Fodorean earns jayvee medal
By: Rudy Brandl
It’s hard to say just how much the Manville High wrestling team has improved since last season. Those questions will probably be better answered when the Mustangs begin their dual meet season.
Last Saturday’s Garden State Invitational Tournament may have outgrown the MHS program. The tournament featured 16 varsity and 20 jayvee teams, all of which came from larger schools. The varsity competition included large schools like Elizabeth, Lawrence, Trenton, Rancocas Valley and champion Warren Hills, while perennial state power Hunterdon Central brought a jayvee squad.
Manville boarded the team bus at 6 a.m. and didn’t return home from Princeton until 8 p.m. It was a long day for fifth-year head coach Brett Stibitz and his troops.
"There was a lot more competition this year," Stibitz said. "It was a lot harder and there were more teams than ever. It was a very long day."
The Mustangs logged some quality mat time but were overmatched in the varsity competition. Senior 171-pounder Nathan Bott was the only Manville varsity grappler to win a bout when he decked Chris Ochnich of Archbishop Wood in 1:56. Bott was eliminated by top-seeded Brandon Tims of Rancocas Valley at 1:16 in the quarterfinals.
"My varsity guys wrestled well but we ran into a lot of 1, 2 and 3 seeds," Stibitz said. "Nate pinned the ninth seed but then he had to wrestle the top seed. A lot of the guys were facing region place-winners."
Since the Mustangs didn’t have anyone competing in the regions last winter, facing guys who placed at that level posed quite a challenge right off the bat.
Stibitz put 20 guys on the mat, including eight varsity and a dozen jayvee. Senior middleweights Greg Fabiyan and Mike Zala lost tight decisions at 152 and 160 pounds, respectively. Fabiyan dropped an 8-4 match to Trenton’s Mike Smith, while Zala was seeded fifth and lost to fourth-ranked Mike DiGregorio of Rancocas Valley by a 10-7 score.
"All four guys ahead of Zala were region place-winners," Stibitz said. "He wrestled a good match but he ran into a tough weight class."
Other first-round victims in the varsity competition included Tuan Anh Lee (103), Roland Yakobchuck (125), Bobby Ortiz (140), Irek Kolodziej (189) and Mark Manderski (Hwt).
Stibitz was encouraged by the performance of some of his jayvee wrestlers, especially 215-pounder Armand Fodorean. The senior would have competed varsity but an academic commitment caused him to arrive late, so Fodorean wound up taking third at 215. He pinned a Hunterdon Central wrestler en route to the third place finish.
Other jayvee highlights included two victories apiece from freshman Chris Kocur (135) and rookie grappler Rafal Brozyna (145) and a fourth-place finish from heavyweight Josh Krantz.
"There were a lot of powerhouse teams," Stibitz said. "We wrestled well but we might not be up to that level of competition yet."
Saturday’s rugged competition should prepare the Mustangs very well for this week’s two dual meets. MHS was scheduled to wrestle at Franklin and host Sussex Vo-Tech. Stibitz was hoping for at least a split of those matches and gain some momentum heading into the Somerset County Championships, a one-day affair set for Dec. 28 at Hillsborough.
"We want to get the ball rolling going into the county tournament," Stibitz said. "We’re going to put 14 guys on the mat and see what happens."

