By: Ken Weingartner
Justin Lupo doesn’t fear too many opponents on the wrestling mat. The way he figures it, he faces one of the best wrestlers in the county every day in practice. Matches are almost a relief.
Lupo, a sophomore at Monroe High who wrestles at 215 pounds, regularly works out with heavyweight Mike Goff.
"A big part of my success comes from practicing with Mike," said Lupo, who finished fourth in the Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament at Piscataway last weekend. "He is definitely one of the best heavyweights in the county. That helps me out a lot, knowing I can’t get beat up much more than I already do by my teammate."
Lupo entered the GMCT as the No. 7 seed at 215. After pinning Piscataway’s Steve Sumner in 1:29 of his opening match, Lupo decked No. 2 seed Nick Starace of Sayreville in 3:11 of the quarterfinals.
"I went in there knowing that (Starace) beat me at the beginning of the season," Lupo said. "I went in there ready to go. I was a lot more patient with him. Watching guys, you pick up their habits. I knew he would be extremely aggressive. I used his momentum, his aggressiveness, to my advantage."
Lupo lost to eventual champ Matt Clancy of South Brunswick in the semifinals then fell to No. 4 seed Oscar Rodriguez of Perth Amboy in the bout for third place. Nonetheless, reaching the GMCT semis as a sophomore is an accomplishment in itself.
"I think I did better than I thought I would," Lupo said. "I wanted that first place, but I knew there are a lot of extremely good wrestlers in the county. I came in hoping to hold my own. Hopefully, I gained some respect, and from here I’ll just try to finish up the season good."
After picking up wrestling as an eighth-grader, Lupo fell in love with the sport.
"I was into physical things, like football," he said. "There’s no way to explain the feeling on the mat. In football, you’ve got 10 other teammates on the field with you. In wrestling, you’re out there alone. It’s you against that other guy, and that’s it. Nothing else comes close to it."
In addition to Lupo’s strong showing, the Falcons saw Goff place third at heavyweight while Al Rotundo (103) and John Jensen (152) both finished fourth in their respective weight classes. Monroe finished 11th in the 21-team tournament. South Plainfield won the team title.
Rotundo pinned his first two opponents before falling to No. 2 seed Matt Pagan of Bishop Ahr in the semifinals. He then lost 4-2 to A.J. Hrabar of Piscataway in the consolation final. Jensen lost to eventual champ Kody Hamrah of Bishop Ahr in the semifinals, then dropped a controversial 3-1 overtime decision at the buzzer to East Brunswick’s John Parke.
Goff, who early this year won the Ewing Tournament, pinned Niko Kasapidis of Highland Park in the quarterfinals before losing 3-2 to Tom Scanlon of South River in the semis. He bounced back to win 4-3 over Angel Ramirez of Perth Amboy and claim third place.
"Al looked a little beat up," Monroe coach Sal Profaci said. "The kids have to get used to wrestling in a tournament setting, especially when they’re involved in the whole tournament. They’re young. It’s a good experience. I think they’ll only be better in any tournaments from here."
Anthony Mancini (130) lost in the opening round, but the No. 12 seed gave fifth-seeded Sam Martin of South Plainfield a tough time before falling 6-4. Mike Tuhy (135), who was seeded 14th, lost 9-7 in his opener to No. 3 seed Terrance Williams-Park of Piscataway. Matt Horsch (160), who was seeded 10th, nearly upset No. 7 Tom Dean of Bishop Ahr, 3-2.
Monroe, which qualified for next week’s NJSIAA Central Jersey Group III team tourney, returned to action Tuesday with a 54-12 win over Spotswood. Rotundo, Scott Betancourt (119), Rodney Dixon (125), Mancini, Tuhy, Craig Mazor (140), John Urbanowicz (189) and Goff all won by pins. Also winning were Grant Herring (145), Jensen and Horsch; and Lupo won by forfeit.
