Porreca set new standard for Knights
Vinny Porreca came into his final year with the West Windsor-Plainsboro North wrestling team season just looking to go further than he ever had.
The senior did so, and in the process he set a new standard for the Knights program.
”If someone can live up to what Vinny did, that’s remarkable,” said Knights head coach Ed Ferraro. “He’s the best wrestler to come out of the West Windsor North program. I feel like kids want to step in his shoes now.”
Porreca had enjoyed solid seasons in his first three years with the Knights. He showed promise each season. He took fifth at the Mercer County Tournament as a sophomore, then placed third in District 20 at 160 pounds to qualify for his first Region 5 tournament. Last year, he was third in the MCT and second at 182 pounds in the district. He lost in the first round of the region tournament.
”Freshman year, I came in at 170 which was a tough weight class to wrestle at as a freshman,” Porreca said. “Then the next two years, I was around the same area. I got adjusted to the type of wrestlers I’d see and what I’d work toward.”
Porreca went to work in the offseason to improve on his weaknesses. He came back more confident in his abilities, and ready to wrestle the best of his career after all the work that he did.
”This offseason I did a lot of club wrestling,” Porreca said. “Coach Ferraro helped us a lot. His practices pushed us. I can move around a lot and push the pace.”
Porreca breezed through the first couple of months unbeaten. He rolled to his first MCT title at 220 pounds when he pinned Nottingham’s Devion Stokes. It was his third win by pin in three matches of the MCT. He was still unbeaten until the District 20 championship at 220, when Monroe’s Nicholas Goff beat him, 1-0, for the title. The two met again in the Region 5 championship the next week, and Goff won again, 3-2, but Porreca’s second-place finish was his best yet and made him the first wrestler from WW-P North to qualify for the Tournament of Champions in Atlantic City. Porreca lost his first match of the TOC, but came back with a signature win as he avenged his losses to Goff with a pin in the third period to end the Monroe wrestler’s season. Porreca lost a close match in the second consolation round to end his senior season with a 34-4 record.
”My goal was to make it to Atlantic City,” Porreca said. “I think I surprised myself by pinning through the county and getting second in the district and second in the region. I had high expectations but I really shocked myself.”
Porreca exits WW-P North as the winningest wrestler in school history. He finished with 99 career wins. His 34 wins was a school record for wins in a season and his individual season mark is the best ever for a Knights wrestler. He had a school-record 24 pins in a season, with the most pins under 60 seconds in an individual season with 13. His career mark of 99-33 is best in school history, as is his career pins of 50 and pins under 60 seconds of 20. He scored 229 points between dual and tournament matches for the most in Knights history and helped set the tone for a WW-P North team that jumped from one win a year ago to seven this season.
Vinny Porreca is the Princeton Packet Wrestler of the Year.
”It’s impossible to replace Vinny,” Ferraro said. “I’m hoping some guys will step it up and want to be that guy to try.”
Porreca set the example for how to work and how to go from good to great. He took his role as a leader seriously for the Knights.
”As a captain, I did everything Coach asked me,” Porreca said. “I did everything to help the team. If a kid needed to stay after, I’d stay after. If someone had questions, I’d answer them.”
Porreca’s commitment impressed Ferraro. He watched Porreca develop daily.
”He busted his rear end every day,” Ferraro said. “He stayed after numerous times. We stayed after school ‘til 7:30 sometimes so he could get a lift in. He did not stop a single second in the season because that’s what he wanted to accomplish. He accomplished so much as an individual and for our team.”
Porreca had proven to be a good enough wrestler to compete in the county, district and region, but to rise to the top, he had to improve this season. He made himself tougher to beat.
”I think the biggest jump for me was my work on the bottom,” Porreca said. “Last year, I had a tough time getting out. This year, I got out every time I was on the bottom. I didn’t give up one back point.”
Not one time this season did Porreca slip up and give an opponent a chance at putting him on his back. Instead, it was he that frequently pinned opponents, including all three of his foes in the MCT to finally win a country crown.
”That was one of my goals all through high school,” Porreca said. “Winning the county showed me where I was. It gave me a lot of motivation to move on to districts and then to states.”
Porreca credits Ferraro with helping to develop him and the team. It was Ferraro’s first year in charge of the Knights, and they showed improvements.
”How he had the team united like a family, he brought everyone together,” Porreca said. “He was like a father at practice rather than a coach. When he ran practice, everything he did, he would be working it like a match. It was tough, but it was all worth it.”
Ferraro felt spoiled to have a wrestler like Porreca in his first year with the program. Ferraro had been brought in to change the culture of the program, and that went better because of Porreca buying into it.
”The start of the season, I didn’t know what they were about,” Ferraro said. “I was feeling them out. I didn’t know how hard I could push them. No matter what drill I put in their way, he attacked it. He was one of the hardest workers I’ve seen in the wrestling room. If someone was slacking off, he was pushing them, saying we’re doing this to get better as a team.
”I had heard about him. I was looking forward to working with him. He was an amazing hard worker from the start.”
Porreca never stopped developing, and that paid off at the TOC. Faced with the only wrestler to get the better of him before the TOC, Porreca earned sweet revenge with a pin of Goff.
”For me, that was the highlight of the year,” Porreca said. “We had two close matches, and I finally got him. When I pinned him, that was one of the highlights of my career.”
It was a thrill for the entire program. Some of his teammates were there to watch and cheer him on at the TOC, and his success is inspiring.
”Vinny bought into what I was trying to do with the guys this year,” Ferraro said. “He wanted to do well and he wanted the team to succeed so bad. He had a lot of pressure from the guys because they were looking up to him. He was a great role model.”
Said Porreca: “That means a lot. We have a lot of young kids on the team with tons of potential. Me making states this year gave everyone that extra motivation. Next year, I feel like we have a few wrestlers that can make it down to states.”
Porreca will be looking to continue to develop as a wrestler at the next level. He is visiting and trying to find what college will be the best fit for him. He expects the competition to be tougher on the mats, but he knows how far he has come and how he will have to compete.
”You have to be relentless,” Porreca said. “You have to work hard non-stop.”
It is that mentality that brought him his goals and a record-setting season in his last year with WW-P North.
”He wanted to help everyone else,” Ferraro said. “He’s like a dream wrestler on a coach’s team. He’ll do anything for them.”
