Five seniors who won District medals last season return for Manalapan, but it will be an otherwise very young group of Braves hitting the mat this season.

Some of the youngsters expected to be in the lineup down low are a pair of sophomores, Jack Hardy and Michael Farrell, coming off strong rookie seasons. Hardy put up 16 wins wrestling at 106, while Farrell recorded 18 W's on his was to finishing 4th at the Districts. They will give head coach James Somma a nice 1-2 punch down low. There are several freshmen competing for lower weight slots, including Clemens Ziobro and Franco Zecchino, so Justin Repetti, a 3rd-place finisher at Districts, will look to provide some senior leadership to that group.

Senior Gage Grant is the big name returning in the middle for Manalapan. Grant, who enters the season with 82 career wins, punched a ticket to Atlantic City last season after placing 4th at the Regions. He'll anchor the middleweights for the Braves, while looking to make a run at the Boardwalk Hall podium come March.

There will be a bit more experience in the upperweights, with the senior trio of Kevin Pasquince, WIll Vargas, and Donnie Tibbett. All three placed 3rd at the Districts this season, and are capable of having very big final seasons for the Braves. They'll also provide some veteran stability up top as some new starters are broken into the lineup.

The Braves will be an interesting team to watch this year. They have a proven senior core in place, and a couple sophomores down low coming off nice debut years. Whether they can make a run at a division and/or sectional title will depend on the other half of the lineup. There are competitive youngsters looking to make an immediate impact, and you have some guys that saw varsity action last year looking to step up into larger roles this year. If it all comes together, the Braves should contend in both the E-Division and CJG4.


Possible Lineup