Ridgewood Wrestling Reloading or Rebuilding in 2010?

Unlike the professional sport teams, where a rebuilding period is a few years of mediocrity or worse, high school teams must constantly prepare for the inevitable – the best will graduate, so without a strong core, it'll be rebuilding and not reloading.

The Ridgewood wrestling team faces just that challenge coming off one of the most successful campaigns in program history. In 2009-2010, the Maroons qualified for the state tournament for the second time after finishing second in the season's biggest tournaments, the BCCA and the District 6 championships.

However, Ridgewood will return only four wrestlers from last season's lineup and  will have to replace such standouts as Ryan Giovanetti, Sam Pietrantuono, and Bobby Franklin, each of whom were crowned champion of their district.

"We're going to be very young and very inexperienced," said head coach Torre Watson. "We not only lost seven guys who were part of our everyday lineup, but we have just two guys returning with two or more years on the varsity level."

The makeup of the 2010-2011 Ridgewood wrestling team is loaded with underclassmen highlighted by 18 freshmen, nine sophomores and just 10 juniors and seniors combined.

Luckily for Ridgewood, there will be some strong competitors returning to the club. Seniors Gordon Ruffing, Joe Caiafa, Omar Hamza, CJ Jennings, and Christian Pajussi all figure to be major contributors for the otherwise youthful Maroons.

Ruffing appears to be Ridgewood's strongest wrestler both physically and figuratively as the 6'0" 200-plus pound gladiator enters the season as one of Ridgewood's most accomplished members. He is a four-year letter-winner and is coming off an impressive 2009 season, which took him to second place in the 185-pound weight class at the District 6 championships.

"Gordon is one of our strongest competitors, and I will look to him to set a great example for the younger guys," noted Watson. "I haven't yet decided if he'll wrestle at 185 or step up to 215, but wherever he is placed, I am confident he will be very successful."

Along with Ruffing, Ridgewood will also return two other wrestlers who finished second at the District 6 championships, sophomore Will Montgomery (103) and junior Brandon Giovanetti (119).

Rounding out the lineup will be juniors Sam Meyer (119), Justin Gramaglia (130), Aaron Bess (160), Josh Lay (171), and sophomores Kenny Hayes (112), Matt Calton (125) and Jason Gibson (152).

Before Ridgewood opens its season December 18 in the Mahwah wrestling tournament, the Maroons will have a chance to work out some of the kinks in scrimmages and allow Coach Watson to see exactly where each wrestler will best suit the team.

"Right now, we have a lot of great competitions going on amongst the guys and they're really doing a great job working hard and building a team atmosphere," said Watson, adding, "But at the same time, I think they're getting a little sick of facing one another, so it will be good for them to wrestle against some new towns."

Heading into the season, Ridgewood will have assess its goals and expectations for the team.

"We never measure success by wins and losses," noted the coach. "Our goal is bring together an outstanding group of hard working individuals and in turn form an exceptional team unit."

Ladies and gentlemen, consider the Maroons locked and loaded.