BY JOE HOFMANN
I got a hold of Jefferson AD John DiColo a few days before the Falcons home match against Parsippany and it struck me: For old time’s sake, why not hold the Jefferson match inside the old gym that is adjacent to the new one?
I was joking, of course. The new gym is more roomier with brand new bleachers, better lighting, etc. But the old gym at Jefferson has something the new gym cannot match, not ever: History.
Not many schools in Morris County share Jefferson’s wrestling history – especially inside that tiny old gym.
I can think of several events in my time at the Daily Record in that building that were downright historic.
1.The biggest event in the school’s history in wrestling was its victory over Delaware Valley in the state Group II championship match back in 1993.
Del Val was on its way to a victory when eventual state champion Rickey Krieger slammed Jefferson’s Jim Tanis at 189 pounds. Six points went Jefferson’s way rather than Del Val’s way, and all hell broke loose. Del Val had the better team, but the 12-point swing was enough to swing things in Jefferson’s favor.
Was it a slam? “Absolutely, it was a slam,” Parsippany coach Fred Piotrowsky said Monday night. Piotrowsky was there to watch his son Mark, one of the standouts on that Jefferson team. The longtime coach knows a slam when he sees one, and he saw one that day.
Then-Jefferson coach Mike Rossetti was known for being a bit of a snake oil salesman (which he was, although a fun guy to be around) and he made it appear a few days afterward that Tanis did indeed take a dive. But I always believed it was a slam. Some people – one particular wrestling writer I know of – who were not even there swore up and down that it was a slam. Don't take any of those people seriously.
Afterward, Del Val coach Jody Karam was visibly upset and dared the Star-Ledger wrestling writer (who was not there that afternoon) to make his team No. 1 in the state to end the season. The Ledger didn’t – as it shouldn’t have been. Del Val WAS the better team that day. The score didn’t reflect it because of a violation, but rules are rules. Del Val lost, Jefferson won. Next case.
2.The sectional finals of 1997 in that old gym was as wild as the Del Val match, but in a totally different way. Jefferson came into the section with a record of around .500, while Roselle Park was undefeated (18-0 or so). Jefferson won a tight match. How did coach Dave Falleni and the Falcons pull it off? It went far beyond that night. Jefferson wrestled a difficult schedule, and Roselle Park did not. While the Falcons were competing against Kittatinny, High Point, and other tough teams in the SCIL, Roselle Park was pounding weaker teams all year, leaving them totally unprepared for tight matches against good competition. The Falcons were prepared for tough matches, Roselle Park was not.
3.Jefferson had two great matches with Brick Memorial in the old gym, winning both times. In the second one, two-time Jefferson state champion David Hughes beat a Brick Memorial wrestler (whose last name was Hogan, I forget his first name) so badly that the Brick wrestler stalled out. So, what’s the big deal? I remember the Hogan kid placing in Atlantic City a few weeks later. That’s how great Hughes was!
Another Jefferson-Brick Memorial memory: The two were supposed to wrestle in 1994 but it was snowed out. There was a lot of snow that winter, and I think both coaches spent the rest of the winter ducking one another. Memorial wound up being named New Jersey's No. 1 team at season's end. I think that is why Memorial coach Tony Caravella (another nice guy who, like Rossetti, was a bit on the slippery side) tried harder to NOT make up the snowed-out match.
