By: Neil Hay
When Mike Russo emerged from a 4:30 meeting recently, his first thought was to get over to the high school wrestling room to run the day’s practice.
Then Russo caught himself. He had an empty, unfulfilled feeling. The season was over.
It ended too soon for Russo and his Hightstown wrestling team. So much of the 2003-04 season was left. But when the best from all corners of the state gather in Atlantic City for the NJSIAA tournament, Russo will be there strictly as a fan.
Russo and his wrestlers had hoped for more, so much more. The Rams had the District 25 champion at 125, Brandan Tyers, going as the fourth seed at Region 7 over the weekend at Eastern High School in Voorhees. And Dan Indellicati was there too, at 140, having placed second at districts.
But neither competitor was able to survive the rigors of regions and move on to the next level. With their elimination, so too ended the Hightstown wrestling season.
Tyers, more than Indellicati, had the better chance to advance in the tourney. Now Tyers’ chances are done, the Hightstown senior having wrestled for the Rams for the last time. For Indellicati, though, the future is wide open. He can take comfort that he has two more years ahead. If he continues to put in the hard work and practices throughout the year, and feeds off the example that Tyers set for his teammates, Indellicati surely can earn a return trip to regions next March.
In Tyers’ two losses at Eastern, one match lasted two seconds too long, the other ended two seconds too soon. Life has a way of evening things out, so two seconds here, two seconds there, it all comes out in the wash. Tell that to Tyers.
"I feel for Brandan," said Russo, the Rams’ fifth-year coach who once might have been happy with a .500 record, but now wants more than this year’s 15-6 record, CVC Valley Division title, berth in the Central Jersey Group III sectional tournament, and Mercer County Tournament (John Bardachino) and District 25 (Tyers) individual champions, plus assorted seconds and thirds.
"Brandan lost a couple of heartbreakers. It’s not like he got his butt kicked. He lost tough matches. Brandan’s a great kid. He’s the best kid I ever saw wrestle at Hightstown High School."
In Friday night’s quarterfinals, Tyers was ahead 10-8 late when Vinny Commisso, the Delran freshman, scored a reversal and two back points in the final five seconds for a 12-10 win. The next day Tyers regained his footing in the first-round wrestlebacks when he pinned Fred Schmidt of Camden Catholic in 1:39. But in the second round Sterling’s Jarrid Sauer, the second seed who would place third, opened a 5-0 lead and held on to defeat Tyers 6-5.
The win over Schmidt was Tyers’ 74th of his career, putting him into a tie for the all-time win record at Hightstown with Randy Pullen, Class of ’83, and a member of the Hightstown Hall of Fame since 1997. Perhaps one day Tyers will take his place in the Hall of Fame too.
"Obviously another win breaks the record, and two more gets him into states. What stinks about wrestling is, unless you are a state champion, you are going to lose your last match. We wanted to get him through regions. If there is anything positive from this, it is the other kids on the team can believe they can be the next one to go (to regions). It adds an incentive to them, having seen how hard Brandan worked."
Had Tyers won at Eastern, he would have become the first-ever region champion at Hightstown. The last Ram wrestler to make states was Glen Anderson back in 1990. Tyers used those pieces of information as goal-setters, as Russo noted. Now one of his successors can use it the way Tyers did.
"Brandan’s an unbelievable kid. Initially he took (Saturday’s defeat) hard. Within ten minutes he was out there rooting for Indellicati. As good a wrestler he is, that’s how good a teammate Brandan is."
Indellicati opened in Friday night’s quarters with a 7-0 loss to eventual champ Tom Scotton of Willingboro. The next day he won a forfeit in the first-round wrestlebacks, then was pinned in 2:18 by Eastern’s Andrew Coles, the third-place finisher, in the second round wrestlebacks.
Said Russo, "Dan looked good. He was competitive. Both guys who beat him are going to states. They are great wrestlers. Scotton has not been taken down all year. Dan got the most out of his season. He overachieved. Even making it out of districts was a tossup. I talked to him afterwards about placing at regions next year. He is one kid who just got better every match. He wrestled every opponent, whatever their record, the same. He was aggressive, not scared. Twenty-one wins for a sophomore is outstanding. He will break some records for Hightstown."
The season may have ended on an off-key, but for Russo, assistant Roger Weck, and all the Hightstown grapplers, it was a year to enjoy.
"We did a lot this year. We accomplished so much as a group. Our strength was not a Tyers or a Bardachino. It’s the team, and teamwork. It sounds corny, but everyone fed off each other. I’ve never been around a group that got along so well. I already miss it.
"My goal is to take it up another level next year. Brandan set the standard. Now lets have two district champs, three. I’d love that. The kids have to do more than wrestle in the three-month season. They can’t show up with dust that collected on their wrestling shoes. They have to do the work throughout the year. Brandan was our shining example. I remember two years ago he was an okay wrestler. Now he is the all-time winningest wrestler. He did it mostly the last two years" with 49 wins.
Russo would like to expand the schedule next year, add some south Jersey powerhouses, to improve the stock of his wrestlers. The step-up in competition would make the Rams better wrestlers and enhance their chances of going further in the tournament.
"I want us to get better," said Russo.
This was a special team, a group that Russo will long remember.
"I can’t ask for a better group of guys. They never complained, they worked hard, they deserved every medal, trophy, championship, newspaper article. I am proud of every one, from Bardachino and Tyers to the jayvee wrestlers.
"I didn’t want it to end," added Russo. "Now I want to take it to the next step. It’s long overdue. We’ve got a lot of talent. We just have to put in the time and believe in ourselves."
Hightstown will soldier on next winter without Tyers, Bardachino, Chris Crawford, Greg Scheman and Andy Feeney. But a strong group of returnees including Indellicati, Ricky Vetick, Brian Leibowitz, Tim Trivisonno, Erik Crawford, Ethan Lippman, Kenny Amponsa, Dan Ratner and Matt Bryant, plus a promising group of freshmen and jayvee wrestlers, insures that the program is in good shape in the years to come.
