Rebuilding Falcons face growing pains

By: Ken Weingartner
   Sal Profaci has got a crowded wrestling room at Monroe High School, but he still might be looking around and wondering where everyone has gone.
   The Falcons, coming off their most successful season in history in terms of state competition, have only a handful of experienced returnees from last year’s squad.
   Gone is heavyweight Mike Goff, who finished seventh in the state last season. Also lost to graduation were Justin Bauman, Anthony Mancini and Mike Tuhy – who were among a school-record six regional qualifiers for the Falcons – plus Scott Betancourt and Frank Steinhauser.
   Those six wrestlers won more than 100 matches for Monroe last season, led by Goff’s 33-3 record. He finished his career with a school-record 94 victories.
   Leading the way among returnees are seniors Al Rotundo and Grant Herring, who both reached the Region 5 Tournament last season. Rotundo was only 9-9 at 112 pounds during an injury-plagued campaign, but won the District 20 title. He was 23-7 as a sophomore. Herring was 17-13 at 171 pounds last season.
   Also back for the Falcons are sophomore Brendan Hodel, who was 14-13 at 103 and came within two points of reaching the regional tourney, and senior Justin Lupo, who was 16-10 at 215. Lupo was a regional qualifier as a sophomore.
   Senior Dan Urbanowicz (145) and juniors Chris Boehm (160) and Nick Garabaldi (145) are the only other Falcons who saw significant varsity time last season.
   "I anticipate a rough season," said Profaci, whose team was 12-10 last season and who was voted the District 20 Coach of the Year. "Of the 14 weight classes, we could have nine or 10 filled with freshmen or sophomores that don’t have much wrestling experience. But they’re working very hard and are very motivated. It’s going to be a very good team in the future."
   Monroe’s lineup could include freshman Blaine Miller at 103, sophomore Brian Mackowicz at 119, junior Wally Seeman at 130, sophomore Justin Mazor at 135, junior Colin Fitzgerald at 140, senior Kevin Urbanowicz at 152, sophomore Ryan Worden at 189 and sophomore Jake Nale at 215.
   Other contributors are expected to be Guido Santiago (119), Dale DeGraw (135), Chris Garabaldi (140), Keith Douglas (145), Tom Stasicky (160), Dan Santalla (189), Manny Santiago (215), Cory Widom (215) and heavyweight Frank Olexson.
   Interestingly, Profaci last season said Olexson was "better than Goff as a freshman." The coach noted the team hadn’t completed all its wrestle-offs as of Wednesday, so the lineup was not yet firmly set.
   "We might take some lumps early in the season, and we’ve upgraded our schedule, so it will be tough," Profaci said. "Hopefully, we’ll just continue to improve as the season progresses and be a much better team by the time the Greater Middlesex Conference and district tournaments come around."
   Profaci will have plenty of help in trying to get the Falcons there. This season, he will share the head coaching duties with Allen Rushing. Also on the staff are former Monroe head coach Jim Kushner, Anthony Pepe and longtime assistant John Devine, who left the program a couple years ago, but has returned on a limited basis.
   "Everyone is working hard to expedite the learning process," Profaci said. "When you’re building a program, you’re going to have up-and-down years. We have a good rec program, but it’s still a few years away from being a consistent feeder program. But I like the direction we’re heading."
   Monroe opens its season today with a dual match against Spotswood, then travels Saturday to the Ewing Tournament.
   "It’s going to be a very interesting season," Profaci said. "The upperclassmen have been working hard and seem focused and determined. We’ll look to them to lead the way until some of our younger guys get some more experience under their belts. It might not be reflected in our won-loss record this season, but the future is very bright."