Unselfish ‘Beast’ relieves Rams’ wrestling burden

Amponsa garners first regional title

By: Sean Moylan
   If anyone ever wondered why Kenny Amponsa is loved by his teammates, it’s because he feels the same way about them.
   This past Saturday night at Moorestown High School, Amponsa, affectionately nicknamed "The Beast" for the ferocious way he wrestles, became the first wrestler in the history of Hightstown High School to win a Region VII championship. At a moment of great individual accomplishment, however, Amponsa was thinking as a teammate.
   "It feels great to win, but I wish I could trade places with Tim Trivisonno," noted Amponsa. "He deserves to be at states but he’s not. That’s a big downer with him not being at states. I wish he was in my place."
   Amponsa earned a spot among the final 16 215-pounders in the state this weekend at Atlantic City. Amponsa earned that right with a 2-1 decision, in three overtimes, over Cinnaminson’s Mitch Sparks to win the 215-pound Region VII championship.
   Trivisonno, known as the "Italian Tank" because of his compact body and incredible strength for his size, lost a tough 7-6 decision, which went down to the wire, to Collingswood’s Rich Pennisi in the consolation finals at 125 pounds. A win would have placed Trivisonno third and advanced him into the state finals.
   When Trivisonno lost his bid to wrestle at Atlantic City, his Hightstown teammates in attendance — Ricardo Calamari (130 pounds), Tommy Boyle (145), Sean McEvenie (135) and Dan Ratner (171) — seemed just as devastated by the loss as Trivisonno was.
   Amponsa paced the gym trying to keep his focus on his upcoming match, the biggest of his life. But he could feel the loss too. He and the rest of the Ram seniors have formed a bond so close that they are more like brothers than teammates.
   "We like to call ourselves the ‘Little Dynasty’ at Hightstown," said Trivisonno, who has been wrestling alongside Amponsa, Boyle, McEvenie and Ratner ever since they were all little children.
   Calamari transferred to Hightstown last year but he fit in with the rest of the group right away.
   Because of his gift for gab and his tremendous talent, Trivisonno became a team leader of sorts. While the boys had their ups and downs as freshmen, by last year they were all major talents and Hightstown had developed into a CVC powerhouse. They also are all very good with Hightstown’s younger wrestlers.
   So when Amponsa used up all of his strength to hang on for 2-1 victory over Sparks, he wasn’t doing it just for himself. He was doing it for all his Hightstown teammates, especially the "Little Dynasty."
   In a strange move, Sparks let Amponsa up for a point at the start of the third overtime period. That was a costly decision as Amponsa, who is one of the strongest wrestlers in the CVC, stayed on his feet and pulled out the 1-point win.
   "I figured he’d keep his weight on me because I’m a lot lighter, but he let me up," said Amponsa, who prefers to wrestle standing up.
   While Sparks looked heavy compared to his muscular, smaller Rams’ opponent, he had unbelievable hand speed and power. And in a 0-0 first period, he was able to stymie some of Amponsa’s best moves.
   "It’s tough to be that quick and nimble for a big guy. Kenny was getting shot after shot. He (Sparks) was the first one to stop Kenny’s shot all year," said Hightstown Coach Mike Russo.
   In the second period Amponsa let Sparks escape for a point as is his usual strategy. Then Sparks returned the favor in the third period, though he looked as though he was trying to keep the great Rams’ 215-pounder down that time.
   In one overtime Sparks threatened to end the match as he hurled Amponsa to the ground, but Amponsa was literally saved by the bell, which clearly sounded before the move.
   "It was shocking because I didn’t think he’d come after me that late," said Amponsa.
   But Amponsa’s greatest moment may have come in the second overtime when he fought his instincts and everything he had been taught, and rode Sparks the whole round.
   "I was just thinking, ‘keep him down’ but it was real tough," said Amponsa, the top seed, who had previously defeated Drew Harris, 18-7, last Friday and Josh Bekier, 7-2, on Saturday morning to reach the finals.
   "Amponsa is an incredible talent. People better start realizing that he’s for real, because 38-1 ( the Hightstown single-season record for wins) and Region VII champ ain’t too shabby," said Russo.
   Trivisonno, Hightstown’s all-time wins leader, ain’t too shabby either. He fell behind early to Pennisi but, being the ultimate warrior that he is, came back and was extremely close to winning it at the end. He even had Pennisi’s shoulders down for a split second early in the match.
   "At first it looked like I had pinned him, but . . . ," said Trivisonno, who knew it was a tough call for the ref to get in position to make.
   "I didn’t like that I was down 7-0. When you give away points that fast, it’s hard to come back. He’s a great wrestler. But at this point you have to beat someone to get to the finals."
   Amazingly, football is Trivisonno’s and Amponsa’s first love, and yet it would be hard to top Dana Shelton’s legend in that sport. However, they just may be the best Hightstown wrestlers ever.
   Trivisonno beat Camden Catholic’s Alan Dyer 5-4 last Friday. And he also had a win over Pemberton’s Tony Holiday on Saturday. But the "Italian Tank’s" old rival, Steinert’s Dustin Renelt, pinned him to send him to the third-place consolation round.
   Hightstown was expecting big things out of its District 25 130-pound champ Ricardo Calamari. But Palmyra’s Rickey Bailey sent Calamari into the wrestlebacks with an 11-2 win last Friday. Then on Saturday, Calamari lost a controversial 4-2 overtime decision to Eastern’s Mark Maloney, which left much of the crowd fuming.
   "I took a shot and supposedly he had a cement-mixer and kind of took me down. But he didn’t really. Then it went into overtime and I reversed him really quick but they gave him the points," said Calamari. "The crowd thought I got ripped off too."
   Boyle, Hightstown’s 145-pounder, also lost a pair of matches. But he was happy to get to wrestle Region VII.
   "It was a good experience," noted Boyle.
   Trivisonno, who may wrestle at Peddie as a post-grad next season, and the rest of the "Little Dynasty," wish Amponsa all the luck in the world at states.
   "It was just an awesome, awesome, accomplishment," said a very happy Russo of Amponsa’s big win. "We’ve never had a regional champion before. He’s a pioneer for us. He made the other guys on the team realize it’s possible to win here."
   It’s ironic that Amponsa, who was so gentle and caring that he thought of his great teammate Trivisonno before himself, would be nicknamed "The Beast" (because of his ferocity on the mat). But then again, isn’t that the way the fairy tale is supposed to go?