By: Ken Weingartner
Wrestling coaches will tell you there is no substitute for match experience.
Justin Lupo would agree.
A junior at Monroe High, Lupo got 31 matches last season as a sophomore. He won 19 times, was the District 20 runner-up and qualified for the regional tournament.
With that experience in his pocket, Lupo entered this season full of confidence. He has started the campaign with eight wins in 10 matches, and last week he won his first tournament title, taking first place at 215 pounds in the Holmdel Christmas Invitational.
"It felt really good going out there in front of a big crowd and winning," Lupo said. "Gaining that varsity experience last year was definitely big. You have no fear coming onto the mat and you know what you have to do. Coming into the season knowing I could do pretty well was big for me.
"Stepping onto the mat, I know that in our county I’m capable of beating just about anybody. Once I walk onto the mat, it rests on me the mistakes I make, and taking advantage of my opponent’s mistakes. The mental part is big. You have to know what to do."
Heavyweight Mike Goff also won a championship at Holmdel while Justin Bauman had a second-place finish at 125. Mike Tuhy (140) and Grant Herring (171) finished third. Monroe, which was without regional qualifiers Al Rotundo and Anthony Mancini, ended up third in the team standings.
Goff, who reached the state tourney last year, and Lupo won their titles with first-period pins. Falcons coach Sal Profaci said the two have been "men against boys" so far this season.
"They’re so much stronger this year," Profaci said. "Just from rolling around with them in practice, I can feel the difference. It’s like they became men in the offseason."
Lupo and Goff practice with each other, which is a benefit.
"We put a beating on each other sometimes," Lupo said. "Both of us work hard on each other, and it shows on the mat.
"Coach says that if you have someone who is really good at a weight class, like Mike, you usually have another wrestler that’s good at the weight class either above or below. Every so often I catch him, but I’d be kidding myself if I said I don’t get beat a lot by Mike. But this year I’m able to hang in there with him and carry my own."
Lupo has yet to go three periods in any of his matches and the Monroe coaches are working with him on changing his style to be a more complete wrestler. Lupo knows he will need to change to be successful in the year-end tournaments.
"They’ve been teaching me some new stuff," he said. "I’m basically a throw wrestler; I tie up and try to muscle kids. Sometimes it works, and sometimes you get caught. They’ve been teaching me to stay on my feet and shoot more. They’ve told me I don’t have to go for five-point moves all the time. Two points are OK with them.
"It’s tougher as you keep going through the season because the kids you wrestle are stronger. You have to work on technique. They’ve been conditioning me enough to go three periods. That way I don’t have to go for the pin and can still wrestle well. I’m in better shape than last year."
Lupo said maintaining a strong work ethic in practice was another key to success.
"Practice helps a lot," he said. "We have that competitive edge against each other in practice. When we wrestle live at the end of practice, we don’t look at each other as teammates, we look at each other as opponents. It’s always there, every day in practice, that competitive edge.
"You always want to be on top and you always want to win."

