Ken Weingartner

By: centraljersey.com
Hightstown High wrestling coach Mike Russo is looking forward to this weekend’s Mercer County Tournament, not just to see where the Rams stand now among the area’s best, but to see how far they’ve come.
Russo’s squad lost to Allentown in its first Colonial Valley Conference match of the season in December and later suffered narrow losses to Robbinsville and Steinert before ripping off seven wins in a row heading into the MCT.
"We’ve wrestled really good in January," Russo said. "That’s the beauty of the county or district tournament; you wrestle a lot of the same kids that you did early in the year and you see a lot of kids avenge losses. You see them improving. I think our kids are improving each day.
"We have guys having good seasons, but I’m not sure where they stand in terms of the county. I think we’re peaking at the right time. We’ve done our best wrestling in the last couple weeks. I hope it continues."
This year’s MCT is at Robbinsville High. Last season, the Rams finished fourth in the tourney and had a champion in Jason Herrera and runner-up in Gregg Ratner. Both wrestlers graduated, leaving Hightstown’s top returning place-winner as Marcus Lawrence, who was fourth at 189.
Lawrence is one of the favorites at 189 this year. He enters the MCT with a 17-2 record.Other top contenders for Hightstown include Joey DeChristofaro, who is 12-3 at 171; Gavin Edgerton, who is 15-4 at 160; and Sean LeBlanc, who is 17-2 at 112.
Russo also is looking to others to medal, such as Chris Boyle (12-7 at 135), Johnny Cox (12-5 at 125), Angel Guzman (12-6 at heavyweight), Aaron Hernandez (10-8 at 215), Kevin Medina (12-7 at 119), Josh Parkhurst (9-10 at 140) and Fabian Tobito (10-8 at 130).
"It’s going to take a team effort," Russo said. "We’re not going to have one or two guys and that’s about it. We’re as balanced as they come from top to bottom. I like that. The county tournament is the best of both worlds because you get the individual feeling of winning medals and at the same time it’s going to take 14 guys to win a team title or place high.
"There’s a little bit of a nervous feeling, too, because we don’t have any guarantees. I’m confident a couple kids can win this tournament, but at the same time there’s a good chance we won’t have any No. 1 seeds. We’re going to have a bunch of kids in that 2-to-5 range. We haven’t wrestled Hopewell, Trenton or Hamilton West. There’s still a lot to prove for our team."
Last season, Robbinsville ended Hopewell Valley’s two-year grasp on the MCT title.
Six champions return from last year (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.
"I’m looking forward to it," Russo said. "I think it’s a wide-open tournament this year where it is pretty balanced. I’d say Hopewell is the favorite because they’ve handled everyone they’ve wrestled so far. But I don’t think you’re going to see five or six champions on one team. I think it’s going to be spread out.
"I think it makes for a good tournament. Every team is going to be well represented. Most of our lineup is juniors and sophomores. Whatever we do here is going to be good experience for the next couple years."