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MANVILLE: Wrestlers turn corner

MHS program on way back

by Rudy Brandl, Sports Editor
   This was only the beginning.
   The Manville High wrestling team still has a long way to go, but head coach Pat Gorbatuk is confident his program has turned the corner. The Mustangs provided their coach with positive signs of progress all over the place this winter.
   Manville (7-20) competed in more matches than ever and produced more team victories than in any season this decade. The Mustangs accomplished this despite giving away three or four weight classes in most matches.
   The victory total wasn’t even the most impressive thing about Manville’s season. The Mustangs made noise in the tournaments, even without a full lineup.
   Tournament wrestling often indicates how far a program has progressed. Manville’s performance at the District 18 Championships against a field of larger schools showed this team is well on its way back.
   ”The exciting thing about this year is that we peaked at the end of the season,” Gorbatuk said. “Even the way we lost at the districts shows how far we’ve come.”
   The Mustangs didn’t see their entire lineup get eliminated by fall on Friday night. They won three preliminary round bouts and three quarterfinal matches to earn enough team points to beat Pingry in the team standings.
   Manville’s semifinalists certainly didn’t go quietly. Freshman 135-pounder Peter Hando nearly stunned Bound Brook star Gabe Gleason, a two-time Region 5 place-winner. Hando had Gleason flat on his back with a big early move but the official did not award the pin. Gleason recovered and defeated Hando, who later lost in the consolation finals to finish fourth.
   ”When he wrestles, people come down to the edge of the mat and watch him,” Gorbatuk said.
   Sophomore 130-pounder Nick Janner, who made a surprising run to the county final as a seventh seed, also finished fourth in the district. Senior 171-pounder Kevin Sellar likely would have advanced to the regions but he aggravated his separated shoulder and settled for fourth place in the district.
   Sellar showed great determination and courage continuing his season after separating his shoulder in the Somerset County Tournament in the middle of January. He missed some regular season action, which left a gaping hole in the upper part of the MHS lineup. Although he’s the only senior graduating from this year’s team, Sellar will be missed.
   ”He’s going to be very tough to replace,” Gorbatuk said. “He really grew up. He learned how to focus, how to prepare. We’re going to miss him.”
   Sellar and sophomore teammate Devin Burke accomplished something rare for a Manville High wrestler this decade when they won individual titles at the Holmdel Tournament in December. The Mustangs sent an early signal of their progress by finishing seventh among a field of larger schools.
   Tournament champs Sellar and Burke led that charge. Sellar pinned Lakewood’s Elijah Jackson at 1:26 in the quarterfinals, beat St. Rose’s Dylan Seip 5-0 in the semifinals and topped Keyport’s Jake Corsi in an 8-6 thriller in the finals. Burke decked Shore Regional’s Connor Arnette in 32 seconds in the quarters, defeated Freehold Boro’s Zach Mastowsky 6-1 in the semis and Freehold Boro’s Brian Nulty in a tight 3-1 championship bout.
   ”It felt great,” Sellar said after winning his first scholastic tournament. “I worked hard. I put in a lot of work in the off-season. I didn’t play football this year so I could get ready for wrestling.”
   ”It was really exciting, it was great,” Burke said after the Holmdel title. “I went in there and I wrestled my hardest. I got my wins and I had a nice final match. It really builds my confidence as a sophomore going against juniors and seniors.”
   Many of Manville’s underclassmen spent their seasons battling older opponents. They more than held their own, both in the regular season and in tournaments.
   The Mustangs could have won many more team matches with a full lineup. Giving away 18 to 24 points (3-4 forfeits) per match made it tough to do better than 7-20. The Mustangs won four other matches in points on the mat and tied two in contested bouts, which means they weren’t far from basically doubling their win total.
   While it hurt to lose some of those matches, Gorbatuk and his wrestlers took it in stride. They remained confident in the overall growth of the program.
   ”My kids are still young, but you can start to see the development,” Gorbatuk said. “We’re equal physically to most teams but we have to continue to develop to where we want to be.”
   The Mustangs prided themselves on conditioning and winning matches in the third period. They posted a healthy number of wins and pins in the final two minutes of their bouts.
   ”I talk to the kids about it all the time,” Gorbatuk said. “A lot of teams are working just as hard, so you have to work harder than everybody and smarter than everybody. We’re in good shape with the tempo we create at practice and style of drilling we do.”
   Gorbatuk credited assistant coach George Putvinski with being a major asset in building the program. Putvinski is in amazing shape and supervises much of the conditioning so Gorbatuk can do more teaching on the mat. This system has worked well to build a group of solid wrestlers who have embraced the system.
   ”The kids are starting to really take pride in the conditioning aspect,” Gorbatuk said. “They know where they’re going to win their matches. They want to keep conditioning even after the match is over.”
   The Mustangs will continue to work hard in the off-season. They’ll lift weights, go to camps and clinics and wrestle in tournaments. Many will compete on Gorbatuk’s MHS track and field team to stay in shape. By next December, the Mustangs will be ready to make another big leap.
   ”We’ve turned the corner,” Gorbatuk said. “We’re going to explode next year.”