WW-P North wrestler is 4-0
By: Bob Nuse
HOPEWELL It didn’t take long for Jeff Rotella to establish himself as a key member of the West Windsor-Plainsboro North wrestling team.
After just one full season with the Knights, Rotella came into this year as a guy head coach Bill Mealy and his staff knew they could depend on. So far, just a week into the season, he hasn’t disappointed.
Rotella ran his record this season to a perfect 4-0 on Wednesday night when he pinned Hopewell Valley’s Warren Grestacher early in the second period of their bout at 130 pounds. Rotella’s win helped North to a 54-20 win at Hopewell, improving its record to 1-3 on the season.
In addition to the win from Rotella, the Knights also picked up pins from Ramon Sanchez and Matt Ellenberg. Corey Simmons-Elder, George Goldsmith and Alex Ragucci also won, while four Knights won by forfeit.
"Jeff is very dedicated to wrestling," Mealy said of his talented sophomore, who was 18-11 as a freshman. "He did well as a freshman. He finished third at districts last year and I know he wants to improve on that. And he was fourth at the Mercer County Tournament. So he had some success last year and he wants to do well again this year."
Even though he is just a sophomore, Rotella is already a wrestling veteran. He started out with the WW-P recreation program when he was in fifth grade, ironically with Mealy as his coach. He’s stayed with it ever since and continues to get better and better.
"He just loves the sport," said Mealy, whose team is off until Tuesday when it will compete in the East Brunswick tournament. "When I first met Jeff, he was just starting out in the rec program. He was OK then, but not great. The thing about him was that he just loved it so much. He’s made himself into a better wrestler. He’s gone to camps and he puts a lot of time and effort into it.
"One of the nice things about Jeff is that he gets the other guys on the team excited as well. He’ll talk to them about going to camps and working to improve."
Rotella remembers that start with the rec team. In fact, he remembers that he went 4-4 that season. And he also knows that getting to the point he has reached now happened thanks to hard work.
"The only other sport that I really took up was baseball, but I dropped that two or three years ago," Rotella said. "I’ve just been focused on wrestling. I just found that I really liked it and it was a good way to let my emotions out on the mat. And it’s also a great way to stay in shape.
"(Mealy) coached me in fifth grade and then I had a lapse of three years while I was in the middle school. Then I got back with Coach Mealy when I got to high school. He and Coach (Paul) Glass and Coach (Ken) Brzezynski are great coaches. They’re also real personable and easy to talk to."
And they’ve helped Rotella develop into a pretty good young wrestler. He posted three wins last Saturday when the Knights opened the season with losses to three strong opponents Livingston, St. John Vianney and South Brunswick. And even though the Knights opened 0-3, it was a good experience for the whole team.
"It was nice for the younger guys to get in three matches against good competition like that," Mealy said. "In the past we’ve gone to a tournament that had varsity and JV. But they dropped the JV part, so we decided to go with the quad-meet instead. Even though we lost, I think it was a big help to the kids."
For Rotella, every match that he participates in is another positive experience. He’s tried to take something out of each match, and so far has learned his lessons well.
"I just want to make improvement each year," Rotella said. "Hopefully I will do better this year than I did last year. I always have jitters before a match and a little anxiety. I usually just try to focus on what I do best and not worry about the other person. I just try to focus on what I’m doing."
And so far he’s done well. In fact, he’s made some impressive strides since that first season as a fifth-grade wrestler.
"Oddly enough, I first got interested in it from watching professional wrestling," Rotella said. "About a week or two after I started is when I realized it wasn’t anything like that. But I still really liked it and I have been doing it ever since."
And he’s just the latest of what has become an increasing number of WW-P North wrestlers who have made an immediate impact with the program.
"We’ve had a number of guys who have come in and done well when they were younger," Mealy said. "(Alex and James) Ragucci, George Goldsmith, Corey Simmons-Elder. They all started out doing well and continued to improve."
And so has Rotella, who is certainly making his mark as one of the Knights’ top wrestlers.

