Howell High School’s Josue Pierre-Louis tries to break free of the hold of South River High School’s Jon Hart during their 126-pound bout at the Rebel Classic wrestling tournament held at Howell on Dec. 18. Howell won the team title at the season-opening event. ERIC SUCAR staff A s he heads into his 15th season as the varsity wrestling coach at his alma mater, Howell High School, John Gagliano has another talented, experienced and deep wrestling team.
The Rebels’ head coach has brought the Howell program to the point that it is recognized as one of the finest in the state yearin and year-out, and the 2011-12 Rebels should continue that tradition.
Howell was 25-4 in dual meets a year ago and won its sixth consecutive Shore Conference A North Division championship. The Rebels were finalists in the NJSIAACentral Jersey Group IV state team tournament.
This season’s lineup at Howell will include eight wrestlers who recorded at least 20 wins last winter.
“We have a lot of kids back with varsity experience; we just need to be spread out and, most of all, stay healthy,” said Gagliano, who has a career dual-meet record of 253-55. “Our goals are the same each year — to work hard, stay focused and take one match at a time, and things will fall into place.”
The middle of the Howell lineup features Cole Cameron (31-11), Ashanti Maurice (30-10) and Zach Bohm (34-6), who wrestle at 138, 145 and 160 pounds, respectively. Bohm won a District 21 title last year, while Maurice was a runner-up and Cameron was a third-place finisher. Bohm and Cameron are seniors, and Maurice is a junior.
Also in the middle of the lineup are sophomore Joey Schultz at 152, who was 22-13, and senior Cody Kirk (24-9), who also wrestles at 160. He and Maurice will move up or down in the lineup depending on the match-ups Gagliano is trying to come up with in a particular dual meet.
Up top, the addition of sophomore Nate Litowsky (182), a transfer from St. John Vianney High School, will shore up the lineup. Litowsky won 19 matches for the Lancers as a freshman.
At the lower weights the Rebels have a lot of talent back, led by sophomore Jimmy Slendorn at 106 (23-13), junior Ben Esposito at 120 (27-13), and sophomore Matt Lindemann at 126 (24-12). Slendorn and Esposito were District 21 runner-ups in 2011.
Junior Jimmy Sisolak (132) and senior Matt Sulkowski (182) complete the lineup of returning letter winners.
Howell’s top newcomers include Jack Rada (120), Mike Christie (145), Stephen Boncimino (170), Christian Thacker (195), Ryan Taylor (195), George McCoy (220), Evan Pinney (220) and Vinny Martino (HWT). Rada, Christie, Thacker, McCoy and Martino all saw limited action last season .
Once again, Gagliano has his team embarking on a challenging regular-season schedule that includes matches at St. Augustine Prep (Dec. 21), at Lakeland (Dec. 30), at Point Pleasant Borough (Jan. 4), at Phillipsburg (Jan. 7), against David Brearley at Rutgers University (Jan. 22) and home against Absegami (Feb. 2).
Howell opened its A North schedule at Middletown South on Dec. 20.
“I think A North is very balanced this year,” Gagliano said. “CBA [Christian Brothers Academy], Freehold Township and Middletown South have some really nice teams this year.”
On Dec. 17, Howell began its season by hosting the Rebel Classic. The 11-team tournament included Middlesex County powers John F. Kennedy of Iselin (Woodbridge) and Old Bridge, in addition to the Peddie School of Hightstown, and Haddon Heights. Howell rolled up 270 points to win the team title. JFK (169) was second and Old Bridge (155) was third.
The Rebels had five champions —Slendorn (106), Esposito (120), Lindemann (126), Maurice (145) and Bohm (160). Cameron (138), Kirk (170) and Litowsky (182) were second in their weight classes.
“Overall, I’m very pleased with the way they wrestled,” Gagliano said. “It was the first time we have hosted a tournament at Howell. It was exciting.”
Following the guidelines established by the National Wrestling Coaches Association, weight classes in New Jersey have been changed this season. There are still 14 weight classes, but only four — 145, 152, 160 and heavyweight (285-pound maximum) — have stayed the same.
The new weight classes in New Jersey high school wrestling are 106, 112, 119, 126, 132, 138, 170, 182, 195 and 220 pounds.
Gagliano said most of the coaches in the Shore Conference, including himself, are opposed to the new weight classes primarily because they take away one weight class from the middle weights (140 pounds) where teams have the most wrestlers. It is expected that the NWCA and the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association will re-evaluate the weight class changes after the 2011-12 season.