With A Shot At Back-To-Back State Titles Howell Is Still On A Role By Mike Ready

HOWELL – With six district champions and three region champions back this season, expectations were sky-high entering the season once again for one of the state’s premier wrestling programs and so far the Howell Rebels haven’t disappointed.  

Howell remains undefeated at 17-0, is ranked No. 1 in the Shore Conference, third in the state and 40th nationally in the latest InterMat Top 50 rankings.  

Last season the Rebels finished 30-1, were ranked sixth in the state, No. 1 in the Shore Conference and 32nd nationally by the USA Wrestling Coaches Association. Their resume is so impressive it deserves a second take after reading off all their accomplishments.

The Rebels also won the Shore Conference A North championship giving them a least a share of the title for the 12th straight season. They took home the Shore Conference Tournament title for the second time in four years before winning their third sectional title in four years beating Egg Harbor, 36-24, for the NJSIAA South Jersey Group V title. 

They then went on to win the program’s first-ever group title beating No. 1 seed Hunterdon Central, 28-27, in the NJSIAA Group V final to avenge their only loss of the season.

“This year is a new year and we have to refocus and train and the kids have really bought in,” Howell head coach John Gagliano said when asked how his team has approached this season after last year’s success. “We have a lot of kids that came back with experience and they’re really excited and still working hard.”

It doesn’t end there. The Rebels went on to win the District 22 team title crowning eight champions while sending 11 qualifiers to the Region 6 championships. 

“Most of our kids have been in those big matches and they know what to expect,” Gagliano said on how his team is dealing with the pressure of duplicating last year’s success. “We just got to keep working because if you train and you work it doesn’t matter what the pressure or expectations are. You work hard and prepare yourself, that’s all you need the pressure comes off.”

Last season in the Region 6 tournament, four Rebels won championships with eight wrestlers advancing to the state tournament.  Graduated heavy weight Eric Keosseian brought home the gold medal while senior Kyle Slendorn won the silver at 126 and junior Darby Diedrich took seventh at 120. 

“He’s a great role model,” Gagliano said of Slendorn. “He’s not only a great wrestler but just a good person and a good role model for the younger kids.”

Keosseian finished 133-27 in his career at Howell and took his considerable talents to West Point. 

Diedrich and Slendorn won District 22 and Region 6 titles finishing the season 41-5 and 42-2, respectively. It was Diedrich’s second district title of his career and Slendorn’s third. Both are undefeated this season as Diedrich has gone 14-0 while still wrestling at 120 and Slendorn at 15-0 after moving up in weight class to 132. 

Sophomore Luke Rada (13-2) is back having moved up to 126 after finishing 29-11 wrestling at 113 last season when he won a district title. 

Senior captain Dan Esposito (132), junior Christian Murphy (182), and sophomore Shane Reitsma (170) were district champions as well, with Esposito going 36-7, Murphy 36-7 and Reitsma 41-2 last season. Esposito moved up in class to 138 and has gone 14-1, while Murphy is now wrestling at 182 and is 14-1 and Reitsma, now at 170, is 12-0 this season. 

Also back and thriving is senior Jesse Liptzin (5-1), who placed third in District 22 and juniors Evan Richards at 160 and Xavier Kelly at 152. Both Richards (12-2) and Kelly (12-2) placed second in District 22 a year ago.  

After going 6-3 a year ago, sophomore Ethan Liptzin is undefeated at 15-0 and placed first at the JBV Tournament wrestling at 106, while freshman Paul Jakub has burst on the scene with a pretty 12-1 record at 145 and grabbed a first at the JBV Tournament. 

“15-0, he’s doing a great job,” said Gagliano about Liptzin starting out undefeated. “He’s only a sophomore but having that experience from last year just really made a difference and he trained really hard in the offseason.”

Also making some noise for the Rebels are seniors Jerry Lleshi (7-2 at 113) and heavyweight Scott Pendergast (9-2) and juniors Pierce Gomez (7-1 at 145) and Joe Sardina (8-3 at 220). Pendergast and Sardina have helped ease the pain of losing Keosseian and Nash at 220 and heavyweight.  

Howell has recorded a couple of impressive wins recently, demolishing both Kittatinny, ranked No. 20 in the state, 53-14 and Colts Neck 59-6, ranked 10th in the Shore Conference.  

The Rebels are loaded and you can expect the same or better post-season results from a year ago. The only questions remaining being – can anyone actually beat them and can they wrestle their way to the No. 1 ranking in New Jersey?  

“I think just the success of the program, doing well in front of the crowds and getting their hand raised really motivates the kids,” said Gagliano on keeping his team focused. “We don’t even talk about it (being No. 1 in the state). We just try to stay focused on getting better and working hard. All that stuff will fall into place but our main goal is to be overall Group IV champs. They just feed off of each other and we’re a really close-knit team.

“They’re just such great kids and we really enjoy being around them.  I just have to credit my coaches for doing such an outstanding job with these kids,” Gagliano continued. “And I can’t forget about the support from the parents, you need all those things and we have that.”