Daily Record 1/04/05
By Joe Hofmann

A Final Look at Tourney Season
Note: The following article is a reprint from the Daily Record. Writer
Joe Hofmann comments on recent holiday tournament wrestling, lists his current top 10 teams and top area wrestlers by weight class.

The Christmas Tournament season is behind us, but here is one last thumbnail sketch at each tourney involving local teams before we head into the dual meets.

Beast of the East: Delbarton’s two-time state champion Mike Grey (119) suffers his first high school loss in a 5-3 OT setback against St. Augustine’s Franklin Gomez. Bet you didn’t know that Gomez wrestled for St. Augustine in South Jersey and was pinned in 5:52 by Rahway’s Darrion Caldwell in the 2003 state tournament.

Caldwell: Randolph’s Kyle Bieg (119) and Ryan Davidson (189) win titles in what is arguably New Jersey’s best in-season tournament.

Dover: Lenape Valley’s Tom Mikolay knocked off West Orange’s returning state qualifier Tommy Lorenzo in overtime, 3-1. Lorenzo lost a 3-2 overtime decision in the first round of the states to Delran’s eventual third-placer Kyle Milanese.

Morris Knolls: Golden Eagles 130-pounder Mike Eagen wins his first of two Christmas tournaments. He would later win Outstanding Wrestler at Parsippany.

Hanover Park: The host Hornets roll to the title in a tough field that includes
Rahway, Paramus and Toms River South with champs Dario Marcelli (125), Joe Troise (152) and McPaul Ogbonna (160) winning titles.

Hopatcong: The Chiefs are in for a rebuilding year, but champions A.J. Pagano (130), Will Spaziani (145) and Zack Rey (Hwt.) should post good seasons.

Lakeland: Boonton transfer Andrew Barnish, who comes in from St. Joseph-Montvale, won a title while competing for the first time in a Bombers singlet. Barnish and fellow champion Matt Rathbun (189) should form a solid one-two combo.

Mount Olive: Jefferson’s trio of Ken Monarque (130), Tyler Milonas (112) and state champion Dan Vallimont (140) win titles.

Lenape Valley: Two of Lenape Valley’s big guns — D.J. Russo (171) and Colin Nagy (189) — knock off two of Randolph’s big guns in the finals. Russo pinned returning state qualifier Frank Fioretto in 2:39. Nagy followed with a 2-0 win over Ryan Davidson. Fioretto and Davidson were both ranked first at their respective weights.

Warren Hills: Pope John’s Eli Blahut (130), West Morris Pete Hornung (160) and Sparta’s Mike Roselle (171) win titles.

Kittatinny: Pequannock’s Andrew Miller pinned Roxbury’s returning state qualifier Mike Cancelliere in 5:24.

Hunterdon Central: Jefferson’s Vallimont squeaked past Mendham’s Alex Conover in the 140-pound final, 4-3. Conover had just come down from 145.

Secaucus: Morris Hills rolls to the title with Dan Traglia (112), Mike Goldsworth (119) and Kelvin Figueroa (215) winning titles.

Roselle Park: Madison’s Nico Somers (215) shows why he is one of New Jersey’s best at his weight with his second Christmas tournament crown.

Area Rankings

Morristown’s Mike Trippler beat Parsippany’s Craig Kennedy last week and assumed the No. 1 ranking. Sparta’s Travis Helmlinger, ranked fifth last week, beat West Morris’ Jeremy Adickes in the consolation finals at the John Goles Tournament by a fall in 5:18. Adickes was third.

Mendham’s Alex Conover dropped down to 140 and lost in the Hunterdon Central finals to Jefferson’s state champion Dan Vallimont, 4-3. …

Randolph’s Ryan Webb beat Hopatcong’s Will Spaziani, 8-1, and is now the No. 2-ranked wrestler at 145. …

Randolph’s unranked Vince DeCaro beat Montville’s Nick Gaeta, 4-2, at the Lenape Valley Christmas Tournament. Gaeta was ranked second here last week. …

103: 1. Ryan Fikslin (Roxbury); 2. Jon Fennell (Mendham); 3. Paul Grogan (Lenape Valley); Frank Perrelli (Delbarton); 5. Ben McNeil (Parsippany Hills).

112: 1. John Paxos (Roxbury); 2. Tyler Milonas (Jefferson); 3. Jack McNeil (Parsippany Hills); 4. Nick Serritella (Hanover Park); 5. Justin Vetrini (Mount Olive). 119: 1. Mike Grey (Delbarton); 2. Sean Quigley-Shann (Mount Olive); 3. Kyle Bieg (Randolph); 4. Matt McClusky (Mendham); 5. Wilson Rodriguez (Dover). 125: 1. Paul Galipeau (Parsippany Hills); 2. Trevor Melde (Delbarton); 3. Tom Mikolay (Lenape Valley); 4. John Barnett (Jefferson); 5. Dario Marcelli (Hanover Park).

130: 1. Mike Eagen (Morris Knolls); 2. Robert Bowman (Butler); 3. Matt Olivo (Lenape Valley); 4. Ken Monarque (Jefferson); 5. Nick Freda (Mendham).

135: 1. Mike Trippler (Morristown); 2. Craig Kennedy (Parsippany); 3. Matt Herr (Morris Knolls); 4. Travis Helmlinger (Sparta); 5. Vince DeCaro (Randolph).

140: 1. Dan Vallimont (Jefferson); 2. Alex Conover (Mendham); 3. Bill Steinmetz (Morris Knolls); 4. Mario Passifiume (Mountain Lakes); 5. Frankie Davis (Madison). 145: 1. Jionni LaValle (Hanover Park); 2. Ryan Webb (Randolph); 3. Andrew Grenot (Roxbury); 4. Mike Farina (Morris Knolls); 5. Will Spaziani (Hopatcong).

152: 1. Dan DiColo (Mount Olive); 2. Ryan McCabe (Kinnelon); 3. Joe Troise (Hanover Park); 4. Josh Pettit (Randolph); 5. Phil Takacs (Sparta).

160: 1. McPaul Ogbonna (Hanover Park); 2. Larry Rizzo (Morris Knolls); 3. Ted Kingsbury (Delbarton); 4. Pete Hornung (West Morris); 5. Mike Dunn (Pequannock).

171: 1. D.J. Russo (Lenape Valley); 2. Frank Fioretto (Randolph); 3. Mike Roselle (Sparta); 4. Cliff Dawkins (Dover); 5. Andrew Barnish (Boonton).

189: 1. Matt Rathbun (Boonton); 2. Colin Nagy (Lenape Valley); 3. Ryan Davidson (Randolph); 4. Kevin Johnson (Kinnelon); 5. Dennis Coyle (Pequannock).

215: 1. Nico Somers (Madison); 2. Andrew Miller (Pequannock); 3. Mike Cancelliere (Roxbury); 4. Mike Adams (Parsippany); 5. Steve Galli (Montville).

Hwt.: 1. Zach Rey (Hopatcong); 2. Tom Ottaiano (Hanover Park); 3. Zach Walsh (Morris Knolls); 4. Pete Zamirski (Sparta); 5. Tyler Blumenthal (Kinnelon).

For corrections and/or discussion (not whining), contact Jhofmann@gannett.com.

Gannett State Rankings

Jefferson’s returning state champion Dan Vallimont is ranked first at 140 pounds — right ahead of Mendham’s Alex Conover — in Gannett’s first weight-by-weight rankings of the season. It took one day for Conover to emerge as a state contender. He beat Hunterdon Central’s Nick Alparone in the semifinals, 5-1, before losing to Vallimont, 4-3.

Roxbury’s Ryan Fikslin, coming off convincing wins at both the Dover and Kittatinny Christmas tournaments, is ranked first at 103. Delbarton’s two-time state champion Mike Grey (119) is a clear choice for first in his weight.

103: 1. Ryan Fikslin (Roxbury); 2. Patrick Hunter (South Plainfield); 3. Dan Kelly (Delaware Valley); 4. Bob Dabal (North Bergen); 5. Joe Trouse (Bergen Catholic).

112: 1. John Trumbetti (St. Joseph-Montvale); 2. Matt Pagan (Bishop Ahr); 3. Kyle Packer (Cherokee); 4. John Paxos (Roxbury); 5. Tyler Milonas (Jefferson).

119: 1. Mike Grey (Delbarton); 2. Jim Conroy (South Plainfield); 3. Voris Tejada (Cherokee); 4. Sean Quinn (Southern); 5. Sean O'Grady (St. Peter's Prep).

125: 1. Chris Notte (Holy Cross); 2. Trevor Melde (Delbarton); 3. Matt Rizzo (Lakewood); 4. Paul Galipeau (Parsippany Hills); 5. Will Livingston (Kittatinny).

130: 1. Cory Dunn (Rutherford); 2. Darrion Caldwell (Rahway); 3. Rob Hickman (Southern); 4. Bryan Tracy (Paulsboro); 5. Dan Lopes (Ocean).

135: 1. Nick Orio (Eastern); 2. Joe Bubenheimer (Woodbridge); 3. Sal Tirico (Lodi); 4. Steve Mineo (Soutch Plains); 5. Oscar Orellana (Lakewood).

140: 1. Dan Vallimont (Jefferson); 2. Alex Conover (Mendham); 3. Nick Alparone (Hunterdon Central); 4. Dan Tramontozzi (Kittatinny); 5. Scott Winston (Jackson).

145: 1. Derek Sickles (Bergen Catholic); 2. Tom Fazio (Lakeland); 3. Tom Scotton (Willingboro); 4. Bobby Flegal (Absegami); 5. Tony Palmieri (Camden Catholic).

152: 1. Andrew Flanagan (Bound Brook); 2. Alex Caruso (Watchung Hills); 3. Tom Spellman (Kittatinny); 4. Phil Black (Absegami); 5. Chuck Martel (Paulsboro).

160: 1. Scott Giffen (Eastern); 2. Randy Moore (Camden Catholic); 3. Dave Richmond (Warren Hills); 4. Kyle Kiss (Ocean Twp.); 5. Pat Hogan (Cranford).

171: 1. Frank Dugan (Passaic Valley); 2. Angelo DiLeo (Seton Hall Prep); 3. Brendon Griffin (Riverside); 4. Mark Peiffer (Overbrook); 5. Nick Parisi (Marlboro).

189: 1. Vince Jones (Winslow Twp.); 2. Mike Toomey (Kingsway); 3. Mike Wilcox (Buena); 4. Chris Jones (Piscataway); 5. Matt Clancy (South Brunswick).

215: 1. Shane Mallory (New Providence); 2. Ian McCleaf (Pemberton); 3. Dave Zabriskie (High Point); 4. Keith Dobish (Lodi); 5. Kevin Malast (Manchester).

Hwt: 1. Dennis Landolt (Holy Cross); 2. Eric Sewell (Hackensack); 3. Rab Ragona (West Milford); 4. Roy Dragon (Bridgewater); 5. Demetrius Hester (Paulsboro).

Joe Hofmann can be reached at jhofmann@gannett.com or (973) 428-6674.