By: centraljersey.com
The Hopewell Valley High wrestling team will head to this weekend’s Mercer County Tournament as the favorite to win the title, but Bulldogs coach "Super" Mario Harpel is taking nothing for granted.
"It probably should be pretty interesting," Harpel said. "I think there are a few teams that should factor into things. I think we’ll be right there. I haven’t seen all the teams in the league at this point, but from the way we’ve been wrestling and what I’ve seen in the county, we should be in the hunt."
Last season, Hopewell Valley was the two-time defending MCT champions but finished second behind Robbinsville, which will host this year’s event. The tourney previously was held in Trenton’s Tornado Alley.
The Bulldogs were undone by going 0-for-7 in the finals last year. Only two of those finalists, Jeff Mulford and Christian Kalwa, are back this season.
"It is a totally different group, but I remember it clearly," Harpel said with a laugh. "We haven’t talked about it. It’s not really our motivation. Maybe Saturday afternoon at 4 o’clock if we’ve got kids standing there, I’ll mention it.
"We work pretty hard just to have those opportunities. We have to have some pride in who we are. We need to get a couple kids on top of the podium. My hunch is that it will happen. I felt pretty good last year, too, so I guess you never know."
Mulford is 14-4 this season at 135 pounds. Kalwa is 13-5 at 140. Heavyweight Zach Ortman, who finished third in last season’s MCT, is 16-3.
Other top winners for Hopewell Valley heading into the tourney include Eric Barbera, who is 14-6 at 145; John deDufour, who is 12-6 at 119; Mike Markulec, who is 15-4 at 215; and Jackson Place, who is 11-6 at 103.
"We’re pretty solid through the lineup," Harpel said. "It would be nice to walk away with four, five, six champs and everyone is out there battling. Every kid matters. We’ll kind of see where it comes together. We’ve had some great success at the counties. Our intention is to get out there and it would be nice to have a couple champs and battle through."
Six champions return from last season (with last season’s weight): Robbinsville’s David Bossie (103) and Jared Icenhower (119), Ewing’s Josh Garzio (130), Allentown’s Sam Shonk (140) and Ross Scheuerman (160) and Trenton’s Bethea.
Also returning are five second-place finishers, including Hamilton’s undefeated 112-pounder Jared Staub, and five third-place finishers.
Harpel believes the Bulldogs’ tough early schedule will benefit his squad at the MCT. Hopewell Valley is 8-4 and its losses are to Delaware Valley, Hunterdon Central, North Hunterdon and Voorhees – some of the top teams in the area.
Hopewell Valley posted lopsided victories over Mercer County rivals Steinert, Nottingham, Princeton, Lawrence, West Windsor-Plainsboro North, WW-P South, Notre Dame and Trenton.
"We haven’t had the ups and downs yet," Harpel said. "That doesn’t mean it’s not going to happen but so far we’ve been getting pretty good results."

