MUSTANG ROUNDUP
By: Rudy Brandl
The Manville High wrestling team suffered two tough losses on the road last week and fell to 2-11 on the season. But the Mustangs did so with more wrestlers in the lineup than at any time during head coach Brett Stibitz’s three years on the job.
Manville sent 13 wrestlers to the mat, forfeiting only at 103 pounds, in last week’s 69-6 loss at New Providence. The Pioneers (13-1) are having their best year in over a decade and MHS fans shouldn’t be disheartened by this result. Instead, they should be encouraged by the fact that Manville wasn’t simply giving away points.
If the Mustangs can keep filling 13 weight classes, they’ll win a few more matches this season. After road matches at Rahway and David Brearley of Kenilworth this week, the Mustangs have a shot to finish the dual meet season strong. MHS will host Newark Central in a makeup match Feb. 18 and close the campaign with a quad-meet at Montville, where Pingry and Millburn will also compete.
"We have a shot at a few more wins," Stibitz said.
Manville knew it was up against a stronger foe last week at New Providence. The match started with the most entertaining bout of the night at 152 pounds, where MHS junior Mike Zala dropped a tough 10-9 decision to Dan Fellinger.
That set the tone for the rest of the night. The Pioneers won 12 of the 13 contested bouts, including seven by fall in the first period.
Manville junior heavyweight Greg Babich saved his team the embarrassment of a shutout when he decked Trevor Martin in 39 seconds. Babich improved his season record to 10-5 in his first year of varsity wrestling.
Babich and the Mustangs were pinned at Middlesex by a 50-29 margin the previous day. Manville hung close early in a match that began at 140 pounds, cutting the Blue Jays’ early lead to 21-18 after Irek Kolodziej notched a fall at 215 pounds. But it was almost all Middlesex after that.
Ryan DeNapoli opened the match by pinning Bobby Ortiz, new to the MHS lineup, in 2:29 at 140 pounds. Greg Fabian got back the points for the Mustangs when he flattened Dan Lewis in 1:46 at 145.
Middlesex went back ahead for good when Danny Wilson took a forfeit at 152 and Joe Bozzomo notched a 13-7 decision over Zala at 160. Manville crept closer when senior Ed Ferraro decked Rob Wagner in 2:56, but the Jays reclaimed the points with a pin of Nate Bott at 189. Kolodziej pinned Chris Lewis in 1:11 but the Mustangs never got any closer on the scoreboard.
Babich was pinned by Middlesex standout Chad LaSala in 1:01, ending Manville’s hopes of scoring the upset. Manville forfeited at 103 and 112 and Middlesex had an insurmountable 38-17 lead.
Freshman Jamie Makowski and senior Nghi Nguyen produced late falls for the Mustangs. Makowski packed Niko Kostopoulos in 2:33 at 119 pounds and Nguyen stuffed Danny Canny in 1:07 at 130.
The victory propelled Middlesex (7-6) into the state playoffs, a place the Mustangs hope to return someday soon.
Boys drop five
consecutive games
The MHS boys’ basketball team entered the stretch run of the season on a five-game losing streak. Four losses last week knocked the Mustangs out of the state playoffs and the county tournament.
While the losses at Ridge and at home vs. Union Catholic turned into blowouts, the setbacks early in the week vs. New Providence and at Dayton were winnable. Manville led for more than two quarters at Dayton and dropped the New Providence home game by just 10 points.
MHS owned a 31-27 lead at the half against Dayton but suffered through a miserable third quarter and wound up on the losing end of a 68-46 score. Dayton scored an amazing 30 points in the third period, while limiting the Mustangs to only six. It was Manville’s worst defensive quarter of the season.
Kamil Kolodziej had a solid week for the Mustangs, scoring 10 points to lead the team at Dayton. Kolodziej netted a season-high 17 in the county loss to Ridge and led the club again with 10 in Friday’s 66-37 loss to Union Catholic. For the week, Kolodziej scored 50 points in four games, hitting double figures each time for an average of 12.5.
Manville (4-12) was scheduled to host David Brearley tonight and Wardlaw-Hartridge next Tuesday in a makeup game. The Mustangs will complete the season Feb. 23 at Newark Tech at 4 p.m.