Stibitz over .500 for first time
By: Rudy Brandl
Manville High wrestling coach Brett Stibitz has worked extremely hard to rebuild his program since taking over five years ago. While he realizes his work is far from complete, Stibitz was able to achieve a small measure of satisfaction after last week’s 66-15 home victory over Wardlaw-Hartridge.
For the first time in Stibitz’s five-year tenure, the Mustangs owned a winning record (3-2) after defeating the Rams. While Saturday’s 46-30 loss at Governor Livingston evened the team’s ledger back at 3-3, the Mustangs have already duplicated last year’s win total.
"It’s nice to be 3-2," Stibitz said afterward. "It’s nice but we have some big matches coming up."
The Mustangs have a key stretch of three road matches this week. After last night’s match at Roselle Catholic, the MHS wrestlers travel to Spotswood Friday night and Johnson Regional of Clark Saturday afternoon. They might need to win all three if they expect to qualify for the state playoffs because they don’t match up well against Roselle Park and Rahway, the final two January opponents.
"We’re still taking it one match at a time," Stibitz said. "We’re getting some people back now and we have 21 guys in the room."
Manville started slowly in the match against W-H, which came in with eight healthy wrestlers. The visitors actually won the first three contested bouts and took a 15-6 lead before the Mustangs scored 60 unanswered points to close the match. MHS received six forfeits but notched five pins to clinch the victory.
"We have to work on pins for later in the season," Stibitz said. "When we get people on their backs, we have to stick them. The guys up top did a good job."
Irek Kolodziej started the pin parade by decking Frank Minniti in 4:32 at 189 pounds. Minniti owned a 6-4 lead after two periods but Kolodziej tied the bout with a double-leg takedown early in the third. Kolodziej drove Minniti to his back with a bull rush and squeezed him for the fall.
"Irek got us going," Stibitz said. "He did exactly what I wanted him to do."
Armand Fodorean continued the Manville momentum by pinning Evan Richert in 3:27. This was another back-and-forth bout with Richert reversing and rolling through a few pin attempts by Fodorean in the first period. Richert reversed off the bottom to tie the bout at 5-5 early in the second period, but Fodorean quickly escaped and took the lead with a takedown. It was a matter of time before Fodorean smothered Richert for six points.
"He was arching pretty good, but the last time, I put my chest on his chest and just squeezed real hard around his neck so he couldn’t push up," Fodorean said. "He got a couple of moves on me early. I guess we both got tired but I had a little bit of an advantage since I was on top."
Sophomore heavyweight Mark Manderski posted his second straight pin by flattening Kyle English in 2:53. English got the first takedown in the bout and held a 2-1 lead entering the second period. Manderski reversed early in the second and never allowed English off the mat again.
"I just started using my head," Manderski said. "Once I got the standup, I took it from there. He tried throwing me from underneath but I just moved my weight around on him."
The Mustangs capped the victory with pins by Roland Yakobchuck and Chris Kocur at 125 and 130 pounds, respectively. Yakobchuck scored the quickest fall of the day when he decked Dan Treppel in 36 seconds. Kocur dominated Chris Becker, building a double-digit lead before finishing his foe at 2:44.
Manville padded its point total with forfeit wins by Tuan Anh Lee (103), J.J. Artfitch (112), Jason Pfoutz (119), Joe Kulscar (135), Mike Zala (152) and Karol Wieczorek (171). Wardlaw’s points came on pins by Ray Yusofov over Bobby Ortiz at 140 and Robin Cleaver over Rocky Chevere at 145 and in a 9-7 overtime decision by Jaraad Pretty over Greg Fabiyan at 152.
The 152-pound duel was the only bout to go the distance. Pretty won it on a takedown with 17 seconds remaining in the first overtime after Fabiyan had rallied with a thrilling five-point move in the final seven seconds of regulation. There was some confusion about the scoring with the late flurry, but the official made the correct call and the wrestlers advanced to overtime.
Although Fabiyan couldn’t complete his comeback, it was still the most entertaining match of the day. The Mustangs didn’t lose another one after that.
"We started off slow but we did what we had to do," Stibitz said. "We threw a couple guys out there to gain experience. It wasn’t pretty, but a win is a win. We’re beating the teams we’re supposed to beat."

