By: Sean Moylan Sports Writer
After a decade of dominance, the Northern Burlington County Regional High varsity wrestling team was, basically, just an average wrestling squad last year.
Nevertheless, there is a good chance that fans of Greyhounds’ wrestling may one day look back at the 2007-2008 season with great fondness and admiration. Because NBC head coach Jule Dolci and his coaching crew used much of last season to develop their raw, young talent. The Greyhounds didn’t have a lot of “ready-made” wrestlers like they have had before, but they did have a lot of enthusiastic, talented young kids willing to take their early-season lumps and put in the necessary time and effort to get better.
“I don’t think anyone will be underestimating our team. If they do, they might be counting the lights,” said Dolci, who made sure his young team worked as hard over the summer as it did during last season. “This is one of the best off-seasons that we’ve had in a long, long time. We had a solid group of kids get close to 50 bouts, while Jeff Townsend got close to 75 bouts. You can’t be successful without mat time. Our boys should be ready.”
Last year Townsend, a senior 171-pounder, and Josh Jones, a junior 135-pounder, were two of the best Cinderella stories at the District 25 championships. This year the sky is the limit for Townsend and Jones, who will both be shooting for a spot in the 2009 NJSIAA State Tournament at Atlantic City.
“Townsend and Jones both made it to Regions last year and both look solid,” Dolci noted. “Nobody has worked harder than Townsend.
“I think that Evan Million (a sophomore 112-pounder) and Harley Palyok (a sophomore 145-pounder) are going to sneak up on people this year. Both had tremendous freshman years and both have made huge improvements.
“Our sleeper guys will be our big guys. We have a ton of competition in the room and our returners are coming off solid years. Joe Smylie and Will Morgan (who are both senior 215-pounders) were two of the smallest big guys we have seen and both had good years. Scott Root (a junior) has also worked his tail off to get in the mix of things at 189.”
Some of the wrestlers worked so hard over the summer, Dolci almost felt the need to reintroduce himself.
“Kids like Jon Ferrell (a sophomore 103-pounder), Mike Owens (a junior 130-pounder) and Deshaun Washington (a sophomore 152-pounder) have improved so much there are times I forget who they are,” Dolci said.
Despite his club’s uncharacteristic 10-14 record, Dolci could see that his young wrestlers were getting better with each and every match last season. Moreover, record-setting senior seasons by R.J. Melton and Phil Bowen, two of the most beloved figures in Northern Burlington wrestling history, made last season very exciting on another level.
“We battled all year and made some matches closer than they should have been, but moral victories don’t exist in our sport. I never heard a kid come off a mat and say, ‘well gosh jeepers, at least I only got beat by five’. No way,” said Dolci, who had to say goodbye to a pair of his favorite wrestlers last spring.
“We lost a couple of guys, but the two we will miss the most are Phil Bowen and R.J. Melton. Both of those guys have been huge contributors over the last four years. Losing them is going to be a real void in our lineup this year. I feel confident that we will have some new blood come in this year and fill those voids.”
One thing that is for sure is the Greyhounds are deep and will have at least two kids battling for each open spot in the lineup. Seniors Charlie Realmonte (160), Nate Armontrout (152), Joey Stout (103) and Stephanie Schuster (125) and juniors Scott Gangel (119), Kam Singh (125), John Rafferty (160), Zach Way (285), Chris Grant (160), Alex Gaudreau (125) and Austin Palombi (145) will all be battling for varsity mat time. Sophomore Harvey Singh is a solid 130-pounder.
This year NBC has a strong group of incoming freshmen including: Will Ashmore (130), Severo Cardenas (112), Donato Horte (152), Todd Hoisington (103), Mike Kendall (119), John Konopka (152), Matt Nixon (112), Zak Pate (145), Paul Preidel (160), Eugene Simpson (112), Billy Stout (140), Cody Melton (215), Robbie Johnson (145), Jordan Howard (285), Michael Moscatiello (152), Dan Grossman (171) and Joey Foggia (171).
As always, expectations will be high this season.
“We will be one of the most improved teams in South Jersey this year. No doubt. Our kids look solid, but more importantly, they want to get the stink of last year off of them. They were always hungry, and now they’ve got that anger and intensity back that I think has been missing in our room for a couple of seasons. This isn’t a ho-hum sport where you can just show up and perform. You’ve got to earn it. Our boys are about to earn it,” remarked a very pumped up Dolci.
“Our goal this year is the same as it is every year — win every chance we get. We don’t go into bouts looking to keep it close. That’s what losers do to make themselves feel better. We want to win, win the duals, win the league, win sectionals and win the district title.”
This Saturday Northern Burlington County is scheduled at Christian Brothers Academy. NBC is scheduled at Burlington Township next Monday.
