HOLDING ON: Princeton High wrestler Danny Monga, right, battles a foe in a bout last season. Last Saturday, senior Monga posted a pair of wins at 126 pounds as PHS went 0-3 in a quad, falling 54-18 to Hightstown, 42-34 to A.L. Johnson, and 54-18 to Moorestown. The Tigers, now 1-3, host Nottingham on January 8, wrestle at Hopewell Valley on January 9 and then have a quad at Hamilton West on January 11. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

By Justin Feil

The Princeton High wrestling team features a blend of experience and new faces that it has been testing week-by-week so far this season.

The Tigers boast some well established stars like seniors Blasé Mele and Cole Rose. They have added a budding star in Forest Rose, Cole’s brother and the only freshman on their varsity. And then they have a significant group of wrestlers who are competing in their first full season of varsity action after the program graduated some and lost some past team members to other commitments.

“I try to put a schedule together that’s going to benefit our guys,” said PHS head coach Jess Monzo. “I try to benefit them in both ways, like we’re going to pick up some matches outside of our division that we’re going to compete with, and then we’re going to pick up some matches where you’re going to see what some other guys can do and then we’re going to test your willpower, test your heart, test your head. How are you going to respond to a little bit of adversity with some of these other programs that can wrestle?”

In a quad held last Saturday, the Tigers faced a strong local rival in Hightstown along with non-conference foes A.L. Johnson and Moorestown. PHS went 0-3 on the day, falling 54-18 to host Hightstown, 42-34 to A.L. Johnson, and 54-18 to Moorestown. Although the Tigers took their lumps, seeing a variety of talent and styles has helped them.

“That’s a benefit,” said Monzo. “Wrestling A.L. Johnson, a pretty good team up in Union County and then wrestling Moorestown from down in South Jersey, they always got a couple of good guys. Kudos to those two coaches. They put together some good lineups. Sometimes you’re the hammer, sometimes you’re the nail. We were a box of nails. We got hit a couple too many times early and it was just tough to dig our way out of those holes.”

The Tigers now face the heart of their Colonial Valley Conference (CVC) schedule this week, when they will host Nottingham on January 8, then wrestle at Hopewell Valley on January 9 before facing Allentown, Notre Dame, and host Hamilton West in a quad on January 11.

“We’ve got five Mercer County schools coming through,” said Monzo. “We run into a lot of our CVC and Mercer County opponents this week so we’ll see how we rebound.”

PHS is 1-3 following the weekend. The squad posted a solid 44-23 win over WW/P-South on December 19 in its opening dual and then wrestled in the Wendy Pandy-Leh Invitational on December 14 and the Sam Cali Invitational held on December 26-27 that both featured elite competition. The Tigers’ less experienced wrestlers are being pushed with every varsity match. The top-end team members have shown their mettle in the highest level competitions.

Against A.L. Johnson, junior Dayron Ospina Posada won by pin at 175 pounds, senior Danny Monga won by technical fall at 126 and Cole Rose won by technical fall at 138. Earlier in the season, Mele won the 144-pound title at the Sam Cali meet while Forest Rose opened eyes with his runner-up finish at 106 pounds. It’s been an impressive start for the youngest Rose – the last of his family to come through PHS.

“He is talented,” said Monzo. “He had a little wake-up to high school wrestling in the first tournament of the year. He still placed third, which is terrific. I know he wanted to do more, he’s got a bit of fight in him. So coming into the dual meet and into the Mercer County and into our season and then going to Sam Cali and having the performance that he did, it really is only going to help him grow because I know he thinks he can. And he just needs that little bit to show him that you are doing the right thing right now. But now the unfortunate thing about that right is now everybody knows. You’re not going to sneak up on anybody now, freshman. You might have snuck up on the Sam Cali, but now people know your name. They saw the result. Now you’re one of the guys that their eyes are on. They’re not going to overlook you anymore.”

Mele, a Princeton University commit, has earned high expectations for years. He further proved himself after taking sixth place at 138 pounds in the state championship last year. The senior sets a lofty standard for the program.

“Those kids see what a guy like Blase does, they see how hard he works and where he trains and what else he does outside the season,” said Monzo. “So they start to emulate that during the season. They see how he stays after for a little while after practice and he gets some stance and motion done and gets some stuff done on his own and he’s in the gym in the morning. So they see what he’s doing and then they start to buy into it. But just because you’re doing it for a week or two doesn’t mean you’re going to be getting the results that he gets. That’s a lifestyle that he lives. He doesn’t preach what he does. He just does what he does and kids follow.”

The more Tigers who dedicate themselves more earnestly to the sport like Mele does, the better they will perform on the mat. While team members like Mele and the Rose brothers wrestle year-round, others are working into shape and adjusting to the higher level of varsity wrestling at the same time.

“So for some of these younger guys and some of these guys that were JV the last year or two, and now they’re jumping in the lineup as juniors, it’s a little harder for some of them to find that early success, knowing that they need to really work harder,” said Monzo.

The focus early on has been improving the team’s conditioning and developing each wrestler’s moves. The Tigers are looking for a variety of ways to give their wrestlers the best chance to excel on the mat.

“The thing with wrestling is there’s times where you might just win a match in a third period on conditioning alone,” said Monzo. “You don’t have to be the better wrestler, you don’t have to be the more talented guy. If you got a tank that can outlast the other guy, you can put them into a little bit of deep waters later in the match. If you keep it close enough in the beginning, you can definitely do some damage with a good gas tank.”

The Tigers have been encouraged by some of the effort that they have seen in the early going. PHS’ wrestlers have shown some intangibles that they can build on going forward.

“Just the fight, the want to succeed,” said Monzo. “Sometimes success isn’t there, and it’s never going to be given overnight in a sport like wrestling, but it is the constant fight in the kids and the determination to get that hand raised, to find a way to win that match. In a sport like wrestling, if you’re not doing it constantly and you’re a three-month wrestler because you’re doing other things and you have got other stuff going on, it’s a little bit tougher to find that success in the beginning.”

PHS has had some difficult early tests, but it anticipates rewards coming down the line. The Tigers have two weeks until they compete in the CVC Championships from January 24-25. It will be a significant test for a lineup that has a mix of experience and talent.

“We have probably three to five guys that could possibly make finals,” said Monzo. “There’s a couple guys in our lineup that I think can surprise some people if they wrestle well, if they wrestle to their caliber.”