There is a reason why the J.P. Stevens High School wrestling team has started the season with a 4-1 dual match record after finishing 9-10 a year ago—experience.
The Hawks’ lineup, including the nine heaviest, are seniors, most toiled as junior varsity wrestlers before getting their chance to compete on the main stage.
“The leadership by our seniors has been responsible for our performance, no doubt,” says Mike Sitar, who is coaching in his sixth season. “A lot of them spent time with the JV team and their experience is paying off now. They recognize it’s their time to compete.”
The Hawks’ matches have primarily been against opponents in the Greater Middlesex Conference White Division where the competition is fierce and balanced. Defending champion, BishopAhr (3-1) is a strong force and should contend again along with always tough J.F. Kennedy (7-2). Sitar hopes JPS will be in the mix as well.
The Hawks lead off with James O’Malley, junior at 106. Junior Tyler Truong, 4-3, comes next at 113; and junior Mike Santasieri at 120. Ashish Bibireddy, a sophomore, has been inserted at 126 followed by junior Peter Byun, who has an 8-3 mark. The rest of the lineup is made up of seniors. At 138 is Eric Zhang who is 5-3; Anthony Rienzo is 6-3 at 145; and Ethan Jeffries is 3-4 at 152. At 160 is Ricky Mitra who is 5-4 and is followed at 170 by the most promising wrestler on the team, Chris Miehe. Miehe returns as defending district champ and was runner-up in the GMCs and regions. His current record is 9-1.
At 185 is Brandon Halper and at 195, the Hawks start Jon Hill. Two other successful wrestlers return in the final two weights, 220- pounder Ryan Amaral, who is 7-2 and heavyweight Nick Condito, who is 6-0.
While this year promises to be a solid season for the Hawks, Sitar knows he is reaping the benefits of his experienced lineup. Whether that continues, however, remains to be seen.
“Unlike many of our competitors,” Sitar says, “we do not have a feeder program which provides teams with a great advantage of developing wrestlers at a young age so that when they compete on the high school level, they already have skills. That’s why so many members of our current team wrestled JV for a few years. They needed to gain experience so they would be ready for varsity competition.”
The Hawks were scheduled to host Matawan Wednesday and are home against Highland Park, Friday. That will be followed by another home match with Woodbridge Jan. 18.