Editor’s note: The following was submitted by John Gamrha.

When senior co-captains and heavyweights Simon Popek and Tommy Kunz-Jansinski led their Becton/Wallington teammates to the mats for their final match of the season, no one thought that the freshmen-dominated squad would finish their first season as a Group II school with a record of 18-8. Head coach Mike Settembrino and coach Frank Giordano can only be very proud of the team they have assembled which consisted of five freshmen who took to the mats night after night. They sent out Tyler Perez at 103, Troy Cathy at 119, twin brothers Tyler and Ryan Mealy at 140 and 130 and last, Abu Mahmaoud at 285. Sophomores were Emmanuel Villanueva (112) and Matt Fleck (171) and juniors Tom Basil (135), Mike Trost (160), K.J. Ross (152), Steve Orlic who placed 7/8th in the Bergen County Tournament (125) and Steve Kein who placed 4th round out the team.

"We had a great season, but it is not over yet. Tonight is a tough match against a good team and it is important for individual seedings when the Districts began. We have to keep wrestling tough the way we have been all season," said coash "Sett" prior to the last match on Feb. 13.

He then sent his grapplers out to battle Ridgefield Park/Ridgefield. His team responded with a 53-15 victory. His seniors and junors were unscathed posting four pins and three decisions, with to more pins coming from freshman Tory Cathey and sophomore Emmanuel Villenueva.

When the match ended, assistant coach Giordano responded, "Surprising, very surprising to see such a young team do this well. The future looks very bright."

"After going 4-15 last year our goal was to be a .500 team and we exceed our expectations by going 18-8. Steve Kein placed fourth in the Bergen County Tournament, which was a boast for our team," said Settembrino. "In addition, one key win this year was against Secaucus who made the state team tournament. We are losing two seniors to graduation who provided good leadership in Tommy Jansinski and Simon Popek but we return twelve starters along with our J.V’s Nick Evans, Bassem Abdelrazek, Brian Derosa, John Gonzalez, John Bucaria and Matt Pienkowski. So it should be another successful year."