By: Ken Weingartner
One thing is for certain, the 2005-06 Monroe High wrestling team will have a tough act to follow.
But if the recent past is any indication, the returning Falcons will be ready to step into the spotlight when the time comes.
Monroe continued its rise among Greater Middlesex Conference mat teams by going 12-10 overall this season and advancing a school-record six wrestlers to the Region 5 Tournament.
Furthermore, heavyweight Mike Goff became the Falcons’ first wrestler to win a state-placing match when he finished seventh in the NJSIAA Tournament two weeks ago and MHS coach Sal Profaci was named the District 20 Coach of the Year.
"It was a good season," said Profaci, who was assisted by Jim Kushner and Allen Rushing. "We had a winning record, which I was pleased with given the tough schedule we had. We didn’t qualify for the state team tournament, but that was probably due to the arrangement of our schedule. We beat two teams Woodbridge and Colts Neck that both qualified for states.
"The team has gotten better year after year, which is very pleasing. Four years ago, we won the Blue Division, then the next year we were voted the most improved team in Groups I and II, then last year we had five guys advance to regionals. This year, we had six go to regions and a state place-winner. It just keeps getting better."
Goff had a season for the books in closing out his career at Monroe. He went 33-3 this year and established the school record for wins with 94. He was the GMCT, District 20 and Region 5 champion. He was a two-time district title winner, three time regional qualifier and two-time state qualifier in his career.
Seniors Justin Bauman (16-15 at 125), Anthony Mancini (16-6, 130) and Mike Tuhy (20-11, 140) also advanced to regions this season. Mancini was a two-time regional qualifier. Other seniors who closed out their careers were Scott Betancourt (14-12, 135) and Frank Steinhauser (189).
Mancini and Goff were voted to the All-GMC team by the conference’s coaches.
"We had a nice group of seniors," Profaci said. "We’re definitely going to miss them. Losing six seniors is tough, but I think we’re going to be able to cover those weights. But those guys showed a lot of dedication this year. Hopefully, the underclassmen learned from them."
The cupboard won’t be empty when the Falcons return to practice next season. Junior Al Rotundo (9-9, 112) won a district title despite an injury-plagued campaign. He was 23-7 as a sophomore.
Classmate Grant Herring (17-13, 171) also was a regional qualifier and freshman Brendan Hodel (14-13, 103) came within two points of advancing. Junior Justin Lupo (16-10, 215) was a regional qualifier last year.
Also returning will be juniors Kevin Ng (119) and Dan Urbanowicz (145), plus sophomores Chris Boehm (152) and Nick Garabaldi (160).
"We’re going to be laying the groundwork over the summer with a lot of guys going to camps and wrestling in tournaments," Profaci said. "We have some guys coming in that should be able to contribute. We have some junior varsity guys that are pretty good."
One up-and-coming Falcon is freshman Frank Olexson, whom Profaci said was "better than Goff as a freshman."
"He won some varsity matches when we rested Mike," Profaci added. "He could be very good."
Profaci said the team’s 39-33 win at Woodbridge, which was ranked No. 8 in the county, was the top moment of the dual-meet season.
"We had a lot of close matches, a good four matches decided by a match," Profaci said. "It would have been nice to win those, but we wrestled well throughout the season. I’m very pleased. And I’m excited to see what steps forward we can take next year."
