By Sean Moylan, Sports Writer
When he was healthy and on the mat, Billy Bonnette was an unstoppable force for the Robbinsville High varsity wrestling team last season.
Wrestling at 152 while posting a stellar record of 13-1, Bonnette’s year was cut short because of injuries. He won in the District 25 semifinals, but an injury prevented him from grappling in the finals. This season, the Ravens’ head varsity wrestling coach Rich Gildner is looking forward to a great year out of his senior superstar.
”Billy (Bonnette) is back as a senior captain. We’re probably going to wrestle him at 160. He’s a little better when he’s not cutting weight,” said Rich Gildner, the head coach of the Robbinsville High varsity wrestling team.
Kevin Homan, who placed fourth at Districts, was the Ravens’ top winner last season with a record of 21-9. Homan, a senior captain, wrestled at 130 last year and he currently weighs 133 pounds.
Robbinsville’s other senior captain is Matt Roeloffs, who wrestled at 171 at Districts last season. This season, Roeloffs will wrestle at 189 pounds.
Although Robbinsville won only two matches last year, many of its matches were close and could have swung in the opposite direction with another win or two. This season, however, the Ravens may have added enough pieces to the puzzle to turn themselves into a consistent winner.
”Depth-wise, we’re pretty good. We have a lot of young guys coming back and we’ve added 10 freshmen to the team,” said Gildner, a former champion wrestler at the College of New Jersey.
In practices, junior Andrew Harvilla, a football standout who’ll wrestle at 171 pounds this season, has looked very good and could have a breakout season.
”He’s (Harvilla) gotten a lot better at wrestling,” added Gildner, who also likes the improvement he’s seen out of sophomore heavyweight Brandon Didonato, who has only been wrestling for three years and is only going to get better with more experience on the mat.
Sophomores Jeff Bruno, a 103-pounder who posted a dozen wins last year, and Matt Joseph, who won 13 matches last year and will wrestle at 112 this season, are looking good as well. And freshman 140-pounder Jordon Hankins is a shaping up to be a fine wrestler.
Aristo Cauwels (135), Zach Friedman (125), Phil Harrison (189), Mark Normandin (145), Jay Rubenstein (119) and Barry Wood (140) are the other 11th graders on the team. Sophomores Kenny Lesczynski (130) and Vince Nocera (152) are both solid wrestlers.
In addition to Hankins, Gildner has added freshmen Dave Bossie (103), Jeff Condit (103), Marlon Gonzalez (171), Jared Icenhower (103), Wong Wi Jeon (130), Nick Niezgoda (130), Brian O’Toole (103), Andrew Reca (140), Jeremy Sander (152), Ed Savarchevsky (140) and Brian Wood (125) to his wrestling roster. Robbinsville may also add a wrestler or two before the start of the season. Brian Dempsey has returned as Gildner’s assistant coach.
Robbinsville will be looking to improve across the board and, individually, Bonnette and Homan have the kind of talent to compete for Mercer County Tournament and District titles this season.
Robbinsville is scheduled to open its regular season with a quad match at West Windsor Plainsboro-North on December 15th.

