Freshman places sixth in tough tourney
by Rudy Brandl, Sports Editor
Don’t be fooled by the point total or final results of Saturday’s Matawan Icebreaker Tournament in Aberdeen the Manville High wrestling team performed much better than last season.
While the Mustangs tallied only 19 points to finish in a 15th-place tie with Keyport, first-year head coach Pat Gorbatuk insisted his team accomplished more than in the previous season when it scored 20.
This year’s event, with 16 teams providing brutal competition, was much stronger. The Mustangs held their own in many matches they lost and many of the team’s young wrestlers showed spunk and toughness.
”It was a better tournament for us,” Gorbatuk said. “We didn’t score as much, but we did so much better. Last year, when we lost a match, we got taken down and turned to our backs. This year, we had the lead in a lot of matches we lost. We made some young mistakes, but we were better.”
Freshman 112-pounder Devin Burke started his scholastic career with a solid showing in a very eventful day of wrestling. Burke went 3-2 in a rugged weight class despite being seeded as a wild card. He ran into some big-time foes, including Freehold Township’s Gene Accardi, who placed sixth in the state last winter.
”Burke had a hell of a day,” Gorbatuk said. “He did very well. He faced some good kids. He wrestled five times.”
The Manville freshman opened the tournament with a preliminary round win over James Loures. He was leading 7-6 and executed a Gator roll to put Loures on his back for the final minute of a 12-6 decision. Burke stayed off his back but lost via tech fall to Accardi at the 4:00 mark in the quarterfinals.
”That’s a lot of mental toughness,” Gorbatuk said. “That kid was sixth in the state last year. Burke really wants to be out there.”
Burke came back and won two matches in the consolation bracket to reach the battle for fifth place. He pinned Notre Dame’s Jerry Luizza at 2:33 and caught Manasquan’s Rob Camidge with another fall after trailing 9-3.
”He was getting hammered but he stuck him with a cross-face cradle,” Gorbatuk said. “He (Camidge) was one of the best kids in the weight class.”
MHS senior 152-pounder Chris Kocur opened with a pin over Manasquan’s Vinny Belleran but dropped two tight bouts to finish 1-2. Kocur was trailing 2-1 before getting pinned in his next match. He was eliminated in a 4-2 loss to Shore Regional’s Max Springman.
Manville sophomore Brendan Nurnberger came close to having a big day. He showed some great stuff in his two losses at 160 pounds.
Nurnberger was shutting out Keyport’s Roger Sacchi 5-0 and leading Lacey’s Chris McVoy 8-6 in the final seconds of his two bouts. Unfortunately, he lost both by fall.
”He was dominating those kids,” Gorbatuk said. “He just needs more experience.”
Gorbatuk also liked the way senior 135-pounder Adam Wolcott wrestled in the tournament. Wolcott was giving up some weight but still managed to go the distance and beyond, losing 5-1 and then 3-1 in overtime.
Nick Janner (125) and Aaron Janner (130) also went 0-2 but each had a lead in one of their matches. Other Mustangs who competed and went 0-2 in Matawan included sophomore 119-pounder David Olmsted, sophomore 140-pounder Dylan Painter, sophomore 145-pounder Tyler Britt, junior 171-pounder Kevin Sellar, junior 189-pounder Tim Santoro and freshman 215-pounder David Castro.
Gorbatuk and the Mustangs returned to the workout room Monday in preparation for Wednesday night’s dual meet opener vs. Pingry in Manville. They’re putting Saturday’s tournament behind them and hoping it will make them better suited to go 1-0 for the new head coach.
”I don’t want to look back,” Gorbatuk said. “I just want to look ahead to Pingry. The best way to fix a tough days is to win.”
The Mustangs boarded the bus at 6 a.m. and didn’t return to Manville until 8 p.m. It was a long day of wrestling against some powerful teams from the Shore and the Mustangs made some noise. They took a few lumps, learned some lessons and started the season on a positive note.
“I was pretty happy with the energy the kids brought to the mat,” Gorbatuk said. “We have a lack of experience, but the kids showed great enthusiasm. I expected us to have some growing pains, but I think we’re ahead of where we expected to be on my timetable.”

