Daily Record 1/11/04
By Joe Hofmann

Liberato has Chatham running on right track

Note: The following article is a reprint from the Daily Record. Writer Joe Hofmann comments on the Chatham HS program and other Morris county wrestling.

Chatham may not be in the running for any championships this fall, but Cougars coach Mike Liberato has the program headed in the right direction.

John Scardilli (189) and John Lutke (145) each took second in the Newark Academy Tournament Saturday.

“Scardilli is just a second-year wrestler,” Liberato said. “He had two pins in the tournament. He’s down from 250 pounds last year. That’s a tremendous amount of weight he lost.”

Lutke is another inexperienced wrestler benefiting from Liberato’s tutelage.

“I pulled him out of the hallway to get him to come out,” Liberato said. “He was real raw but he’s improving. He was third in the districts last year but he’s gotten so much better.”

Liberato attracts wrestlers to the sport by convincing them that they’ll improve athletically if they hit the mats.

“It’ll make you a better football player, better in soccer, lacrosse, whatever,” Liberato said. “I’ve implemented Navy Seals training and that’s been a big help to all the wrestlers.”

Colts Coming On

Last year, Kinnelon heavyweight Tyler Blumenthal was pinned in the second period by Pingry’s Sytze Kamphius. Last week, however, the 215-pound Blumenthal bumped up to heavyweight and beat Kamphius, 4-2.

Teammate Ryan McCabe, meanwhile, bumped up to 152 and was majored by state contender Zach Shanaman of Pingry, 10-2.

“He bumped up to wrestle the No. 1 kid in the state and he did well,” Kinnelon coach Frank Ciaburri said. “He got in deep on five shots, but Shanaman is so scrappy. His strength had something to do with it. Shanaman is a little bigger, but Ryan went at him. Ryan didn’t back away.

“He should win the district (District 4) and I really believe he could be Kinnelon’s first Morris County champ. He has a great work ethic and is a great all-around kid. He was a little sluggish and nervous for (Mendham’s) Alex Conover (a 5-4 Conover victory) last week. Ryan was a little hesitant, but now he has that under his belt.”

Ciaburri has stepped up Kinnelon’s schedule. The Colts wrestled in the Bergenfield Quad, which included Mendham and Pequannock. They have also wrestled Dover.

“Our kids were a little frustrated, but in order for us to step up, we need to wrestle competition that is better than us,” Ciaburri said. “We have to find teams that want to wrestle us. Teams might not want to wrestle us because we are not great, but we’re hunting.

“I feel bad for (Dover coach) Sean Bullock. We forfeited five matches against them, so seeing that, who would want to wrestle us? That makes it tough for us to schedule matches against better teams.”

Kinnelon has its own recreation program for the first time ever. Kinnelon’s midgets had competed with Bloomingdale and Butler but has its own for the first time.

Colonials Improved

Morristown finished fourth at the Newark Academy Tournament thanks to the work of such wrestlers as champion Matt Flynn (171), Mohammed Abdelhady (103), Mike Trippler (130) and Mark Mayes (Hwt.).

Flynn majored Madison’s A.J. Rooney, 18-10. Abdelhady defeated DePaul’s Ryan Aponte in the consolation round, 10-2. Last year, Aponte tecked Abdelhady. Trippler, a second-year wrestler, took third. Mayes couldn’t crack the Colonials’ lineup but is now 7-4.

Morristown beat East Orange last week but was almost forced to forfeit the match because it was late. The Colonials were tardy because they originally reported to Upsala for the match.

But Morristown coach Terry Hurley protested to the official and the match took place with his team winning, 57-15.

Ironically, East Orange is “never” on time for wrestling matches, according to one Morris County coach.

Coming Together

There is a movement underway that will allow Bayley-Ellard students who wish to wrestle to compete for Newark Academy, which is down to eight wrestlers in its program. In addition, 10 wrestlers from the school’s midget program did not come out. Bayley hasn’t had a program the last few years.

“It’s a natural fit,” Newark Academy coach Jay Gerish said. “We have a wrestling room that is the best in the state. It would be a great thing.”

“It’s being discussed, that’s where we are right now,” Bayley-Ellard Athletic Director Dennis Mikula said.

Grey area

The New Jersey All-Star Duals will be held at Rider University Jan. 25 at noon. Delbarton’s defending state champion Mike Grey (112) will not attend because he’s already wrestled 11 matches — winning all 11 — and coach Ted O’Donnell wants to save Grey for the dual meet season.

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