Roselle Park High School and Rec Wrestling Teams were recognized at the May 21st Mayor & Council meeting. Varsity Team members recognized last Thursday were Justin Arnold, Brad Carle, Sean Daly, Joe Devito, Will Ferdinando, Mike Figueredo, Dave Forstenhaulser, Josh Gergich, Chris Gural, Sebastian Leo, Rahul Maisuria, Carry Mimy, Jon Mejia, Josh Mejia, Rene Perez, George Perez, Andy Santamaria, and Clyve Timothy. With an overall record of 16 wins and 5 losses this season, the Roselle Park Wrestling Team had another successful season, competing against a number of State Ranked Teams and Team Tournament State Qualifiers.
The beginning of the season served as a learning experience for many of the inexperienced wrestlers, having ten accomplished wrestlers from last year’s team graduate. However,trained and guided by coaches Keith Appello, Kevin Carroll, Nick Florio, Craig Forst, Rich Greco, John Ranieri, Athletic Director Rich Suchanski and trainer Kevin Rodriquez, the team was still able to capture the Panther Invitational Tournament Championship. Thirteenth year coach John Ranieri remarked on that achievement, “This served as a benchmark for the type of success we felt we were capable of achieving.”
Roselle Park wrestled a competitive dual meet schedule, with the most exciting dual meets occurring against the following teams:
- Belvidere (39-19) Loss
- Brearley (62-9) Win
- Caldwell (50-15) Win
- Cinnaminson (31-32) Loss
- Cranford (21-36) Loss
- Governor Livingston (40-18) Win
- Lenepe Vallay (27-34) Loss
- Linden (57-15) Win
- North Burlington (39-27) Win
- Rahway (40-22) Win
- Scotch Plains (36-25) Win
- Westfield (50-18) Win
- Woodstown (35-25) Win
“This year’s team was extremely reliable which enabled us to overcome adversity, wrestle with some of the best teams in the state and win a District 10 Tournament,” said Coach Ranieri regarding this year’s wrestlers, “We, as a coaching staff, cannot say enough about this group of wrestler’s perseverance and dedication to the program.”
Among the achievements amassed during the season were:
- Panther Invitational Champions
- 3rd Place Paul Finn Team Tournament
- Waldwick Team Tournament Runner-Up
- 3rd Union County Tournament
- North Jersey Group 1 State Semi-Finalist
- District 10 Tournament Champions
- #6 Ranked Team in Region 3
- 5 District 10 Tournament Champions
- 8 Region 3 Qualifiers
- 1 NJSIAA State Tournament Qualifier
Roselle Park wrestled extremely well in the Panther Invitational and District 10 Tournament. The Tournament Champions were as follow:
- Brad Carle (26-13)
- Joe Devito (24-15)
- Will Ferdinando (32-6)
- Mike Figueredo (25-10)
- Dave Forstenhausler (27-10)
- Josh Gergich (29-9)
- Chris Gural (30-6)
- Andy Santamaria (18-16)
In addition to these Champions, the following earned a medal in the tournaments:
- Sean Daly (12-16)
- Sebastian Leo (14-12)
- Rahual Maisuria (8-9)
- Jon Mejia (27-10)
- Carry Mimy (6-8)
- Rene Perez (11-8)
Moreover, Union County Champion Chris Gural qualified for the State Individual Championships with Dave Forstenhaulser, Brad Carle, Will Ferdinando making All-Union County Conference.
Achieving beyond the mat, seniors George Perez will be attending New Haven University while Sean Daly is enrolled in Kean University. Andy Santamaria will be a student at East Carolina University and Josh Gergich has chosen Rowan University for his college education. Brad Carle will be attending Penn State University and Mike Figueredo has enlistied in the United States Coast Guard.
Additionally, Roselle Park’s Central Jersey Team accomplished an overall record of 11-4, achieving the following:
- 2nd place finish in the Union County Brawl
- 4th place finish in the Central Jersey A Tournament
The Recreational Wrestling Team, coached by Gene Antonucci, John Devito, Eric Fostenhaulser, Craig Frost, Leland Griffin, Robert Harms, Ed Hummel, John Ranieri, and Jason Scott, also had its share of achievements this year in the following categories:
USA Wrestling State Qualifier
- Anthony Forstenhaulser
- Matthew Griffin
- Eddie Hummel
- John Ranieri
- Ryan Urban
NJSIAA State Individual Qualifier
- Chris Gural
USA Wrestling State Championships
- Mike Forstenhaulser (4th place)
- Julian George (6th place)
- Angel Mejia (6th place)
- Mark Montogermery (5th place)
USA Wrestling Freshmen State Championships
- Able Crespo (5th place)
- Josh Mejia (5th place)
- Jefferson Garcia (3rd place)
- Vinny Figueredo (3rd place)
USA Freshmen State Champion
- Jon Mejia
With a goal in mind that began as a pursuit in April and a dedicated weight training program as well as wrestling clinics and competitions throughout the state along with individual tournaments, this year’s highlights are a tribute to the amount of time, effort, and commitment by everyone involved.
Coach Ranieri summed up by stating, “I would like to thank our past and present volunteer recreational coaches and team mothers for their time, dedication, and commitment to the future of Roselle Park Wrestling. We are extremely proud of the 2014-2015 Wrestling Team for their willingness to accept these challenges and persevere through adversity, which led to yet another successful season of Park Wrestling!”