Cassar brothers have rewarding start

MHS pair claim classic crowns

Justin Feil, Assistant Sports Editor
  Matthias and Nick Cassar have realized quickly the rewards for their increased dedication.
   The brothers were two of the four Montgomery High School wrestlers to win their weight classes at the Garden State Classic at Princeton High School on Saturday. Matthias captured the 135-pound class with an overtime win while Nick was a 4-2 winner at 145 pounds.
   ”Last year I didn’t do nearly as well,” said Matthias, a MHS sophomore. “I was glad to have placed this year. It was the one of the greatest feelings I’ve had. I’ve never placed in a tournament.”
   Nick finished third at the invitational last year. He climbed two spots to remain unbeaten this season at 4-0.
   ”It was surprising,” said Nick, who is a junior. “I was pretty surprised with myself. After the match, our coach told me, whatever you were doing in the offseason with (former All-America wrestler) Dan Mayo, it paid off. He’s got high hopes for me for the season.”
   Kevin Jacoutot saw a big jump as the Cougars, who opened the season with a win over New Egypt in a dual match Friday, finished third in the team standings behind a defending district champion Emerson/Park Ridge and a highly regarded Washington Township team. The Cougars beat a former district champion, Bloomfield. In addition to the Cassar brothers, Erik Biago won 103 pounds and Alex Sottile won 152. The Cougars had three second-place finishers and one third-place winner.
   ”Erik was head and shoulders better than everyone there,” said Jacoutot, whose team returns to the mats today against Rutgers Prep. “He went in and pinned everybody. The Cassar brothers were a big surprise. Matthias won in sudden death overtime. His older brother Nick wrestled very smart and beat a decent kid. They pulled out some big matches and showed marked improvement since last year.
   ”Alex Sottile is 4-0 and unbeaten. He looked tremendous. He’s one of the team leaders. He’s a good kid. I was very impressed by him. He wrestled smart. We look for good things from him.”
   With a strong start against solid competition, confidence is running high among the Cougars. That’s something they couldn’t say last year. Matthias was 6-13 last year; Nick went 6-14 in the Cougars’ first year at the varsity level.
   ”Last year was tough,” Matthias said. “It was my first year of varsity. I wasn’t used to such a commitment. Before, I was in the rec program. The varsity is so much more of a commitment. Once I got in the swing of things, things started to flow better.”
   Added Nick: “We knew it was a learning year. Whatever we were going to do, we were going to learn from our mistakes and try to do better. We were training hard and trying to make up for last year.”
   The Cassars did not dwell on the struggles of their first varsity season. They immediately started working toward a better second year.
   ”We started Mayo Clinic probably three days after we ended the season,” Nick said. “We also went to Dan Mayo’s old school in Sachem (N.Y.) where he had a camp. We wrestled all the way through the offseason. I had some other friends from the wrestling team do it. We went completely from the end of one season into it to this season.”
   Added Matthias: “This whole summer was wrestling. It was good for getting ready for the season. We ate, slept and breathed wrestling.”
   They put themselves in as many competitive situations as possible. They went to camps and clinics, all with the idea that they had to improve. It’s the sort of dedication Jacoutot hopes to see from all of his wrestlers as the Cougars look to establish a powerhouse program.
   ”You get a year under your belt, it means a lot,” Jacoutot said. “These kids have put it on themselves to go the extra mile and join clubs and wrestle year-round. They know what to do. It goes beyond the practice room. They’ve stepped up.”
   Matthias and Nick are prime examples of how dedication pays off. Their father, a former high school wrestler, encouraged them in their off-season work. The two are part of a wrestling family that also includes sixth-grader Anthony and third-grader Zachary. The younger Cassars can look to their older brothers as a source of pride and inspiration.
   ”They had losing records last year,” Jacoutot said. “Now they’re champions of an invitational. They had a rough year. They had a learning year. Particularly with Matthias, he took his lumps and didn’t have a lot of confidence as a freshman. Hopefully this jumpstarts them. We knew Nick had potential. It looks like he’s coming into his own now. He wrestled well. Matthias was a nice surprise, but he earned it. He went to overtime and got the win. Both wrestlers were so tired, they could barely stand.”
   He got over the fatigue quickly with the realization that he was a champion. It was a good way for Matthias to bounce back from an opening-night loss against New Egypt.
   ”We both had different motivations,” Nick said. “My motivation was to try to stay undefeated. His motivation was he lost the night before. He was ready to make up for it. He won all three, so he made up for it.”
   The two don’t really need any outside source or previous match to motivate them. They have each other, which has plenty of benefits.
   ”Nick is my biggest supporter in wrestling,” Matthias said. “I don’t know how I could do it without him. We’re holding each other up making weight. He’s definitely a big help to me. It’s almost like a competition. We see each other win and we want to win too.”
   Nick felt the pressure to perform Saturday once Matthias had his title. He delivered to answer his brother’s challenge and to keep the Cougars in contention for the team championship.
   ”A lot of pressure was on,” Nick said. “Matthias won so there’s pressure on me since my brother just won. And the guy I’m about to go against, his team is ahead of us.”
   Nick responded to keep the Cougars pointed toward the team title. They ultimately finished up third.
   ”There’s a lot of hope for the team this year,” Nick said. “We have a really good stacked lineup. At 135 we have Matthias and at 140, the guy doesn’t have a lot of experience yet, but then from 145 to 189 we have a really good stacked lineup. We had about 10 guys go to semifinals, seven to finals, four first-place winners, three second-place winners and one third-place. Coach can see a major improvement in us. I think we’ll do really well this year.”
   After all the hard work they put in during the offseason, it only seems fair that Matthias and Nick Cassar should see some rapid rewards.
   ”I was very, very pleased,” Jacoutot said. “We’re rolling now. Hopefully they’ve built up a lot of confidence. They’ve improved dramatically. Our next test is Rutgers Prep at Rutgers Prep. That’s all we’re concentrating on.”