Trivisonno, Amponsa repeat MCT championships
By: Sean Moylan
Regardless of the circumstances, the great ones find ways of rising to the top.
On Saturday afternoon at Trenton High, the Hightstown High varsity wrestling team advanced five grapplers into the finals of the Mercer County Tournament. Yet only last year’s champions, Tim Trivisonno and "Cool" Kenny Amponsa, came away with titles.
Each earned his title in different ways. Trivisonno survived an 8-6 overtime battle of sheer will against his good friend, Notre Dame’s Chris Leva, to come away with the 130-pound title and his 100th career win.
Amponsa simply overpowered and physically dominated Notre Dame’s Jack O’Connor 16-9 to win the 215-pound championship.
"It was very exciting. I’d like to thank my coaches, my teammates and my family. I wrestled a wrestler I’ve been wrestling in tournaments for a long time. Without the inspiration that my family and coaches give me, 100 wins wouldn’t have been possible," said Trivisonno, who saw the 100 victories as a great milestone in a long and successful high school career.
The match was so important on so many levels that Trivisonno received two trophies, including one for the "Outstanding Wrestler in the Mercer County Tournament."
Trivisonno was under unbelievable pressure because he was not only facing an opponent who knew most of his tendencies, but he was also trying to please a huge rooting section, which had brought a banner and gifts to celebrate his potential 100th victory.
Trivisonno shot out of the gate with an aggressive move aimed at Leva’s legs, but the Notre Dame star held his ground.
"I just wanted to go out fast to see where it got me. I knew it was for my 100th win," said Trivisonno, who was looking for a possible quick pin.
Then, the two 130-pound stars battled to the edge of the circle and just as their momentum was carrying them out of bounds Trivisonno applied a leg lock. The Hightstown fans were still trying to decide whether Trivisonno’ move came before or after the grapplers left the circle, when the referees surprised everyone by awarding Leva 2 points. The boos that followed were almost deafening. Hightstown head coach Mike Russo argued the call but to no avail. A lesser wrestler would have been floored by the call, instead Trivisonno used the 10-second break in the action to re-focus.
"I heard them booing," said Trivisonno, who appreciated the crowd support. "It was a call I didn’t particularly agree with, but I let my coaches take care of that. I just handle myself on the mat. I just have a lot of experience so it’s (a bad call or two) not really a factor. If I’m down a couple of points I just try to battle through it."
Trivisonno made a great move to go up 3-2 but Leva, a sensational wrestler, came back to grab a 5-3 lead. That’s when Trivisonno, the student of wrestling, took over.
The Rams’ star had watched Leva’s matches earlier in the day and he noticed that his rival had a certain way of taking down his opponents. Trivisonno used that information to score 2 points against Leva in the closing seconds of the second period to tie it.
Leva scored a point at the start of third period when Trivisonno let him up but the Hightstown 130-pounder earned a point to send it into overtime.
Once in OT, Trivisonno quickly drove Leva to the mat with the best move of the match.
"It was a move called the double," said Trivisonno, whose confidence never wavered once during the bout. "I’ve been in a lot of tough matches because I wrestle Sean (McEvenie) and Ricardo (Calamari) every day in practice. So I really don’t let a certain opponent throw me off my game plan."
After receiving a first round bye, Trivisonno won an 14-4 decison over Nottingham’s Andy Deleon. Then he pinned Robbinsville’s Kevin Homan to reach the finals. Trivisonno, however, will have no problem either moving up or down a weight class once Districts roll around.
Amponsa’s journey to a championship could not have been more different than Trivisonno’s, as the Rams’ 215-pounder won a dominating game of "2 for 1" against O’Connor.
"My coach (Russo) told me to take him down and then let him up," said Amponsa.
Sporting the coolest head gear in the tourney and a body chiseled out of stone, Amponsa looked and wrestled like a superhero on the mat. And yet he was willing to give O’Connor free points, because he was giving up several pounds to his Notre Dame opponent, who had powerful legs the size of tree trunks.
"I can’t get stuck on the bottom because it takes a lot of energy to escape because of the weight (difference)," said Amponsa, who could wrestle at either 189 or 215 at Districts.
Amponsa took O’Connor down hard eight times and it was a match that anyone in the gym could have scored and not been off by more than a point. Amponsa’s biggest challenge of the day came from his own Hightstown teammate Dan Ratner.
"Before the final match, my wrestling partner, Dan Ratner (hit) me in the nose by accident," said Amponsa, who had his match with O’Connor stopped because the refs saw a little blood trickling out of his nose.
Once the bleeding stopped, Amponso resumed inflicting his own unique brand of punishment on O’Connor. But Amponsa doesn’t win just because of his unbelievable strength alone. He employs great strategy as well. In fact, anytime O’Connor was on the bottom, Amponsa would place his hands on the small of his opponent’s back.
"I was trying to see what he was trying to do," said Amponsa, who was checking O’Connor’s body for early movement.
Amponsa’s record improved to 28-1 with the championship victory. But like all great wrestlers, Amponsa feels like he may have learned the most from his lone loss of the season. Amponsa won his other two MCT matches (against Ewing’s Corey Fornarotto and West Windsor-Plainsboro South’s Andrew O’Shaugnessy) by fall.
Russo was very impressed by the way Amponsa controlled all of his matches. But with his 100th win on the line (more than any Rams’ wrestler ever), the day kind of belonged to Trivisonno.
"It was a great match at 130. Even with the questionable call, he never let it get to him. It was a great 100th win. He’s a great leader and an even better teammate," said Russo, who seemed deeply moved by Trivisonno’s gutsy and historic performance.

