Overall Record: 14-9 / Shore Conference: 8-7 / A-North: 3-4
ShoreConferenceWrestling.com Wrestler of the Year
(Jr) Nico Messina - Freehold Boro
Weight: 120 / Record: 34-6 (18 Pins)
NJSIAA State Tournament Qualifier (3-time Qualifier)
Region 6 Champion (2-time Champion)
District 21 Champion (3-time Champion)
4th Place Shore Conference Tournament
Mustang Classic Champion
Team Leader in Wins
Will enter 2020 Season with 102 career wins
Wgt | Wrestler | Record | Post-Season |
106 | (Jr) Isaiah Sweeny | 19-12 | D21-3rd / R6-PQ |
106 | (Fr) Jake Turner | 2-1 | |
113 | (Jr) Mike Lazaro | 3-17 | |
113 | (So) Jose Mejia | 0-2 | |
120 | (Jr) Nico Messina | 34-6 | D21-1st / R6-1st / NJ-WB4 |
120 | |||
126 | (Sr) Domingo Tepehua | 13-15 | |
126 | (So) Eleazar Paz | 1-3 | |
132 | (Jr) Keegan Roche | 10-10 | D21-3rd / R6-PQ |
132 | (Sr) Javier Rodriguez | 1-6 | |
138 | (Jr) Mike Gagliardo | 21-14 | |
138 | |||
145 | (Sr) Tony Dushku | 27-11 | D21-2nd / R6-4th / NJ-WB1 |
145 | (So) Edwin Alverez | 3-4 | |
152 | (Sr) Anthony Gnizak | 0-6 | |
152 | (Fr) Osvaldo Baez-Aguire | 7-13 | |
160 | (Sr) Logan Goldstein | 10-15 | |
160 | |||
170 | (Sr) Christian Miranda | 6-18 | |
170 | |||
182 | (Jr) Max Murphy | 1-8 | |
182 | (Jr) David Leon Rosas | 11-15 | |
195 | (Sr) Jared Vasquiez | 8-15 | |
195 | (Jr) Daniel Miranda | 2-1 | |
220 | (Jr) Frank Tilton | 5-10 | |
220 | (Fr) Alberto Pontoja | 5-2 | |
Hwt | (Sr) Kevin Berrocal | 5-16 | |
Hwt | (Jr) Justin Cardozo-Ponce | 4-3 | |
Hwt | |||
| | | |
Date | Opponent | Result |
12/15 | Garden State Classic | 11th Place |
12/19 | at Howell | L 20-54 |
12/22 | at Lakewood | L 36-39 |
Steinert | W 43-31 | |
St Rose | L 33-42 | |
12/28 | Mustang Classic | No Score |
1/3 | at Middletown South | W 46-19 |
1/5 | at Marlboro | L 9-57 |
Manalapan | L 3-63 | |
1/9 | vs Keansburg | W 54-20 |
1/14 | at Long Branch | L 6-57 |
1/16 | vs CBA | W 32-31 |
1/19 | at Nottingham | L 35-44 |
Wall | L 30-35 | |
Robbinsville | W 37-35 | |
1/23 | vs Donovan Catholic | W 37-27 |
1/26 | Shore Conference Tournament | 21st Place |
1/30 | at Freehold Twp | W 39-22 |
2/2 | vs Burlington Twp | W 48-27 |
Pinelands | W 51-16 | |
2/4 | CJG4-QF: at Colts Neck | L 27-46 |
2/6 | vs Old Bridge | W 43-30 |
2/8 | at Ewing | W 59-21 |
2/9 | vs South River | W 54-24 |
Central Regional | W 42-28 | |
Monmouth Regional | W 51-22 | |
2/16 | District 21 | 5th Place |
| | |
3/1: Season Ends For Colonials in AC
STATE AGATES
(Jr) Nico Messina / NJ-WB4 (120)
PRELIM: Nico Messina (Freehold Boro) tf. Jacob Baeza (Kearny) 5:54 18-3
PQ: Nico Messina (Freehold Boro) d. Luke Hoerle (Westfield) 4-3
QF: Eddie Ventresca (Pope John) md. Nico Messina (Freehold Boro) 12-0
WB4: Spencer Stewart (Sparta) d. Nico Messina (Freehold Boro) 7-6
(Sr) Tony Dushku / NJ-WB1 (145)
PRELIM: Ricky Cabanillas (DePaul) tf. Tony Dushku (Freehold Boro) 5:30 17-1
WB1: Ty Bailey (Pt Pleasant Boro) d. Tony Dushku (Freehold Boro) 10-9
2/23: Messina Wins 2nd Region Title; Dushku Places 4th; Colonials Send Pair To AC
REGION 6 AGATES
(Jr) Nico Messina / R6-1st (120)
QF: #1 Nico Messina (Freehold Boro) p. #8 Kip Lovgren (Pt Beach) 3:46
SF: #1 Nico Messina (Freehold Boro) d. #5 Fred Luchs (Middletown North) 8-6
F: #1 Nico Messina (Freehold Boro) d. #2 Drake Torrington (Robbinsville) 6-3
(Sr) Tony Dushku / R6-4th (145)
PRELIM: #6 Tony Dushku (Freehold Boro) md. #11 Nicholas Benner (Ocean Twp) 12-2
QF: #3 Nico Vargas (Wall) d. #6 Tony Dushku (Freehold Boro) 4-2
WB1: #6 Tony Dushku (Freehold Boro) tf. #7 Chris Fanelli (Monroe) 4:39 17-2
WB2: #6 Tony Dushku (Freehold Boro) d. #4 Ryan Carey (Long Branch) 8-2
3RD: #3 Nico Vargas (Wall) d. #6 Tony Dushku (Freehold Boro) 9-2
(Jr) Isaiah Sweeny / (R6-PQ (106)
PRELIM: #7 AJ Beck (New Egypt) p. #10 Isaiah Sweeny (Freehold Boro) 2:31
(Jr) Keegan Roche / P6-PQ (132)
PRELIM: #2 Jack Nies (Ocean Twp) p. #15 Keegan Roche (Freehold Boro) 1:46
2/16: Colonials Finish 5th at District 21
1st Place
120: Nico Messina
2nd Place
145: Tony Dushku
3rd Place
106: Isaiah Sweeny
132: Keegan Roche
Nico Messina became the 2nd wrestler in Freehold Boro history to win 3 District Titles, joining Hall of Famer, Carlos Fontanez, who did it from 1962-1964.
2/9: FREEHOLD BORO QUAD
Freehold Boro 54 - South River 24 (BOX SCORE)
Freehold Boro 42 - Central 28 (BOX SCORE)
Freehold Boro 51 - Monmouth 22 (BOX SCORE)
2/4: CJG4 QUARTERFINALS
#2 Colts Neck 46 - #7 Freehold Boro 27 (BOX SCORE)
FB: Messina (21-4) p. Messina; Dushku (18-5)
2/2: BURLINGTON TWP TRI
Freehold Boro 48 - Burlington Twp 27 (BOX SCORE)
Freehold Boro 51 - Pinelands 16 (BOX SCORE)
1/16: Colonials Finish 21st at 2019 Shore Conference Tournament
4th Place
126: Nico Messina
1/23: NON-DIVISION
Freehold Boro 37 - Donovan Catholic 27 (BOX SCORE)
FB: Messina (14-2); Dushku (14-4)
1/19: NOTTINGHAM QUAD
Wall 35 - Freehold Boro 30 (BOX SCORE)
Nottingham 44 - Freehold Boro 35 (BOX SCORE)
Freehold Boro 37 - Robbinsville 35 (BOX SCORE)
1/16: A-NORTH
Freehold Boro 32 - CBA 31 (BOX SCORE)
FB: Messina returns to lineup with dual-clinching pin
1/9: NON-DIVISION
Freehold Boro 54 - Keansburg 20 (BOX SCORE)
FB: Sweeny, Gagliardo, Dushku, Miranda win by fall
1/5: MARLBORO TRI
Marlboro 57 - Freehold Boro 9 (BOX SCORE)
Manalapan 63 - Freehold Boro 3 (BOX SCORE)
1/3: A-NORTH
Freehold Boro 46 - Middletown South 19 (BOX SCORE)
FB: Alverez, Aguire, Miranda, Leon-Rosas, Ponce, Paz win by fall
12/28: Messina Wins Title at Mustang Classic
1st Place
126: Nico Messina
12/22: LAKEWOOD QUAD
Lakewood 39 - Freehold Boro 36 (BOX SCORE)
Freehold Boro 43 - Steinert 31 (BOX SCORE)
Hightstown 42 - Freehold Boro 31 (BOX SCORE)
FB: Sweeny, Tepehua, Messina, Gagliardo, Dushku go 3-0 on the day
12/19: A-NORTH
12/15: Colonials Finish 11th at Garden State Classic
2019 Season Preview
Head Coach: Matt Shepherd (13th Season at Freehold, 15th Overall)
Returning Wins Leader from 2018
Nico Messina (34-4)
Returning Career Wins Leader in 2019
Nico Messina (68 wins)
Milestone Watch
Nico Messina is 32 wins away from reaching 100 career wins, and 43 wins away from breaking the program record.
Fun Fact
Freehold's five State Champions from the 1930's (Louis Visco, Stanley Flicker, Tony Pikulik, Alex Schibanoff, and Ralph Merola) will be inducted into the JSIWA Hall of Fame this year.
Where They Open
12/15: @ Garden State Classic at Barnegat
Circle The Date
1/30: @ Freehold Twp - Twp has owned the rivalry over the past 10 seasons, with Borough's lone win coming in 2017. The Colonials will try and make it two in three years.
Another team that is beginning to reap the benefits of a rising feeder program, Freehold has 16 freshmen joining a room that has a lot of experience returning, including 11 starters, giving the Colonials some good numbers for 2019.
The strength of the lineup looks to be the stretch from 126-145. Junior Nico Messina is a hammer, and kicks off the run for the Colonials. A 2-time District Champ, he became the program's first Region Champ in 54 seasons last year, and is 32 wins away from hitting the century mark for his career. He's joined by a pair of returning District medal winners in junior Mike Gagliardo, a junior, and senior Tony Dushku. Also back in this stretch for Freehold are returning starters senior Jake Mostowsky and junior Keegan Roche, giving the Colonials a very strong, experienced group in this part of the lineup.
There's more experience returning up top as well with seniors Logan Goldstein and Jared Vasquez, and juniors Maximus Murphy and David Leon-Rosas. Keep an eye on Goldstein and Leon-Rosas, who put in a lot of work this offseason and are looking to have breakout years. Some of the promising young talent from the freshmen class will be breaking into the lineup as well, including Osvaldo Baez, Andrew Reiff, and Alberto Pantoja.
Down low, junior Isaiah Sweeny returns at 106, and is another who really put the offseason time in with his sights set on having a big year. He provides some experience down low as some new starters are expected to get into the rotation, including a couple more frosh in Jake Turner and Joseph Sargent, junior Mike Lazaro and senior Domingo Tepehua.
Possible Lineup in 2019
Wgt |
Wrestler |
Record |
Tournaments |
106 |
(Jr) Isaiah Sweeny |
14-16 |
|
106 |
(Fr) Jake Turner |
||
106 |
(Fr) Joseph Surgent |
||
113 |
(Jr) Mike Lazaro |
0-2 |
|
120 |
(Sr) Domingo Tepehua |
0-4 |
|
126 |
(Jr) Nico Messina |
34-4 |
1st D23 / 1st R6 |
132 |
(Jr) Keegan Roche |
11-19 |
|
132 |
(Sr) Jake Mostowsky |
14-14 |
|
138 |
(Jr) Mike Gagliardo |
17-6 |
3rd D23 |
138 |
(Sr) Javier Rodriguez |
||
145 |
(Sr) Tony Dushku |
24-11 |
3rd D23 |
152 |
(Sr) Anthony Gnizak |
3-11 |
|
160 |
(Sr) Logan Goldstein |
8-22 |
|
160 |
(Fr) Osvaldo Baez |
||
170 |
(Fr) Andrew Reiff |
||
170 |
(Sr) Christian Miranda |
||
182 |
(Jr) Maximus Murphy |
2-16 |
|
195 |
(Jr) David Leon-Rosas |
11-18 |
|
220 |
(Sr) Jared Vasquez |
3-9 |
|
220 |
(Fr) Alberto Pantoja |
||
Hwt |
(Sr) Kevin Berrocal |
||
|
|
|
|
Graduated in 2018
Wgt |
Wrestler |
Record |
160 |
Jamie Cuatlacuatl | 3-6 |
170 |
Paul White | 0-4 |
170 |
Ben Horvath | 0-4 |
|
|
|
Freehold Colonials Wrestling