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Howell upends No. 1 Ocean
WRESTLING: HOWELL 30, OCEAN 28

REBEL YELL: Mormino scores clinching decision amidst chants of his name

Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 12/22/05
BY BOB BADDERS
STAFF WRITER

HOWELL * For all but three periods, Howell's Frank Mormino soaked up the energy
provided by the raucous crowd at his home gymnasium. During his match, however,
Mormino's senses were dulled. Not until he was on the brink of the most important win
of his career did the chants of "Frankie!, Frankie!" begin to creep back
into his consciousness. Becoming a hero has that kind of effect.

The 152-pound senior bumped up to 160 and scored two third-period takedowns on
Ocean's Chris Bannon for an 8-5 decision that clinched the No. 5 Rebels' 30-28 Shore
Conference Class A North win over the Spartans, No. 1 in the Asbury Park Press Top 10
and second in the Gannett New Jersey Top 20.

Mormino's win gave the Rebels (1-0, 1-0) a 30-22 advantage in the second-to-last bout
of the evening and left the Spartans' Kyle Kiss, who took second in last weekend's
Beast of the East tournament, as wasted ammunition.

"It was only in the last two or three seconds that I heard my teammates
screaming and realized it was all over," Mormino said. "I never would have
thought that it would end like this but we've never had a team that has worked this
hard and come this far."

Overshadowed by Mormino's clinching decision but certainly no less important was
Billy Woodward's gutsy comeback in the previous match at 152. Trailing the Spartans'
Gaetjens Lezin 4-2 entering the third period, Woodward battled back to take Lezin to
his back twice to gain the lead before decking Lezin in 5:36.

"We wrestle each other a lot and we know what each other is going to do,"
Woodward said. "I don't pin a lot, I got maybe three or four pins last year, but
this was big and I just sucked it up."

"It doesn't matter what the score is, he has so much heart and he never
quits," said Rebels head coach John Gagliano. "I think that match showed a
lot of what he does in the room. He is by far the hardest working kid."

The first two matches of the evening were a harbinger of what was a back and forth
match. The teams traded pins with the Rebels' Josh Barnhard sticking Tim Brown in
2:59 at 189 pounds before Jeff Siciliano evened the score by pinning Harry Turner in
23 seconds.

The Rebels took a 12-6 lead by winning matches at heavyweight and 103. Mike Bonfig
took down Ted Konopka as the first-overtime buzzer sounded for an 8-6 win. Joey
Langel followed with a 7-1 decision over Mike Beradesco. The Spartans (0-1, 0-1)
battled back with wins in three of the next four bouts, but a forfeit at 125 pounds,
a spot normally occupied by Nick Menditto who was unable to make weight for the
match, came back to bite the Spartans.

A major decision by Dan Lopes at 130 and a 7-0 decision by Andrew Van Dyk at 135 gave
the Spartans their first lead at 19-18. But the Rebels' Paul Calafiore allowed only
two offensive points to Maverick Nunes-Vais and held on to win 8-6 at 140 pounds.
Ocean's Joey Falco followed with a 12-6 decision over Tom Tuminelli to put the
Spartans back ahead 22-21. Then came Woodward and Mormino's heroics.

"We expected it to be a brawl," Mormino said. "I mean, the No. 2 team
in the state. We expected a rumble and we got one. We knew every match was going to
be tough and that just makes this amazing."