Burke ties school record for wins in a season
by Rudy Brandl, Sports Editor
Devin Burke has learned how to win on the high school wrestling mat very quickly.
As a freshman last year, Burke led the Mustangs with 16 victories and was by far the team’s most accomplished performer. This year, there has been no sophomore jinx.
In fact, Burke has become stronger, more polished and more impressive. The MHS sophomore 112-pounder now finds himself among a more competitive group of teammates on a much stronger squad, but that has only helped Burke take his craft to a higher level.
Burke put his name in the MHS history books last Saturday with two more wins to run his team-leading total to 27. That number ties him with former Manville standouts Frank Passe Jr. and John Perone, considered two of the greatest wrestlers and all-around athletes in school history. Passe holds the school record for most career wins (88), while Perone was the last Mustang to capture a Region 5 title in 1998.
”I always wanted to get this,” Burke said moments after his 12-2 major decision of Holmdel’s Paul Fazio Saturday afternoon. “I finally tied it. It feels great. I couldn’t have gotten this without my team and the coaches making us better.”
Burke (27-7) stepped to the mat with his team trailing 25-15, so he was working hard for a pin. He took a 2-0 lead with a takedown but got a little sloppy later in the first period, which allowed Fazio to reverse and tie the bout. Burke quickly got his own reversal to take a 4-2 lead after one.
Starting from the top position, Burke put in a cradle with a turk for three bonus points and a 7-2 lead before riding out the second period. He dominated the third with a reversal and another three-point near fall.
”I went for all the moves I could,” Burke said. “I almost had him. I could have pinned him, but I did the best I could.”
The Mustangs still needed to win three of the last four bouts to prevail and complete a sweep of their final regular season tri-meet. They had opened the day with a 51-27 triumph over South River.
After freshman 119-pounder Ian DeFalco lost a 15-2 major decision, sophomore 125-pounder Ernest Yakobchuk turned a one-point deficit into a dominant 15-7 major to get those team points right back. The Mustangs had two of their top guns waiting and both needed to win.
Holmdel clinched the team victory at 130 pounds when Andrew Apicello warded off Nick Janner’s home run moves in a 16-4 major. Janner clearly was going for the big killer pin to propel his team but he left himself open and Apicello took advantage. MHS freshman Peter Hando closed the match with a 9-0 shutout, but it was too late to put his team over the top.
The Mustangs wrestled with great intensity in one of their tightest, most competitive matches of the season. Holmdel, a Group 4 school with a full roster, provided very good competition. The Mustangs held a 27-21 edge in points on the mat, which is nothing new for a team that forfeits anywhere from two to four bouts per match.
Manville had to work very hard for most of those points. Scott Alpizar (145) and Eddie Yakobchuk (152) went six hard minutes to produce hard-fought decisions early in the match. Senior 171-pounder Kevin Sellar bumped to 189 and produced the team’s only fall of the match. Manville’s six other victories came on three majors and three standard decisions.
The bout of the match took place at 215, where MHS sophomore David Castro outlasted Tom Fazio in a 9-7 thriller. Castro stormed to a 5-0 lead and nearly decked Fazio in the first period but he got sloppy and allowed a reversal. After a scoreless second period, Fazio cut the deficit to one point with a reversal early in the third.
Castro appeared to be getting tired but he found a way to escape and get another takedown. Fazio reversed to make things interesting and was going for the go-ahead back points when Castro escaped with five seconds left. That type of action epitomized the entire match, which included only one pin by each team.
”It was a very physical match,” MHS head coach Pat Gorbatuk said. “When you wrestle a larger team with more bodies, it’s tough. I was certainly happy with the way we wrestled. We did the best we could.”
The Mustangs needed a few days off from competition after a crazy week that included four very entertaining home matches. Although the team won just once, it came very close in every contest. The Mustangs went 3-0-1 in points on the mat in last week’s matches.
The week began with a 46-30 loss to Spotswood. All five MHS victories came by fall Alex Agans (160), Sellar (171), Castro (Hwt), Burke (112) and Yakobchuk (125). The Mustangs had to forfeit three bouts, so they had a 30-28 lead on the mat.
Fans were still talking about Thursday night’s thriller vs. Butler a few days later. The match was dead even on the scoreboard but the visitors prevailed on the sixth tie-breaking criterion, most points scored first. The officials worked through other criteria such as most bouts won, penalty points and pins before the most points scored first, which Butler took by a 9-6 margin.
”Anybody in that gym will never forget that night,” Gorbatuk said. “It was nuts.”
After the teams traded forfeits at heavyweight and 103 pounds, Burke prevailed in a 2-1 thriller with a takedown at the buzzer. That six-point swing sent the home fans into a frenzy.
There were so many momentum swings like that on both sides. DeFalco was trailing at 119 but got pinned with 30 seconds remaining. Yakobchuk was hurt by a stalling call in his 6-5 loss at 125 pounds. Janner built a 5-0 lead but didn’t settle for the decision, flattening his opponent with one second remaining in the third period at 130. Hando won by fall and Alpizar took a forfeit to give the Mustangs a 27-21 lead.
Butler tied the match with a pin at 152 and took the lead with a major at 160. Manville employed some strategy with a forfeit at 171, sending out Sellar to go for a pin and six team points at 189. Sellar manhandled Mike Gagliardi but couldn’t pin him. Gagliardi did nothing but defend and stall but he stayed off his back in an 11-1 major that left the Mustangs six points short on the scoreboard.
Castro delivered the pin under pressure, taking the top position to open the third period of a scoreless bout to go for the fall. Castro’s pin tied the match at 37-37 but Butler received the tie-breaking point to win it.
Saturday’s split left the Mustangs with a final regular season record of 7-20. MHS won two more matches than last year and the team has three 20-bout winners. With the individual part of the season on tap, that’s the focus.
“It really wasn’t about winning or losing the dual meets,” Gorbatuk said. “The wrestlers are starting to peak in time for the districts. I don’t care about the losses. I care about making the kids better.”

