Metuchen wrestling places third in weekend tourney
BY SHAWN LAYTON Staff Writer
The Metuchen High School wrestling team opened the season with a thirdplace finish over the weekend at the Edison Classic, led by first-place finishes by Ben Hohman at 152 pounds and Marek Szwast at 215 pounds.

Hohman finished third in the district tournament last season while Szwast is a defending district champ this year.

"Ben looked really good over the weekend," Metuchen head coach Ed Angus said. "He's definitely emerged as the team leader and someone the other wrestlers look to for inspiration."

Despite battling some flu-like symptoms, Szwast had little problem cruising to the title with a pin of Edison's Jeremy Klempner in the finals.

"Marek loves wrestling and he's completely dedicated to the sport," Angus said. "His improvement since his freshman year has been incredible. He'll finish his career among the top 10 wrestlers in school history."

A pair of freshmen put forth solid efforts for the Bulldogs at 103 pounds. Jake Freed placed third at the varsity tournament while his counterpart, Kevin Sullivan, was runnerup in the junior varsity tournament.

"Kevin and Jake will wrestle-off each week and be in the varsity lineup all year," Angus said. "Both are good kids and solid wrestlers. I was happy with both of their performances over the weekend."

Freshman Lucas Dalfonfiplaced second while sophomore Brody Gordon was also a runner-up in the junior varsity competition. Both are expected to vie for a varsity spot during the season.

Junior Sean Aquadro finished in third place at 125 pounds. Aquadro was in and out of the varsity lineup his sophomore season.

"Sean is one of our most improved wrestlers," Angus said. "He looked good in his consolation match, and he'll battle it out with Niko Ratzkovich for the varsity position. We have a number of very good wrestlers at the lower weights, and that is a testament to the great work the guys are doing at the recreation level. We're consistently getting technically sound wrestlers from the Metuchen Grapplers."

Freshman Mickey Ladnines did a nice job to finish in third place at 130 pounds, and senior Mike Jachim was a runner-up at 135 pounds.

"Mike always peaks at the right time, and he will bounce back from his loss to his opponent from Franklin," Angus said. "He'll continue to get better. He has a shot at 100 wins and can finish his career second on the all-time list at Metuchen for career wins."

Jachim enjoyed a successful season last year with fourth-place finishes in both the county and regional tournaments. He was also a district tournament runner-up.

Senior Sam Vinci was a third-place finisher at 140 pounds as he continued to improve as the tournament progressed. Vinci is faced with the challenge of moving from 125 pounds, where he competed last season, to 140 this year.

While they didn't place at the Edison Classic, sophomores Christian Lecompte and Adam Grossman will compete for a spot at 145 pounds.

"Both Adam and Christian have improved from last season," Angus said. "Both should see varsity time this year."

Classmate Kevin Walsh was a runnerup at 160 pounds while junior Jake Duva was a third-place finisher at 171.

Also finishing third over the weekend was senior Ethan Grossman at 189 pounds. A much-improved grappler, Grossman has a strong desire to do well and provide muchneeded help at the upper weights.

Sophomore George Vosinas will occupy the heavyweight position this season for the Bulldogs.

"The improvement George has shown from last season has been tremendous," Angus said. "He will win some matches for us this season, and he'll do anything we ask of him."

After a match with division rival Bishop Ahr earlier in the week, the Bulldogs will next appear in the East Brunswick Bears Holiday Tournament Dec. 27.

"This year we are really excited, because our numbers are way up," Angus said. "We're able to field an entire JV teams because the relationship between the Metuchen Grapplers and the high school has really taken off this year. We're happy where the program is at this point, and it seems clear that wrestling is back in Metuchen."