By Justin Feil, The Packet Group
The opportunities are there for some new stars on the Hillsborough High School wrestling team.
The Raiders graduated their four winningest wrestlers from a year ago — Adam LaBracio (37-6), Rhys Weinberger (36-6), Deric Winston (32-7) and Tyler Workman (28-5). Add in Matt McCloskey, who fought his way to 13 more wins in his final year, and the Raiders find themselves trying to figure out how to make up for 146 wins with this year’s group.
”They’re all working really hard,” said Hillsborough head coach Steve Molinaro. “We do have a lot of youth in the wrestling room, but they seem to be gelling well. A lot of it is unpredictable.
”We should have all of the weights legitimately filled. Hopefully we stay healthy and keep working and see what we can do.”
Hillsborough is optimistic despite its young team that it can be competitive as its new wrestlers gain experience. Only three returning wrestlers registered more than 10 wins last year. Jack Donnadio, a junior, was 26-3 at 120 pounds. Johnson Tanner, a sophomore, won 16 matches at 132. Louis White, a senior now, won 17 matches at 138. They will be leaders on the mats as the less experienced wrestlers find their roles.
”I think it’s going to be similar to last year,” Molinaro said. “The teams we’ve got will be pretty strong. We have challenges in our conference, but we have some kids that can generate some momentum. We might be showing more of a balanced lineup than we saw last year. Again, a lot of the younger kids are in a position to step up, and if they do we’ll be in a lot better shape.”
It’s early in the season still, and wrestlers will be changing weight classes in some cases, but the Raiders are starting to get an idea of who will wrestle where this season. Seniors are: John Droumbakis, Liam O’Callaghan, Pat O’Callaghan, Shannon Oryniak and White. Juniors include: Devin Boylan, Danial Channa, Donnadio, Andrew Duarte, Cory Glinsky, Alex Hunt, Jose Paulo Nulud, Matt Pellicane, Brian Schemm and Joe Versaci. Sophomores on the roster are: Alec Aboosamara, Andrew Barglowski, Anthony DelGuercio, Kevin Gallego, Ryan Geoghegan, Leyla Hirsch, Johnson, Brett Magliaro, Mike McClellan, Austin Schimmel and Stryker Schultz. Freshman are Mike Cavallo, Deandre Curtis, Cory Nalepk, Saif Quadri and Josh Villa.
”Overall, a big chunk of the team has been working all year long,” Molinaro said. “They’ve been working in the weight room, getting mat time. A lot of guys have been getting time with us and we’re hoping that pays off.”
Molinaro is expecting to see Schimmel at 106 pounds. Magliaro, who wrestled JV last year, has moved up and could be at 113. Villa has impressed Molinaro, and he could make an impact.
”He’s a tough little freshman we got,” Molinaro said. “He could be between 106 and 113.”
Also in the running in the low weights are Aboosamara and Geoghegan, either of whom could wrestle between 113 and 120 pounds. Nulud will compete at 120 pounds. Glinsky should cover 126 pounds.
The middle of the Raiders’ lineup has the returning strength from a year ago with Donnadio, who will be solid at 132, Johnson who is at 138 and White at 145. Pat O’Callaghan and Hunt will fill in at 152 and 160.
DelGuercio and Liam O’Callaghan will compete for a spot at 170 pounds. One of them could also wrestle at 182, where Duarte is vying for a spot. Boylan will wrestle at 195 and Droumbakis takes on 220. The heavyweight will be either Schemm or Pellicane, who is new to the sport this year.
”Austin Schimmel has made strides,” Molinaro said. “The others that have been doing what they should be doing are Jack, Louis, Tanner, Andrew Duarte made some strides, and Anthony DelGuercio.”
How quickly the Raiders wrestlers gain experience and learn to compete at the varsity level will go a long way in how they do in bettering last year’s 9-18 season. Last year ended with Weinberger finishing eighth in the state. The Raiders would love the chance to root another wrestler on at Atlantic City, but it will take some timely wrestling and some fearlessness to make it.
”I think a few have a shot,” Molinaro said. “I think we have a tough region. There’s a couple kids that have a shot to get through the region. They’re not anyone that’s been there before. That’s tough with a first-timer to call anything on.”
The Raiders are scheduled to open the season on Saturday in a quad meet at South Brunswick. Hillsborough goes into it anxious to see who will step up to the varsity level.
”It’s a pretty nice one to start with,” Molinaro said. “It’s JFK-Iselin, South Brunswick and Lawrence. This is a good one to open up with. It’s not a meat grinder. We go down to Philadelphia for another one at Truman that will be a bigger test for us.”
Those early tests are what the Raiders need as they prepare for another challenging schedule, and look to see what stars will emerge from their new lineup.
