By Wayne Witkowski
Middletown High School North’s wrestling room is nearly as crowded this week as during the regular season.
Five wrestlers at the school are preparing for the NJSIAA championships this weekend at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City — the most in school history and the highest number since 1977 and 1974, when the Lions sent three wrestlers to the state championships each time.
Tyler Klinsky — one of the five qualifiers out of the Region 5 tournament — is the school’s seventh region champion with the 106-pound title.
It’s the third straight year a Middletown North wrestler has won a region championship, but Klinsky (36-5) is the first freshman region champion at his school since Frank Molinaro in 2004.
The other four wrestlers advanced by each finishing third: freshman Freddy Luchs (35-8) at 113 pounds, juniors Stanley Wojdylak (38-3) at 145 and Nick Coffone (31-5) at 160 and senior Thomas Anderson (34-5) at 182 pounds.
“The freshmen are aggressive and attack,” coach Matt Sirchio said. “They all can counter and are very good on top. They can turn anyone at any point. The key is don’t get turned. Keep matches close by not getting put on your back.”
A rule change this year extends the number of state championship qualifiers out of each region from three to four.
“A lot of individuals on this team have been battle-tested. They’ve wrestled teams from all over the state, many in the top 20 [rankings], and it has showed,” Sirchio said. “Each of these kids has wrestled at least three kids who are state [championship] qualifiers.”
The wins by Klinsky and Luchs are the most by a freshman at the school, eclipsing the previous mark of 33 by Chad Freshnock in 2013. Freshnock went on to a region title at 220 pounds in 2015, and Anthony Vetrano won one last year before finishing third in the state at 182 pounds. It’s the longest run of consecutive years of region champions at the school since a four-year streak from 1971-74.
Ken Hopfsensperger at 115 pounds is the school’s only state champion from back in 1974 and Bill Albert, wrestling at 101 pounds at that time, nearly made it two state champs that year before losing in the finals. Jim Guerrieri was the only other state finalist, losing at 108 pounds in 1968.
This year’s success is no surprise to anyone closely following Middletown North wrestling. The Lions reached the NJSIAA North Jersey, Section II, Group IV finals two of the last three years and the semifinals in the middle year, falling all three times to eventual Group IV champion Phillipsburg High School. So when the Lions finished a strong third place in the District 17 tournament and nine wrestlers placed among the top three in their weight class to advance to the regions, Sirchio was not surprised. His team went 28-4 and finished unbeaten in the Shore Conference B North Division.
“I expected them to be there [in the state sectionals], but the question is whether they can keep it together and finish the job at the end of the season,” said Sirchio, who was named the District 17 Coach of the Year.
Klinsky, who rose from a No. 8 seed, in the quarterfinals avenged an early-season 5-3 loss to Tyler Pepe of Saint John Vianney High School with a 6-4 victory. He followed it with a 3-2 semifinals decision over Hopewell Valley Central High School’s Chris Lanciano in which he scored a takedown in the first period and was reversed in the second before escaping for the deciding point.
In the finals, Klinsky got an early takedown and picked up back points en route to a 5-0 decision over Joseph Pacheco of Perth Amboy High School.
Anderson, who just missed reaching the state finals under the old rules with a fourth-place finish in the region a year ago when he finished 30-9, came back strongly this year with four pins in the region tournament. Seeded No. 3, he pinned his first two opponents before losing in the semifinals, 6-1, to Hunterdon Central Regional High School’s Mike Iodice. Anderson came back with pins over South Brunswick High School’s Gustavo Palacio at 58 seconds and St. John Vianney’s Josia Walker at 4:11 in the third-place bout.
“That’s the most pins by anyone in the region,” Sirchio said. “He’s had a lot of pins from mid-January — 17 that include nine matches in a row. He’s just a tough kid.”
Anderson will wrestle for The College of New Jersey starting this fall.
Wojdylak, also seeded No. 3, won a close quarterfinals decision and then lost, 8-2, in the semifinals to No. 2-seed Nicholas Lombard of Monroe Township High School. He decisioned Hunterdon Central’s Kevin Ciressa, 4-2, to guarantee a spot in the state championships and then won his third-place consolation bout, 1-0, over Manville High School’s T.J. Caswell.
Luchs had to win two wrestlebacks after losing, 4-2, to No. 2-seed Jack Bauer of Hunterdon Central in the quarterfinals. He pinned Michael Holland of Middletown High School South at 1:58 and then secured his trip to Atlantic City with a 9-5 victory over Raritan High School’s Charles Barrale.
In the consolation bout for third place, Luchs got a forfeit when Old Bridge High School’s Jake Wiatroski was too badly injured from his previous bout.
Coffone won his opening bout, 4-3, over Hillsborough High School’s Kevin Faulker with seven seconds left before getting pinned in the second period of the semifinals by top-seeded Mekhi Lewis of Bound Brook, who went on to become a four-time region champion. Lewis led, 13-2, at the time of the pin. Coffone regrouped with a 7-2 decision over Monroe’s Nicholas Weikel and, in a rematch for third place, pinned Faulkner at 56 seconds on a cradle while holding a 2-0 lead.
Brian Winz, a senior, dropped his first two region bouts but came into the regions with an impressive 25 pins that tied the school record set by Brandon Borrius in 2010.
The best news for Sirchio is most of his team can return next season.
