ROCKAWAY - Two No. 5s and a No. 8.
Those are the seeds from where Morris Hills wrestlers Cody Sternlicht, Brian Griese and Joey Casale will be wrestling when the Region 1 Wrestling Tournament resumes with the quarterfinal round on Friday, Feb. 26, at Wallkill Valley High School.
Wrestling is scheduled to start at 5 p.m.
Sternlicht, a senior who posted a 23-10 record this winter, was seeded No. 5 in the 145-pound division and will face No. 4 seed Chris Burge, a Kittatinny senior with a 29-3 record. Burge, the District 3 champion, drew a bye in the prelims.
Griese, the Knights' senior heavyweight who posted a 17-7 record this winter, was seeded No. 5 and faces No. 4 seed Joe Yarosz of Morris Catholic. Yarosz, a senior who was 21-4 this past season, pinned Trevor Papenmeier of High Point in 2:57 of his prelim match.
Casale drew the No. 8 seed at 160 and the senior, who was 24-9 this season, will square off against top seed and District 1 champ Matt Artigliere of Warren Hills, a senior who brings a 23-3 record into the quarterfinals.
The tournament continues Saturday, Feb. 27, at 9 a.m. with semifinals, wrestlebacks and consolation rounds. The title bouts are expected to start at 6 p.m.
If Friday's competition is postponed by weather, the quarterfinals, semifinals and wrestlebacks will be held Saturday, Feb. 27, with wrestling starting at 9 a.m. The consolations and championship bouts will then be moved to Sunday, Feb. 28, at a time that has yet to be determined.
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Sternlicht, Grise, Casale move on to Region 1 tourney
ROCKAWAY - Cody Sternlicht and Joey Casale won by pin and Brian Grise won by decision as all three of Morris Hills High School’s wrestlers who had qualified for the Region 1 Wrestling Tournament advanced in preliminary-round action at Wallkill Valley High School on Tuesday, Feb. 23.
Sternlicht wasted no time at all in getting his pin as he put away Tyler VanDyke of Pequannock at 1:16 of their bout in the 145-pound division.
Casale was almost as quick, needing 1:45 to pin Mike Varca of Lakeland in their bout at 160.
Grise went ahead early and stayed in control and defeated Kittatinny’s Nick Molteni, 6-3, in their heavyweight match.
The eight wrestlers in each weight class - each of the four district champs at each weight drew preliminary-round byes - will now be seeded for the round-of-eight quarterfinal round that will be held at Wallkill on Friday, Feb. 26, starting at 5 p.m. Semifinals, wrestleback and consolation rounds will be held Saturday, Feb. 27, starting at 9 a.m. with the title bouts scheduled for 5 p.m.
In the event Friday’s action is postponed by weather, the quarterfinals, semifinals and wrestlebacks will be held Saturday starting at 9 a.m. and the consolation round and title bouts will be held Sunday at a time that has yet to be determined.
The top three wrestlers in each weight class from the eight regional tournaments advance to the state tournament at Atlantic City on March 5-6-7.
With Sternlict, Casale and Grise moving on, Morris Hills head coach Joe Barchetto was understandable very pleased with the efforts of all three of his wrestlers.
"“They all wrestled very well," Barchetto said. "Sternlict and Casale were able to take advantage of mistakes by their opponents and capitalize with first-period pins.
"And Grise made a huge five-point move in the first period and then wrestled smart the rest of the way to beat a very good wrestler."
Notes: Digging into the Morris Hills wrestling books, Barchetto found out that his team’s 13 dual meet wins this past season tied a school record that was first set in 1981 and matched again in 1987.
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Sternlict, Casale, Grise move on to Region 1 tourney
ROCKAWAY - The season continues for Cody Sternlict, Joey Casale and Brian Grise.
The three Morris Hills High School wrestlers will be competing in the Region 1 tournament at Wallkill Valley High School starting on Tuesday, Feb. 23, after they advanced out of the District 2 tournament that was held at Hopatcong High School on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 19-20.
Sternlich (145) and Casale (160) finished second in their respective weight classes and Grise placed third at heavyweight to qualify for the region tourney.
The top three finishers in each weight class in the District 1, 2, 3 and 4 tournaments move on to the Region 1 competition. The district champs get a bye and the second- and third-place finishers in each weight class will be seeded on Monday, Feb. 22.
Wrestling at Wallkill begins at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 23, and the winners and district champs will then be reseeded for the quarterfinal round that will be held on Friday, Feb. 26, starting at 5 p.m.
On Saturday, Feb. 27, wrestling starts at 9 a.m. with the semifinals and the consolation-round bouts and championship bouts will then follow.
Montville won its second straight district title with a 164-point total with Randolph the runnerup with 138 points. Morris Knolls finished third with 120 points followed by Lenape Valley (4th, 113 points); Roxbury (5th, 110); Hopatcong (6th, 102); Morris Hills (7th, 59); Dover (8th, 51) and Morris Catholic (9th, 43) completing the nine-team field.
Sternlicht, the No. 3 seed at 145, reached his title bout by beating No. 2 seed Demetrious Rotsides of Roxbury, 2-1, in a semifinal-round bout. Sternlicht, who will take a 22-10 record into the region competition, then lost a 13-4 decision to top-seeded Rob Smith of Randolph in the championship bout.
Casale, the second seed at 160, defeated No. 3 seed Eric Calimano of Randolph, 5-4, in the semifinal match and then lost to top-seed Miguel Burgos of Hopatcong, 6-1, in the title bout. Casale is 23-9 after going 2-1 in the districts.
Grise, the No. 4 seed in the heavyweight division, was pinned in the semifinals by top seed and eventual champion Peter Wolmart of Randolph. Grise, who is now 16-7, came back in the consolation bout to pin No. 3 seed Mike Cautero of Roxbury to earn his third-place spot and his trip to Wallkill.
Joey Moran, second-seeded at 130 and the fourth Knight to reach the district semifinals, came within a point in each of two bouts of going on to the regions. Moran lost a 4-3 overtime decision to No. 3 seed John Arbelaez in their 130-pound semifinal and then went into the consolation round where he lost a 7-6 decision to No. 5 seed Kevin Garcia of Dover.
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Moran, Sternlict, Grise, Casale advance to district semis
ROCKAWAY - Joey Moran advanced with a pin ... Cody Sternlicht advanced with a quicker pin ... and Brian Grise had the quickest pin of the three ... and Joey Casale won by decision.
Morris Hills advanced four wrestlers into the semifinal round of the two-day District 2 Wrestling Tournament that completed preliminary and quarterfinal rounds Friday, Feb. 19, at Hopatcong High School.
Wrestling resumes Saturday, Feb. 20, at 11 a.m. with the semifinals and will be followed by the consolation round for third and fourth place that is scheduled to start at 4 p.m. The championship bouts start at 5 p.m.
The top three winners in each weight class advance to the Region 1 tournament that starts Friday, Nov. 26 at Wallkill Valley High School.
Morris Hills is in eighth place with 38 points after the first day of wrestling.
Montville (92 points) is leading after one day with Roxbury (83) in second and these two should continue to battle it out for the team title in Saturday�s action.
Lenape Valley is third with 68 points; Morris Knolls and Randolph are tied for fourth, each with 66 points; Hopatcong is sixth with 50 points; Dover is seventh with 42 points and Morris Catholic rounds out the nine-team field with 30 points.
Moran, who entered the tournament as the No. 2 seed at 130, stopped No. 7 seed Anthony Grogan of Lenape Valley at 4:34 of their bout to improve his record to 24-9 for the season.
Sternlicht, the third seed at 145, needed 2:47 to stop No. 6 seed Andrew LaBell of Lenape Valley to improve his record to 21-9.
Grise didn�t even have to wrestle past the first period as the No. 4 seed stopped No. 5 seed Sidney Padilla of Hopatcong at 1:28 of their heavyweight match. Grise is now 15-6 on the season.
Failing to advance for Morris Hills were: David Salinas (13-7), the No. 6 seed at 112, who lost a 6-2 decision to No. 3 seed Anthony Botro of Randolph; Keith Williams (15-16), the No. 5 seed at 125, who was pinned by No. 4 seed Ryan Schaible of Dover; Devin Sullivan (17-12), the No. 5 seed at 135, who was pinned by No. 4 seed Chuck Spinella of Lenape Valley;
D.J. Wagner (4-3), the No. 6 seed at 140, who was pinned by No. 3 seed Christopher Olivo of Lenape Valley; Willie Rzucidlo (11-17), the No. 6 seed at 152, who was pinned by No. 3 seed Kevin Weis of Morris Hills; Chris Acevedo (10-16), the No. 6 seed at 171, who lost a 4-0 decision to No. 3 seed Dan Harris of Dover;
A.J. Napoli (2-8), the No. 7 seed at 189, who was pinned by No. 2 seed Kevin Hantke of Randolph; Michael Clifford (11-18), the No. 6 seed at 215, who lost a 6-0 decision to No. 3 seed Dave Maddison of Roxbury.
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(To see MH quarterfinal photos, point to 'Winter Photo Pages' and then click on 'MH Dist 2 Mat' when the sub menu appears)
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Hills finishes dual meet season with 13-9 record
ROCKAWAY - Joe Barchetto likes the way his Morris Hills High School wrestling team finished its dual-meet season.
Check that ... make it Joe Barchetto LOVES the way his team finished its dual-meet season.
Morris Hills won all three of its matches at the Roxbury Quad Fest at Roxbury High School on Saturday, Feb. 13, to close out its dual-meet season with a 13-9 record.
The Knights beat Northern Highlands, 33-29, on heavyweight Brian Grise's pin win at 2:52 in the final bout; they beat Ramsey, 36-30, with Grise putting the Knights ahead 33-30 with another pin and Brandon Acevedo following with a 9-2 decision victory to clinch the match; and they beat Hopatcong, 51-20, to close out their day.
The victory over Ramsey was especially sweet because Ramsey (14-12) beat out Morris Hills for the sixth and final spot in the recently completed team sectional tournament when its Power Point Rating was .02 higher than that of the Knights.
"�The kids were disappointed with not being able to wrestle in the team sectionals," said third-year head coach Joe Barchetto. "And then we lost a tough one to Knolls and that didn�t make them too happy, either.
"But we bounced back well by winning our last four matches of the season (the Knights beat Cedar Grove, 72-8, on Friday, Feb. 12, to get their weekend off on a winning note) and we�re hoping that winning attitude will take us into the districts now.
"This was the first time we have ever swept a quad ... and this is our first winning season in a long time. I�m extremely proud of the guys for coming back the way they did in these last four matches."
The Knights had to come back three times against Northern Highlands (17-7), dropping the first three matches to trail 12-0 before taking the lead at 13-12 after consecutive wins by Keith Williams (pin in 1:31 at 125), Joey Moran (15-5 major at 130), and Devin Dullivan (5-3 decision at 135).
Two wins by Northern Highlands put Morris Hills down 19-13, but three more consecutive wins - this time by Cody Sternlicth (12-4 major at 152),m Christian Acevedo (14-3 major at 160) and Joey Casale (pin in 3:39) - put the Knights back on top, 27-19.
Northern Highlands went back on top 29-27 with a major and a pin win that put the outcome squarely on Grise, who came through with his second-period pin to give the Knights their 33-29 victory.
In the win over Ramsey, the Knights were trailing 30-27 after the first 12 matches when Grise got a pin win at 1:30 to put Morris Hills back into the lead and then Acevedo clinched the 36-30 team victory with a 9-2 decision at 103.
"�We got huge wins from Keith Williams, Joey Moran, Devin Sullivan, Codey Sternlicht, Christian Acevedo and, of course, Brian Grise against Northern Highlands," Barchetto said. "And Grise came through again against Ramsey and then Brandon Acevedo came up big when he handled himself very well in a high-pressure situation to clinch that win for us."
Morris Hills split the 14 bouts against both Northern Highlands and Ramsey, winning both matches by getting more bonus points than their opponents.
Grise also got a 56-second pin against Hopatcong, giving him three wins for the day - all by pins.
Moran finished the day 3-0 at 130 with a pin, major decision and decision victory; and Sternlicht was also 3-0 with a pin win at 152.
Williams had two pin wins at 125; Sullivan had two wins with a pin at 135; Casale had a decision and pin win at 171; Steven Wulff had a pin among his two wins at 119; D.J. Wagner had a pin and a decision win at 140; and Willie Rzucidlo (145), A.J. Napoli (189), Christian Acevedo (160), Michael Clifford (215), and Brandon Acevedo (103) each won once.
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Knolls-Hills more than 'a match' to Barchetto
ROCKAWAY -- Morris Knolls 32, Morris Hills 22 meant much more to Joe Barchetto than the 18th match of his third year on the job as head coach of the wrestling team at Morris Hills High School.
Much more.
Barchetto will tell you that for the third year in a row the match between the sister-schools was exciting and "... something very special for both school's wrestling programs."
Both Morris Knolls coach Larry Rizzo and Barchetto - a former assistant to Rizzo at Knolls and also a Morris Knolls graduate - call Hills vs. Knolls a "circle match," meaning the wrestlers from both teams circle the date on their calendars as soon as the schedule is announced.
Both teams needed the excitement of Hills vs. Knolls because both teams entered the match at Knolls on Friday, Feb. 5, on a bit of a downer.
Hills because, although its 9-7 record met qualifying standards for the state team sectional tournament, the team missed out on being one of the six teams in the sections because its power point rating was two-tenths of a point less than needed to be in the top six.
And Knolls because, although the team finished No. 3 team in the power point ratings in its section, it did not qualify because the Eagles were 7-8, one win shy of the required .500 qualifying mark.
So, with districts, regions and states looming - tournaments that emphasize individual talent - Hills vs. Knolls was the final big "team thing" for both schools.
"Last year's match got kids like seniors Rzucidlo and Casale back into the program," Barchetto says of his 145-pounder Willie Rzucidlo and 171-pounder Joey Casale, who wrestled as a freshmen but then left the program. "One of my biggest concerns with the program here is getting the younger kids out for the team and Hills vs. Knolls is a big help for that."
Hills vs. Knolls is also Rizzo vs. Barchetto, Barchetto having served as an assistant coach to Rizzo for four years before taking the job at Morris Hills.
"Of course, coaching under Larry and me being a Knolls graduate adds something to the match for me," Barchetto says. "We talk at least once a week throughout the year and we run summer camps together.
"I am very grateful for everything Larry has taught me and for his friendship. As a coach, everything I have learned as far as communication, motivation and match strategy, I learned from Larry.
"Throughout my career as a wrestler, I had several people who truly made a difference in my life - not only as a wrestler, but as a person. People such as my father; and people such as former Knolls coach Jeff Churchill; former Knolls assistant and now Butler head coach John O'Shea; Rich Maritato, father of former Knolls standout Doug Maritato; and Jeff Buxton, the head coach at Blair Academy."
As for the 2010 edition of Hills vs. Knolls, the match was in doubt until the next-to-last bout on the 14-bout card.
Chris Acevedo opened with an 11-5 win at 160 only to have Hills win the next three bouts before heavyweight Brian Grise won a 1-0 decision over Joe Flora of Knolls.
"Chris got a much-needed win for the team and for himself because he had lost a few matches in a row," Barchetto says. "Joey Casale lost a heart-breaker in overtime and the Grise kept us in the match with his big win at heavyweight."
Knolls won three of the next four matches - David Salinas got the win for Hills with a 16-second pin - to take a 27-12 lead with five bouts to go.
"Brandon Acevedo and Steve Wulff lost in that stretch to two of their top wrestlers, but they both refused to get pinned and that helped us as a team," Barchetto says. "Salinas came up with a big pin a 112 to keep us alive."
Morris Hills won the next three - Joey Moran's 21-6 tech fall at 130; Devin Sullivan's 4-2 win at 135; and D.J. Wagner's 12-10 win at 140 - and the Knights had pulled to within four points with two bouts left.
"Joey Moran got us started again at 130 with a tech and Devin Sullivan kept the ball rolling with a nice win at 135," Barchetto says.
"One of the most important bouts in the meet was at 140 with both wrestlers (D.J. Wagner of Hills and Mike Main of Knolls) making their returns after injuries had kept them out for most of the season.
"In D.J.'s first match back two days before facing Knolls, he lost in the last seconds because he had no strength left. Against Knolls, he was losing 10-5 with 20 seconds left when he got a reversal and back points to send the bout into overtime, where he was able to defend Main's first shot and get the takedown that gave him the win and enabled us to cut the Knolls lead to 27-23."
Rzucidlo and Padric Hartnett were the opponents at 145 in the next bout and Hartnett won, 4-2, in overtime, to clinch the match for Knolls.
"Both kids wrestled their hearts out ... it was a great match that unfortunately did not go our way," Barchetto says. "I disputed the call on the overtime takedown enough where we had a team point deducted - I got a little too excited. But I wanted to let the ref know I did not agree with the call that he had made that decided the entire match."
Even with the match decided, Kevin Weis of Knolls and Cody Sternlicht of Hills went out at 152 and wrestled as if their bout would decide things and Weis came out with a 3-2 victory, ending a string of four bouts that were decided by two points or fewer.
That's Hills vs. Knolls.
That's also dinner on Rizzo for the third straight year as the two coaches have a standing agreement that the winner picks up the tab. It's a night out that both coaches enjoy, but there is one thing that would make it even more enjoyable to Barchetto.
"I can't wait to buy," he says.
And that, too, is another part of Hills vs. Knolls.
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(Bob Decker, who wrote this story, can be reached at deckbob@optonline.net)
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Knights fall to Montville, 52-16
ROCKAWAY - Montville won 11 of 14 bouts to hand Morris Hills a 52-16 defeat in a high school wrestling dual meet held Wednesday, Feb. 3, at Morris Hills.
Joey Moran got the lone pin win for the Knights (9-8) when he stopped Corey Tarlow of Montville (10-3) at 4:33 of their bout at 130.
Steven Wulff got a major decision win at 119 with 9-1 win over Corey Forlenza and Joe Casale picked up forfeit points at 171 for the Knights other two wins.
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Moran, Casale, Grise placed 6th at county tourney
ROCKAWAY - Morris Hills sent four wrestlers into the second day of the Morris County Wrestling Tournament and three of the four reached the second round of wrestlebacks where they lost narrow decisions to finish with sixth-place medals.
Joey Moran, the No. 7 seed at 130, lost a 5-2 decision to unseeded Mike Sickles of West Morris; Joe Casale, the No. 4 seed at 171, lost an 8-5 decision to No. 8 seed Luke Homeijer of Morris Knolls; and Brian Grise, the No. 3 seed at heavyweight, lost a 6-3 decision to No. 5 seed Joe Yarosz of Morris Catholic.
Morris Hills scored 28 team points to finish 17th in the field of 23 teams as Delbarton, the pre-tournament favorite, captured the team title with 144 points.
Randolph was second with 124.5 points while Pequannock (109 points), Roxbury (91), and Montville (87) rounded out the top five finishers in the two-day tournament that was held Friday and Saturday, Jan. 29-30, at Mount Olive High School.
Moran lost his quarterfinal-round match to No. 2 seed and eventual runnerup Eric Fajardo of Boonton when Fajardo turned him and pinned him. Moran won his wrestleback on a forfeit before falling to Sickles in the wrestleback round for fifth and sixth place..
Casale lost a 5-1 decision to No. 3 seed Jon Knott of Jefferson in the quarters. He, too, advanced to the fifth-sixth wrestlebacks on a forfeit where he lost to Homeijer.
Grise was beaten by No. 6 seed Mike Cautero of Roxbury on ride time after the two finished their bout tied at 2-2. Grise then went on to defeat No. 2 seed Mike Boardman of Madison, 6-3, in the wrestleback semifinals before losing to Yarosz.
MIke Clifford, the fourth Morris Hills wrestler to make it to the second day of the competition, was pinned by No. 2 seed and eventual runnerup Derrick Flitcroft of Delbarton late in the second period of their quarterfinal-round bout and could not continue into the wrestleback round and was forced to forfeit.
Morris Hills has two matches this week as the Knights prepare for the districts in two weeks. Montville visits on Wednesday, Feb. 3 for a 7 p.m. meet and on Friday, Feb. 5, Morris Hills travels down Rte. 46 for a 7 p.m. meet against sister-school Morris Knolls.
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Moran, Casale, Clifford, Grise advance in MCT tourney
ROCKAWAY - Joey Moran, Joe Casale, Mike Clifford and Brian Grise carried the scarlet and white colors of Morris Hills into the quarterfinals of the Morris County Wrestling Tournament after posting first-day first-round victories on Friday, Jan. 29, at the two-day tournament at Mount Olive High School.
Moran moved on as the No. 7 seed in the 130-pound class; Casale, the No. 4 seed at 171, advanced; the unseeded Clifford advanced in the 215-pound class; and Grise, the No., 3 seed at heavyweight, was the only one of the four Knights to move on with a pin victory.
Morris Hills finished the first day of the competition with 18 points which put them in a three-way tie for 13th place in the 24-team field. Montville (56.5 points), pre-tournament favorite Delbarton (55), West Morris (54), Roxbury (53), Randolph (50) and Hanover Park (48) filled in the top six spots in the first-day team standings.
The quarterfinals, semifinals and championship rounds are scheduled to be held Saturday, Jan. 30, at 11 a.m., 2 p.m. and 6:30 p.m., also at Mount Olive High School.
With each of the four getting a bye into the first round, Moran improved his season record to 16-7 with an 11-4 victory over C.J. Forte of Morristown; Casale (16-4) decisioned Mike Allesandra of Parsippany Hills, 7-2; Clifford (11-12) scored a mile upset with his 7-3 victory over No. 8 seed Tom Tracy of Madison; and Grise (8-3) pinned Walt Phocan of Parsippany with eight seconds to go in the second period of their heavyweight bout.
Four of the Knights who had won their preliminary bouts suffered first-round defeats by pin.
David Salinas (11-12) was pinned in 3:27 by top-seed Jorge Lopez of Delbarton at 112 after beating Morristown�s Chris Forte, 13-9, in a preliminary-round bout.
Steve Wulff (7-7) was pinned in 3:08 by No. 5 seed Kyle Robertson of Hanover Park at 119 after winning an 11-5 prelim decision over Jay Tindell of Pequannock.
Keith Williams (12-12) was a first-period pin victim of No. 5 seed Nick Mathews of West Morris at 125 after blanking Kinnelon�s Will Frank, 7-0, in their 125 prelim.
And Willie Rzucidlo (9-12) was also a first-period pin victim, being stopped by No. 4 seed Christian Mazzocchi of Madison.
Cody Sternlicht (15-7), the No. 7 seed at 145, was upset by unseeded Demetrious Rotsides of Roxbury, 6-4 in overtime.
Three Knights suffered preliminary-round defeats as Brandon Acevedo (7-12) was decisioned by Steven Caserta of Roxbury, 10-0, at 102; Chris Acevedo (7-12) lost a 9-8 decision to Steve Dallicrdillo of Jefferson in their bout at 160; and A.J. Napoli (0-5) lost to John Franciosa of Hanover Park, 5-1, at 189.
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Knights play 'waiting game' on team section qualifying
ROCKAWAY - The Morris Hills High School wrestling team has met the ".500 or better" qualifications for the NJSIAA team sectional tournament ... but the Knights still must wait for the final Power Point Ratings to come out before they know if they are in the six-team North 1, Group 2 competition.
On Wednesday, Jan. 27, the Knights beat Morristown, 35-27, to improve their season record to 9-7. But as of Monday, Jan. 25, Morris Hills was ninth in the Power Point Ratings in North 1, Group 2 with a 24.00 rating.
The win over Morristown, a 2-9 team, and Monday�s 36-25 win over Whippany Park, a 4-6 team, might not boost the Knights� Power Point Ratings up enough to crack the top six teams in the section.
"As of now we're in a holding pattern waiting for the new Power Points to come out," said Morris Hills wrestling coach Joe Barchetto. "We just have to wait."
As for the Morristown meet, Keith Williams� 6-0 decision win at 125 in the 11th bout of the evening put the Knights ahead for good at 23-21 in the meet that went back and forth through the first 10 bouts.
Joey Moran (130) followed with a pin win at 1:23 and then Devin Sullivan (135) clinched the win for Morris Hills with a pin at 1:59.
"Devin's pin was huge," Barchetta said. "He got his pin with one second left in the period and if he doesn't win that bout, we lose the match."
Earlier, Cody Sternlicht (152) won by decision, 8-1; Joe Casale (171) won a 6-4 decision; Michael Clifford (215) eked out a 3-2 decision win; heavyweight Brian Grise won by forfeit; and David Salinas won an 18-2 technical fall victory at 112.
Clifford's win was also big for the Knights as the 215-pounder got a measure of revenge on Morristown's C.J. Forte, who had pinned him in less than a minute last year in Clifford's first varsity bout.
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Knights rally to defeat Whippany Park, 36-25
ROCKAWAY - The Morris Hills wrestling team won four of the last five bouts on the card to beat Whippany Park, 36-25, in a high school match held at Morris Hills on Monday, Jan. 25.
Morris Hills (8-6) won the first three bouts on the card to take an early 12-0 lead, but Whippany Park (4-6) came back with four straight wins to move ahead 16-12 at the halfway point in the match.
Willie Rzucidlo (152) stopped the bleeding temporarily with an 8-4 decision victory and, after Whippany Park went back on top 19-15 with a decision win at 160, Andres Montoya (171) and Joey Casale (189) won by pins; Michael Clifford (215) won by decision; and heavyweight Brian Grise earned six points on a forfeit to seal the victory.
Montoya's pin came at the 1:58 mark and Casale was even quicker with his 1:35 pin win. Clifford was a decisive 5-0 winner in the next bout.
Earlier, David Salinas, Steven Wulff and Keith Williams opened the meet with wins to give the Knights their quick lead.
Salinas got a pin win at 3:52 in his 112-pound bout; Wulff decisioned his 119-pound foe, 9-3; and Williams won a 9-6 decision at 125.
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Casale, Wullf go 3-0 as team finishes 2-1 in quad at Madison
ROCKAWAY - Steven Wulff and Joey Casale each brought home a 3-0 performance when Morris Hills traveled to Madison for a wrestling quad with Bernards, Millburn and Madison on Saturday, Jan. 23.
Morris Hills got back at the .500 mark at 7-7 after beating Millburn, 33-27, with heavyweight Brian Grise clinching the bout with a pin at 4:23 in the next-to-last bout on the card; toppling Bernards, 50-21; and losing to the host Madison club, 39-26.
Wulf, wrestling at 119, got pin wins in 1:15 and 4:13 and won a wild 15-10 decision against Josh Kessler from Millburn.
Casale got a pin win at 189 in 1:21; got another one in 3:56 at 171; and decisioned Jack Anzul of Madison, 10-9, for his three victories.
Grise finished 2-1, getting his second victory against Bernards, a pin in 2:24.
David Salinas was 2-1 at 112, scoring bonus points with a 13-5 major victory in the Bernards match and winning by forfeit against Millburn.
Devin Sullivan was 2-1 at 135, winning a 16-4 major and a 4-2 decision; Willie Rzucidlo was 2-1 with two close calls at 145, winning by 4-2 and 6-5 scores; Cody Sterlicht was 2-1 on the day, winning twice at 152 in three bouts, getting pin wins at 5:00 and 1:19.
Keith Williams was 2-1 at 125 with a 10-0 major decision win against Bernards and a 7-2 victory in the Madison bout; Joey Moran also won twice at 130, getting a pin win a 5:20 against Bernards and picking up tech fall points against Madison.
Brandon Acevedo got a pair of pin wins at 103, stopping John Costa of Madison in 3:29 and pinning Lorenzo Chaparro of Benards in 3:15.
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County-power Delbarton beats Knights
ROCKAWAY - The Morris Hills High School wrestling team won but three bouts on the mat as the Knights lost a 46-21 decision to county-power Delbarton in a dual meet held at Morris Hills on Wednesday, Jan. 20.
Morris Hills (5-6) got pin wins from Joey Casale at 171 and Joey Moran at 130; a decision victory by Willie Rzucidlo and a victory by forfeit against once-beaten (7-1) Delbarton.
Rzucidlo opened the match with a 3-0 victory over Denville resident Jake Feury in their bout at 145.
After two decision victories by Delbarfton, Casale pinned Denville resident Blaze Feury at the 1:28 mark of their bout at 171 to give Morris Hills a 9-6 lead, the last time the Knights would have the advantage as Delbarton came back to win the next two bouts by pin and, after Morris Hills heavyweight Brian Grise won by forfeit, the Green Wave won the next four bouts - three by pins and one a tech fall.
Moran got the last Morris Hills points of the dual meet when he pinned Robert Patten at the 4:59 mark of their bout at 130.
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Knights win two of three at Dover quad put MH at 5-5
ROCKAWAY - Morris Hills High School wrestling coach Joe Barchetto finally got the pins for which he was looking when the Knights won two of three matches at a quad at Dover on Saturday, Jan. 16.
He was one victory short for the week, however, as he had hoped to see his team come out of its four-match week with a better than .500 record.
Wins over Belvidere (41-28) and Elmwood Park (33-27) coupled with a 36-27 loss to Dover on top of the Knights weekday loss to Mendham leaves Morris Hills at 5-5 for the season - the same .500 record they had at the beginning of the week.
Still, Barchetto was happy with the five pin wins against Belvidere and the three the Knights had against Elmwood Park, a match in which the Knights� bonus points made the difference in winning and losing since the teams each won seven bouts.
"I�m happy with the way we wrestled today," Barchetto was quoted as saying after the Dover quad. "We�re getting our pins now ... earlier in the season, we had been letting people get off their backs and missing out on those bonus points."
Against Elmwood Park, Davis Salinas (112), Keith Williams (125) and Joey Moran (130) got pin wins; Michael Clifford (215) won by forfeit; and Steven Wulff (119) and Devin Sullivan (135) won by decision for the Knights� seven wins.
Elmwood Park also had seven wins but scored bonus points in only three bouts as the Knights had to forfeit at 140 and lost twice by major decision. Morris Hills did not give up a pin and that gave the Knights their six-point victory.
The Knights won six matches by pin against Belvidere - Salinas (112), Williams (in 20 seconds at 125), Moran (in 26 seconds at 130), Sullivan (140), Cody Sternlicht (145) and Clifford (215).
Chris Acevedo (160) and Casale (171) won by decision.
In the loss to Dover, Brandon Acevedo (103) and Sternlicht (145) won by pin; Moran (135) and heavyweight Brian Grise won by forfeit; and Sullivan won by decision to account for Morris Hills� team points.
The Knights face Delbarton at home on Wednesday, Jan. 20, at 7 p.m. and then participate in a quad meet against Madison, Millburn and Bernards at Madison High School on Saturday, Jan. 23, starting at 2 p.m.
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Knights win five bouts in 41-23 loss to Mendham
ROCKAWAY - Morris Hills wrestling coach Joe Barchetto and his team will have a better line on their team state tournament chances after this weekend's quad at Dover High School when they will meet Elmwood Park, Belvidere and Dover in a competition that starts at 9 a.m.
Barchetto had looked at this week�s four-bout schedule as a "... big week for us because we need three or four wins to get us closer to our goal of making the state sectionals."
The Knights (3-4) squared off against Mendham at Mendham on Wednesday, Jan. 13, in the first of those four bouts and came back with a 41-23 loss as the Knights won only five of the 14 bouts on the card.
Joey Moran (135) and Devin Sullivan (140) won by pins for the Knights, Moran taking 3:01 to stop his foe and Sullivan decking his man in 2:28.
Chris Acevedo (171) won by a tech fall at 5:01 and heavyweight Brian Grise and Keith Williams (130) won by decision as Grise stopped his opponent, 5-0, and Williams won by a 12-6 score.
Moran improved his record to 8-5 with his pin win, a record that Barchetto is more impressive �... when you consider the top quality of a lot of the good guys he has beaten.
"Joey has really stepped up his game this year and is one of those wrestlers who has no quit in him at all. He showed that last weekend when he came back to beat tough Nick Mauro of Mount Olive, 7-6.
�Joey was down five points late in the second period when he hit a headlock and then rode out Mauro for the entire third period to earn the victory."
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Sternlicht gets three first-period pins at Mt. Olive quad
ROCKAWAY - Cody Sternlicht was 3-0 with three first-period pins at 145 to steal the individual spotlight as the Morris Hills High School wrestling team won one of its three bouts at a quad competition held at Mount Olive High School on Saturday, Jan. 9.
Sternlicht got his quickest pin of the day when he stopped Dariusz Uczkowski of Sparta in 59 seconds of their bout. Sternlicht also pinned Dan English of Mount Olive in 1:48 and decked Derek Johnson of Roxbury at 1:55 of their bout.
The three quick pins put Sternlicht's season record at 10-1.
As a team, Morris Hills saw its record dip to 3-3 on the season by losing to county power Roxbury, 54-15; bowing to the host Mount Olive team, 41-24; and beating winless (0-3) Sparta, 63-18, in a pinfest with 10 of the 14 bouts decided by falls.
"I have to say I was happy with the way we wrestled," said Morris Hills caoch Joe Barchetto. "We are starting to do things on the mat that we have been working on in the room."
Several Knights came away with 2-1 records for the day with Keith Williams (125) getting his two wins by pin, stopping Michael Larusso of Roxbury in 3:10 and taking out Robert Feld of Sparta in 5:22.
Joey Moran (130), Devin Sullivan (140), Willie Rzucidlo (152), Joey Casale (160, 171) and heavyweight Charles Foster also had two wins for the day.
Moran decisioned Nick Mauro of Mount Olive, 7-6, and pinned Sparta�s Will McHugh in 2:35; Sullivan decisioned Dylan Offerding, 4-3, and got another one-point victory when he beat Michael Gerndt of Sparta, 3-2; Rzucidlo (152) decisioned Dylan Offerding of Mount Olive, 3-2, and won his bout against Sparta via forfeit; Casale decisioned Roxbury�s Will Sullivan, 3-2, in their bout at 160 and then came back to pin Sparta�s Alex Muller in 2:41 of their bout at 171; Foster pinned Mount Olive�s Gabe DeSantiago in 3:01 and picked up a forfeit win against Sparta.
Other wins for Morris Hills came from: Michael Clifford (215) decisioned Sol Kim of Mount Olive, 6-2; Brandon Acevedo (103) pinned Jack Vellella of Sparta in 3:34; Dawry Desangles (112) pinned Evan Bahnsen of Sparta in 5:34; David Salinas (119) pinned Sean DiStefano of Sparta in 1:23; and Christopher Acevedo (160) pinned Taylor Harris of Sparta in 4:21.
"I was pleased with our two first-year wrestlers in the lineup - Brandon Acevedo and Dawry Desangles," Barchetto said. "Dawry won his first varsity match with his pin and both of them continue to work hard and are getting better with each practice session and match."
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Moran, Acevedo, Casale pin as MH beats Par Hills
ROCKAWAY - Joey Moran, Chris Acevedo and Joey Casale won by pin as Morris Hills defeated Parsippany Hills, 45-15, in a high school wrestling dual meet held at Morris Hills on Wednesday, Jan. 6.
Acevedo had the quickest pin of the night, stopping Justin Kim of Par Hills in 1:10 of their 160-pound bout.
Moran was almost as quick, taking but 1:20 to pin Troy Stolt in their bout at 130 and Casale stopped Chris Mulawka at 2:40 of their bout at 171.
The win was the second of the week for the Knights and put their dual-meet record at 2-1. Parsippany slipped to 0-2.
Devin Sullivan picked up bonus points for the Knights with an 18-2 tech fall victory over Dylan Dennis at 135 and Cody Sternlicht majored Will Smith, 9-0, in their bout at 145.
In other bouts, Brandon Acevedo won by a 12-7 decision at 103; David Salinas won his 112 bout with a 7-4 decision; Willie Rzucidlo won a 3-1 decision at 152; Michael Clifford won a 7-2 decision at 215; and heavyweight Charles Foster won by forfeit.
Moran, Sullivan, Acevedo, Casale, Foster win by pin
ROCKAWAY - The Morris Hills High School wrestling team got pins from five wrestlers to spark the Knights to a 57-19 victory over Mountain Lakes in a dual meet held at Mountain Lakes on Monday, Jan. 4.
Joey Moran (3:00 at 130), Devin Sullivan (2:23 at 140), Christopher Acevedo (2:19 at 160), Joey Casale (1:28 at 171), and heavyweight Charles Foster (quickest pin of the match at 1:04) each recorded pin wins for the Knights, who squared their dual-meet record at 1-1 with the victory.
Michael Clifford won a 5-4 decision at 215 and Willie Rzucidlo (145), Cody Sternlicht (152), Brandon Acevedo (103) and Dawry Desangles (112) won by forfeit to round out the scoring for Morris Hills.
The loss left Mountain Lakes with an 0-2 record.
Morris Hills travels to Parsippany Hills on Wednesday, Jan. 6, for a 7 p.m. match against the Vikings.
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Sternlict wins title; Salinas, Acevedo place 2nd in tourney
ROCKAWAY - Senior Cody Sternlicht won the 145-pound weight class title and juniors David Salinas (112) and Chris Acevedo (160) came in second in their weight classes for the Morris Hills High School wrestling team at the Parsippany Christmas Tournament held at Parsippany High School on Wednesday, Dec. 30.
Naturally, Morris Hills coach Joe Barchetto was more than pleased with the efforts of his three finalists ... but Barchetto didn�t stop with his three medalists when it came time to handing out the praise.
Morris Hills finished sixth in the seven-team field scoring 88 team points, one point behind fifth-place Union. Wayne Valley won the team title with 161.5 points; Morris Knolls and the host Parsippany club finished tied for second, each with 148 points; Boonton was fourth with 114 points; Union was fifth with 89 points; and Parsippany Hills finished seventh with 72 team points.
Sternlicht pinned Parsippany's Nick Pizzuta in 1:59 of their 145-pound championship match. It was Sternlicht's second first-period pin in the tourney, having decked Wymid Whitted of Union in 1:17 of the semifinal round.
"Sternlicht came out ready to go and it showed," Barchetto said. "He wrestled very well in all his matches and we're hoping he can use this tournment as a building block for the rest of the season."
Salinas was pinned by Sam Taereky of Wayne Valley in 3:29 of their title bout at 112 and Acevedo lost to Mike Kromka of Parsippany, 8-4, in their finale at 160.
"Salinas wrestled very well in placing second," Barchetto said. "Acevedo made a five-point mistake in the first period against Kromka that he will learn from ... we're hoping he used this tournament experience to gain more confidence for the future."
Juniors Keith Williams (125) and Joey Moran (130) placed fourth in their weights; and freshman Brandon Acevedo (103), sophomore Devin Sullivan (140) and sophomore heavyweight Chuck Foster each finished fifth with Acevedo winning his first varsity match during the tournament.
Senior Willie Rzucidlo (152) and sophomore Mike Clifford (215) were the only other Knights to complete and they went unplaced.
"Rzucidlo continues to get better with each practice and, as long as he stays positive, we're hoping that what he is doing in the room will soon start to click in a match.
"Foster is another second-year wrestler who is still working on refining his moves ... when he gets to learn positioning better, he will be a very tough wrestler."
Morris Hills returns to the dual meet wars on Monday, Jan. 4, 2010, when the Knights take on Mountain Lakes at Mountain Lakes at 6 p.m.
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Acevedo, Casale, Moran win as Knights lose opener
ROCKAWAY - The Morris Hills High School wrestling team opened up its dual meet season with a 51-11 loss to West Morris Central at West Morris on Wednesday, Dec. 23.
West Morris (1-0), one of the stronger teams on the Knights 2009-2010 schedule, won the first three bouts of the evening to take a 15-0 lead and, although the Knights closed to within 15-9 with a pin win by Christopher Acevedo and a decision victory by Joey Casale, West Morris won the next seven bouts to seal the victory.
Acevedo pinned Marlon Ramos at 2:48 of their bout at 160 for the only pin victory of the evening for the Knights.
Casale, wrestling for the first time since his freshman year, made his return to the mat a winning one when he edged John Wallace in their bout at 171.
Joey Moran got the only other win for the Knights when he decisioned MIke Sickles in their bout at 130.
Morris Hills will participate in the Parsippany High School Holiday Tournament on Wednesday, Dec. 30, starting at 9 a.m.
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Sternlict 3rd, Casale 4th in Knolls tourney
ROCKAWAY - As pleased that Morris Hills High School wrestling coach Joe Barchetto is with the experience and depth on his 2009-2010 squad, he also realized where his team fit in at the Morris Knolls Holiday Wrestling Tournament that was held at Knolls on Saturday, Dec.19.
"This is one of the toughest tournaments around here," Barchetto was explaining over the phone the day after the tournament. "I told the kids we'd probably be one of the lowest-ranked teams going in but that I wasn't going to gauge our progress on how many medals we won or where we finished in the team standings.
"We were in it to learn and to improve."
Morris Hills finished ninth in the 10-team tournament, scoring 40 points to finish four points up on 10th-place finisher North Warren.
South Plainfield won nine individual championships and took the team title with 209.5 points. Wallkill Valley was the runnerup with 150 points followed by Hackettstown (143.5), Seton Hall Prep (108.5), Governor Livingston (104.5), Montville (104), Watchung Hills (86), the host Morris Knolls team (80.5), Morris Hills and North Warren.
"That's a lot of top-notch teams in one tournament," Barchetto says. "We have experienced wrestlers in each weight class this year and it was good to see them against competition this good."
Individually, Morris Hills placed two wrestlers in the top four as Cody Sternlicht finished third in the 145-pound weight class and Joey Casale was fourth at 171.
"Both Sternlicht and Casale wrestled well and did some nice things," Barchetto says. "It would have been nicer to see them finish a notch higher, but I have to say I was happy with their efforts."
"Sternlicht lost a 4-2 decision in the semifinals that could have gone either way and then he came back and wrestled his best match of the tournament to major his consolation opponent, 17-4.
"I'm really happy with Casale. He and Willie Rzucidlo are back wrestling for the first time in three years and they are a big help with their senior leadership at practice. Casale wrestled well in losing 4-3 in the consolation match ... he came close to a takedown at the end; he had a good flurry but didn't get it."
Barchetto will spend the early part of the week working on the one weakness that he fears will hurt his club in the dual meet season - the Knights lost too many matches by pins in the tournament.
"We can't do that in dual meets ... we're going to have to work on that. Hopefully, they'll have learned from what happened to us at the tournament.
"But the effort was there, just as it has been all during the preseason practices ... I have to be happy with what we have done so far."
