Mendham has Strong Showing In Iron Hills Freshmen Sophomore Tournament

-Story by contributing writer.

On December 28, 2007, 24 Mendham fencers competed at the Iron Hills Freshmen and Sophomore tournaments. Mendham had a particularly strong showing with 14 of the fencers winning medals and the freshman winning first place in four of the six events.

In the Freshmen events, Mendham dominated women's foil with Ryan Western 1st, Bea Jacobson 3rd, Kayla Loree 4th, Rebecca Canipe 5th, Sophie Kaplan 9th, Elizabeth Donato 12th and Masha Lamb 16th of 24 fencers. Megan Wallace finished 1st of 8 epee fencers. Dina Krannich finished 1st of 8 saber fencers.

For the boys, Kyle Doyle, Steve Dabal and Patrick Lee competed in foil with Kyle finishing 1st of 18. James Flannagan finished 7th in epee. Max Weiner finished 4th of 10 in saber.

In the Sophomore tournament, Alexis Grant, Kim Morsch, Sydney Fondots and Brielle Runyon competed in epee with Alexis placing 3rd and Kim 5th of 14 fencers, Megan Holmes finished 9th in foil. Sarah-Emma Graham was 4th of 14th in saber.

For the guys, Alex Levielle was 6th and Thomas Wetherington 8th of 20 saber fencers. John Graham was 10th and Kyle mesce 11th of 15 epee fencers.

Since its first season Mendham has traditionally competed and done well in the freshmen and sophomore tournaments, These tournaments provide valuable experience especially for fencers who have not competed in tournaments before.

This year Mendham again had a very good overall showing in the freshmen and sophomore tournaments.

Vigilante, Franklin "pass" on 2nd place

Laura Vigilante (So. - 11:25.86) and Mike Franklin (Jr. -10:02.71)

show their bling from Passarelli on 12/31/07.

Listen up. If you are competing anywhere in Morris county or even the tri-state area, in HS track and you run the 3200, you had better be able to beat Mendham's Dynamic Duo.

Run outside. Do a tractor pull. Pound creatine. Drink Raw eggs. Whatever. You can't fake it on the track...either ya got it or you don't...and if you run distance and want to be competitive, you had better have a work ethic that beats these two. And just to give you an idea...Vigilante lapped the whole field and was about 5 seconds shy of the record. So if you are a girl, you have you work cut out for you. By the way, Vigilante has two more seasons and Franklin will see you next year too, so have fun with that...

All of this, not mentioning the litany of other threats Mendham poses in the other events...

Of course, then, if you like to get smoked...the two cats below would be happy to add you to their list as well:

IN THE BLOCKS

Aeron Gilson 2nd from left (So.- Mount Olive); Steve Tamburello, second from right (Jr. - Mendham)

Aeron Gilson won the 55m (again) for the day with a time of 6.72 seconds, but I think that there are other threats in the area he hasn't encountered, that being said, who will it be to challenge him? It'll be tough, for sure.

Steve Tamburello, also depicted above in the 55m, holds Mendham's 55m Freshman record (6.80), beating the previous record holder, Andrew Schofield (currently of Michigan State), who had a time of 6.81. Tamburello also ran the 300m at the Passarelli, and finished in what looked like first, but was later DQ'd for a move to the inside lane in turn 5 (last) in which he rubbed shoulders with Yannick Jones (Union; 37.66) the eventual winner. What will Steve run at the IHC's on Friday?

All in all, it looks like coach Hamblen has been secretly assembling a threat to MoHills track dominance...I guess we'll see.

New Jersey Wrestling Certification: The Holes in the System No One is Talking About

Back in early 90's, when I wrestled in high school, wrestlers were required to weigh in before every wrestling match. This was to secure eligibility at the desired weight break. Sometimes there would be hours between weigh-ins and the actual match. So athletes were able to basically starve themselves for the weigh-in, then gorge themselves so they would have their energy and few extra pounds to wrestle at.

In an attempt to stop athletes to feel pressure to go to these drastic measures, the NJSIAA has implemented a system in which requires every athlete be certified at a certain weight break by the organization at the beginning of the season.

But many parents and officials are still critical of the NJSIAA and say these new testing measures are not enough. They are crying out that there still is plenty of room for kids to put themselves in danger.

To get a closer look at the effectiveness of this new system, we dove in to get an athletes first hand look a the testing. Mendham High School wrestling captain Brian Byrne gives us his experience with this system and his thoughts on its effectiveness. Here is what Byrne had to say:

The NJSIAA requires every wrestler to undergo a certification which permits a wrestler to compete in a certain weight class. At the start of the season, the team rides a bus to the testing site where each kid is asked to strip down and get in line to give a urine sample, which is supposed to demonstrate hydration. Then, another line later, the wrestler waits to have his (or her) height and weight taken. These numbers are used to calculate body fat. If a wrestler has more then 7% body fat, then he is allowed to lose weight until he drops to 7%. If the wrestler has less than 7% body fat, he can’t cut more weight.

The certification process is a great idea. Cutting too much weight can impact performance and health. In fact, wrestlers have died from trying to lose weight pre-season.

But this process isn’t working. The problem is that a guy who’s been working hard off-season isn’t going to give up on wrestling his weight class easily. Some guys add toilet water to their urine cups. Some guys add their own spit and some guys use eye drop bottles filled with water to add to the cup. One year, I even had a couple of guys ask to use my urine for the test.

Wrestlers even cheat on the height test. If you wear baggy sweat pants, you can bend your knees and appear shorter. This means more body fat, which means more weight you’re allowed to lose.

I didn’t cheat. Not that I’m not any more moral than the next guy, I’m just naturally skinny and usually trying to gain weight, not lose it. But even without cheating, the process doesn’t work. I am 6’2’’, 189 pounds. During certification, these numbers were plugged into a scale which said I had 18% body fat—meaning I was allowed to wrestle at 171.

If I lost that much weight, I couldn’t walk, forget wrestle. A few days later, my high school trainer used a pinching calibrator and estimated my body fat to be 6%. If I tried to lose weight to wrestle at 171, I could’ve been in serious trouble.

I think the certification process needs to be changed. There needs to be better supervision and better equipment. New Jersey wrestlers are losing too much weight and putting themselves in too much danger.

Brian Byrne - Mendham Wrestling

Will we have to wait for more kids to die from losing weight before the NJSIAA comes up with a better certification process? Can the NJSIAA come up with a better way to protect high school athletes? What can schools do to help this process? It seems their are too many question marks surrounding this topic and not enough answers.

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The 2007 ALL UNRULY TEAM

It took me a while, and it was a lot harder than I thought it would be, but I finally put together my All Unruly Team. There were tons of great atheletes and kids with heart this year. I had to consider a lot of different factors to come up with this list.

What I did was compile all the notes from the other writers of this site, viewed video's from many of the games I did not see, asked people what they thought, looked at stats, read all the news clippings, etc. I took all that and then I said to myself, If I was going to create one team from a pool of all of the players in the Iron Hills Conference (both Iron and Hills Divisions), who would I want on my team?

Then I started to come up with names. Many of names who are not on the list below came up. But I wanted to make one team so I had figure out who to keep. Then I decided that players who were on winning teams would get extra points.

So without further ado, please welcome your 2007 All Unruly Team:

OFFENSE

QB - Dan Kellner - Morris Hills: Tooks his team to the State Finals. Pure Leader. 3,000 career passing. He is the team leader I would want.

QB - Akeem Cunningham - E.O.: Won his team a State Final. Probably the best QB in the league. Cunningham is the guy I want if Kellner goes down. Reminds me of Vince Young.

RB - Eugene Fowler - Par Hills: In my opinion highly under rated. Fowler is a pure runningback and a real football player.

RB - George Bass - Morristown: Love this kid. Suprisingly he does not have flat out blazing speed but has incredible ability to stop on a time and gun it to full speed in a blink of an eye.

FB - Joe Riposta - Mendham: Runs like a gazelle, yet will run you over like a train. Without him, Mendham does not go 7-2.

WR - Jerry Carter - Morristown: Carter and Colvin were like Manning and Harrison this year. Very deserving of this honor.

WR - Mike Agrifolio - West Essex: Very fast and a total gamer. In my opinion Agrifolio is the glue that kept the Knights together. Not that they were falling apart, but hewas just a very important part of that team and I would love to have this kid on my team.

TE - Luke Mirabella - Morris Hills: I beleive Mirabella had the most receptions for MoHills (if not he was a close number 2). He was just a big target for Kellner and did not go down easily. Very reminesent to Mark Bavarro.

OL - Adam Suckno - Morris Knolls: Suckno also gets the Tough as Nails Award for just being a bully of a blocker while playing with torn tendon in his knee all year. If we made any money at this site we would buy him a Ford F150 for being so tough.

OL - Aaron DeWitt - Mendham: DeWitt was the emotional leader of this team. Not the most talented kid in the league but I would take 11 kids with the heart he had any day.

OL - Brendan Ward - Chatham: Ward took his job seriously all year. Many times he would block three or four guys on one play.

OL - Andy Fender - Par Hills: Fender serves more pankakes than I.H.O.P. I never saw a high schooler put more kids on their back then this guy. And he had fun doing it.

OL - Andrew Sklover - Mendham: Sklover was the big man in the middle for the Minutemen. His size and ability to block down field helped to pave the way for full back Riposta to rush for over 1,000 and his QB Schermerhorn to throw for over 1,000.

Utility - Doug Dudek - Morris Hills: "The Dude", as we so effectionally call him on this site, is the perfect utility guy. This guy just has a knack for being at the right place all the time.

K - Cory Mundt - Morris Hills: Put Cory and Mundt together and you get "Money". And that is what Mundt was all year. He was the Adam Vinetieri of the Iron Hills Conference.

DEFENSE

DL - Chris Zarkoskie - Seton Hall Prep: SHP's defense began with Zarkoskie. I see big things for him in college.

DL - Chris Lloyd - Morristown: I think Lloydd had at least an assist on every tackle this year. It seemed, "Chris Lloydd on the tackle" was the most frequent phrase to come out of the Mo-Town announcers mouth. He also had 11 sacks...which is pretty sick.

DL - Nick Lusardi - Morris Hills: Lusardi was to MoHills defense what DeWitt was to Mendham's offense. This guy added so much heart into this D. The kid of guy you need to be successful.

DL - Tom Bianchi - West Essex: Bianchi's play is reminds me of Osi Umenyiora. Just a fast and vicious defender.

LB - Evan Picariello - Hanover Park: I might have to check this guy's birth certificate because he has been playing for HP for the last 5 years or so...or at least it seems it. Picariello has been playing since his sophmore year and just a fabulous talent. This guy can compete at the next level any day of the week.

LB - Anthony Hayek - West Essex: No name exuded more fear than Hayek's. Just saying his name to opponents gave them goose bumps. And he didn't dissappoint. He had a great year and a marvelous varsity career (which started as a freshman). Hayek walks away with three State Championship rings. Not too shabby.

LB - Keion Wade - E.O.: Wade is a sheer talent. One of the biggest reasons E.O. has a ring this year. He will be playing big time college ball.

DB - Dan Thomsen - Randolph: 50 years from now they will be talking about all of the interceptions Thomsen had this year. I think he had 25 picks...I don't know, who's counting anyhow. Dispite a dismal season for his team, Thomsen had one of the best years of any kid in the state.

DB - Phil Gatti - Hanover Park: Gatti is another one of those guys who I would want on my team. He blocks punts, catches passes, intercepts passes, runs the ball, causes fumbles, recover fumbles, etc. You name it, he does it.

DB - Daniel Stover - E.O.: Stover deserves this better than anyone. He plays like a pro and I would want this guy on my team in a heartbeat.

KR - Rason Vines - Weequahic: Vines reminds me and plays like Devon Hester of the Bears. He is also as deadly as him on the return. Problem is, teams stopped kicking to him because he was so dangerous. Any single player who gives his team good field position by not even touching the ball will earn a spot on my team any day.

TEAM AWARD: I am giving this award to Dover. The Tigers has a dismall season going 1-9. That much losing would kill the spirit of any team. But they did not quit on themselves or their coach. That says a lot about the character of those kids. I see Dover suprising a lot of people next year.

PHOTO CREDIT goes to www.mchss.net. They have the best photo's at the most reasonable prices in the Iron Hills. They do a fabulous job of taking pictures and video's. They are really great people and extremely reliable and easy to deal with.

Mendham H.S. Fencing Team Poised for Successful Season

The Mendham High School Fencing Team seeks to build upon an impressive third year as it begins its fourth season. The program had humble beginnings three years ago with much enthusiasm. The girls’ team had one win and the boys team none in the first year. In the second year there was tremendous progress with the girls 6-6 and the boys 5-7. Last year was the breakout season for the team with the girls 10-2 and ranked third in the State and the boys 8-4 and ranked in the top ten in the State. With much hard work in the off season by many team members, they are looking to build on this success.

The team continues to be coached by Laura Pelizzoni, who has generated enormous enthusiasm for the program. She is supported by three volunteer assistants who have considerable fencing experience: Tom Tishman, who once trained with the Olympic team, Dr. Steve Dultz who fences all three weapons, and Meimee Persau, who has fenced foil.

Leading the girls’ team is Janelle Krannich, captain of the saber squad. Janelle is a D rated fencer in foil, the only team member who is nationally ranked and was second team all State last year. She will be supported by new starters E rated fencer Julia Melvin and Genele Streitz.

The foil squad should be strong, led by Shannon Cooley and E rated foil fencer Ryan Western. Alice Jacobson who was a strong part of the squad last year rounds out the starting trio.

The entire starting epee squad from last year has graduated. New varsity ans starting fencers are Kimberly Morsch, Alexis Grant and freshman Megan Wallace.

The boys team has several returning rated fencers, with at least one at each weapon.

The saber squad boasts two rated fencers. Chris Bonner is a D rated saber fencer who has been very active in the off season and should have a major impact on the team’s success. Brian Stellingwerf is an E rated fencer and returning starter from last season. They will be joined as starters for the varsity by Will Bruno.

The foil squad also has a strong foundation with two rated fencers. Andy Jung is a C rated foil fencer – the second highest rated fencer on the team. And foil squad leader Michael Striano is a D rated fencer. Both return from outstanding seasons last year. They are joined on the starting team by Adam Brozynski.

Salim Short heads the epee squad. Salim is a B rated fencer – the highest rated fencer on the team and has the top position or A strip in epee for the third consecutive season. He is joined by starters Tim Hains and Hao Du.

Each team will have challenges. The girls’ team lost two top fencers Jill Mahen and Jess Wallace to graduation and their loss will be felt. Janelle Krannich has enjoyed tremendous success in the off season and she will be looking to help lead this year’s team to similar success.

The boys’ team has some very stiff competition in its conference and district including a number of perennial powers starting with State Champion Columbia High School and the previous year’s State Champion Bernards High School. The boys’ team has five rated fencers – Short, Jung, Bonner, Striano and Stellingwerf. Still, it will need support from all other members of its squads if it seeks to improve upon last year’s top ten rating.

That the teams are even in a position to seek such success in only the fourth season is the result of the effort of Coach Pelizzoni and a very knowledgeable and supportive trio of assistant coaches.