MUSTANG ROUNDUP
By: Rudy Brandl
The Manville High wrestling team improved from a surprisingly lopsided loss in the opening match to earn its first victory Saturday afternoon at Governor Livingston.
Drama in the upper weights concluded with a quick and decisive 15-second pin by senior heavyweight Kile Galasso. The Manville co-captain didn’t waste any time in flattening an overmatched Manny Couto.
"Kile did what he was supposed to do," MHS head coach Brett Stibitz said after his team’s 42-40 triumph. "He picked him up, laid him right down and pinned him."
Fellow co-captain Joe Zuza set the stage for Galasso’s heroics by staying off his back against GL star Shawn Coughlin at 215. Zuza bumped up from his usual 189-pound slot and nearly beat Coughlin before dropping an 18-7 major.
Zuza took a 4-2 lead and had Coughlin in trouble twice but couldn’t finish for the fall. Zuza also fought off his back a few times but only allowed the Highlanders four team points. The 215-pound bout was the only one that didn’t yield six points.
"Joe wrestled a key match," Stibitz said. "He had to wrestle off his back a couple times but he had that kid a few times at the end of periods. I had to get my best wrestler against their best wrestler. I just told Joe to wrestle six minutes for the team and we’d win."
The match went back-and-forth, with the Mustangs taking an early 18-6 lead before GL rallied to win the next four bouts. MHS junior 152-pounder Jason Lebedz got his team back into the match with a fall against Justin Coughlin but the Highlanders went back up by 12 points when Eric Serrano decked Doug Semenick at 160.
That set the stage for Nick Landis, who made the most of his varsity debut. Landis stormed out at 171 and flattened Matt Sharkey in 3:03. Landis led 5-2 at the time of the fall.
"I rolled the dice with Nick," Stibitz said. "He never wrestled varsity before. Whoever won 171 was going to win this match and Nick pinned the kid."
Ed Ferraro accepted a forfeit at 189 to tie the match at 36-36. Since Stibitz knew he could count on Galasso to score a fall at heavyweight, it was up to Zuza to battle six minutes against GL’s top gun.
Manville’s Mark Gregor opened the match with a pin at 103, where he packed Kevin Moore in 2:26. Senior Dominika Rozanski (119) and junior Nghi Nguyen (125) won by forfeit to increase the lead to 18-6.
In other action, Manville took an early lead but dropped a 54-27 match at Bound Brook last Thursday night. The Mustangs won four of the first six bouts but the Crusaders rallied to win five of the last six.
Lebedz (152) and Ed Zuza (215) posted pins, while Joe Zuza (189) and Nick Williams (112) won by forfeit. Galasso’s 6-3 decision over Richie Perry accounted for the other Manville points.
The Mustangs (1-2) feel they have a good chance to win a few more matches this week. They were scheduled to host Bound Brook and Roselle Catholic before traveling to Johnson Regional of Clark this Saturday.
Boys extend streak
to seven straight
It was another big week for the Manville High boys’ basketball team.
The Mustangs remained unbeaten at a perfect 7-0 with victories over Bound Brook, Roselle Park and David Brearley. While the lopsided triumph over a struggling Bound Brook squad was no surprise, the wins over the Union County schools came on consecutive nights last Thursday and Friday against teams with winning records.
Manville went into the hostile house at Roselle Park and posted a 61-51 victory. The Panthers had stopped Brearley’s unbeaten streak earlier in the week, so the Mustangs were confident entering Friday night’s home game vs. the Bears. MHS made it seven in a row with a 64-46 win.
The scoring continued to be balanced for the Mustangs, who have four players averaging at least eight points per game. Eight different players scored against Brearley, while nine got in the books at Roselle Park.
Bryan Teryek scored a season-high 23 points in Thursday night’s road victory and came close to that total with 20 in Friday night’s win. Teryek has taken over the team scoring lead with a 15.1 average.
Manville held both Union County schools to seven points in the first quarter after limiting Bound Brook to six. The Mustangs enjoyed sizable leads at the end of the first period in all three games last week.
Senior center Mark Maychrich was a dominant force in the middle, pulling down 35 rebounds last week. Maychrich had a double-double with 13 points and 12 boards Friday night. Glen Liszczak added 11 points against Brearley.
The Mustangs were scheduled to travel to Academy Charter and Bernards before returning home to face Oratory Prep tomorrow night in a rematch of a very tight season opener.