there was no match at 119, the next four weight classes were split two forfeits apiece leaving Manville up by a 21-12 margin. Central crept closer when Robert Clayton cradled Mike Noble in 1:14 at 145 pounds.
The Mustangs went back up by nine points when Lebedz flattened Robinson with an upper body throw in 40 seconds. MHS forfeited at 160 and Ed Ferraro dropped a 14-8 decision at 171, setting the stage for the upper weight drama.
"I knew my veterans were either going to win it or lose it," Stibitz said. "I was glad they had the opportunity to shine."

