DENVILLE - Morris Knolls sophomore Jan Rosenberg, the District 2 champion who has won 30 matches this season, drew the top seed at 103 as the Region 1 Wrestling Tournament resumes Friday, Feb. 26, with quarterfinal action at Wallkill Valley High School at 5 p.m.
     District runnersup Adam Ramadan and Jake Homeijer and third-place finisher Steven McKowen will also be in action as the four teammates resume their quest to get to the state finals in Atlantic City the weekend of March 5-7. 
    Rosenberg (30-3), who drew a bye with the other three district champs in the region preliminary round held on Tuesday, Feb. 23, faces No. 8 seed Michael Spadola of Wayne Valley Friday evening. Spadola (22-9), a sophomore, decisioned David Popek of Kittatinny in the prelims.
      Ramadan (28-6), a senior, was seeded No. 3 at 119 and faces No. 6 seed Derek Conrad (23-8), a Kittatinny sophomore. Conrad pinned Josh Love of West Milford to reach the quarterfinal round.
      McKowen (31-4), a sophomore, drew the No. 7 seed at 125 and faces No. 2 seed Garrett Scrivani (23-5), a junior from Kittatinny. Scrivani, the District 3 champion, had a bye in the preliminary round.
      Homeijer, a junior who posted a 24-8 record this season, was seeded No. 7 at 171 and faces No. 2 seed Michael Amada (21-1), a junior from Mount Olive. Amada, the District 1 champion, had a bye in the prelims.
     The tournament continues Saturday, Feb. 27, at 9 a.m. with semifinals, wrestlebacks and consolation rounds. The title bouts are expected to start at 6 p.m.
      If Friday's competition is postponed by weather, the quarterfinals, semifinals and wrestlebacks will be held Saturday, Feb. 27, with wrestling starting at 9 a.m. The consolations and championship bouts will be moved to Sunday, Feb. 28, at a time that has yet to be determined.
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Ramadan, McKowen, Homeijer win Region prelims

     DENVILLE - Adam Ramadan was "great" ... Steve McKowen was "quick" ... and Luke Homeijer’s performance was "awesome."
     This is how Morris Knolls wrestling coach Larry Rizzo explained his wrestlers' performances after they advanced to the quarterfinals of the Region 1 Wrestling Tournament being held at Wallkill Valley High School
    After Tuesday's (Feb. 23) preliminary-round action had ended, it didn’t take long for all Eagle eyes to turn to Friday, Feb. 26, when the quarterfinal round will be held at Wallkill starting at 5 p.m.
    The eight remaining wrestlers in each weight class (all district champs had a bye for the prelims) will be seeded for Friday's quarterfinals. The semifinals, wrestleback and consolation rounds will be held Saturday, Feb. 27, starting at 9 a.m. with the title bouts ae scheduled for 5 p.m.
    In the event Friday’s action is postponed by weather, the quarterfinals, semifinals and wrestlebacks will be held Saturday starting at 9 a.m. and the consolation round and title bouts will be held Sunday at a time that has yet to be determined.
    The top three wrestlers in each weight class from the eight regional tournaments advance to the state tournament at Atlantic City on March 5-6-7.
    Four Morris Knolls wrestlers will attempt to take their next step toward the states when Ramadan, McKowen and Homeijer and District 2 champ sophomore Jan Rosenberg (30-3 at 103) suit up for the quarters.
    As to how they got there, Ramadan (a senior who is now 28-6 for the season), decisioned Mike Felicetta of Pompton Lakes, 11-3, in their bout at 119 to get the Eagles evening started off on the right foot.
     "Ramadan lost to Felicetta 20-15 in a wild match earlier in the season," Rizzo said the morning following  the match.  "He gave up an early takedown but was in control the rest of the way and wrestled smart to get the win. He wrestled great ... and we think he has a very realistic shot at placing in the top three."
     McKowen (31-4), a sophomore, had pinned Jim Pier, his Tuesday opponent at 125, earlier in the season and McKowen didn’t give his opponent much of a chance for revenge as McKowen took all of 26 seconds to pin Pier yet again.
     "Steve took down the guy with a fireman's carry and put him right onto his back and pinned him -- it was that quick," Rizzo said. "I don’t think he even worked up a sweat."
      Homeijer, a junior, continued his late season surge by coming from behind to beat Nick DellaFerra of Wayne Valley, 7-6, in their 171-pound battle.
      "Homeijer scored two takedowns in the last 50 seconds to win his match ... it was an awesome performance," Rizzo said. "After starting out 5-5, Homeijer is now 24-8 and really looking forward to wrestling Friday night."
      Three other Eagles - John Arbelaez (130), Kevin Weis (152) and Steven Lane (215) - also qualified for the regional tournament but suffered preliminary-round losses Tuesday evening.
     Arbelaez (17-14) lost a 3-1 decision to Mike Sickles of West Morris; Weis (19-3)  was beaten 9-2 by Anthony Vasile; and Lane (16-12) was edged out, 3-2, by Khalid Zubaydi of Hackettstown.
    "Arbelaez lost a close one ... he almost had a takedown in the first period but he rushed his finish and didn’t get it," Rizzo said. "As it turned out, he could have used those two points.
      "Weis lost a superior wrestler, but Kevin still had a great season for us. He won a combined total of 10 matches in his freshman and sophomore years and won 37 in his last two years. He has a lot of reasons to be proud of what he accomplished in his four years here.
     "“Lane was up against a guy who had pinned him earlier in the season and was doing a good job against him this time. He had a great opportunity to win the match in the third period but it just didn’t happen. In only two years of varsity wrestling, Lane has come a long way for us."
     Lane and Weis are seniors - their Morris Knolls wrestling has ended. Arbelaez is a sophomore whose season has ended but who will get two more chances to make it through the regions for that coveted trip to Atlantic City.
    "“He told me he can’t wait to get started on next year," Rizzo said.
     Notes: Rizzo informs that Knolls grad Danny Herr has a 31-6 record at The College of New Jersey and has qualified as a wild-card entry for the National D-III tournament that starts in two weeks ... "Naturally, we are very proud of him," Rizzo says.

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Rosenberg wins districts; moves on with six teammates

     DENVILLE - The Eagles have landed ... all of them ... seven-for-seven ... a clean sweep.
     The two-day District 2 wrestling tournament held at Hopatcong High School on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 19-20, brought out the best in the wrestlers at Morris Knolls High School as all seven Eagles who reached the quarterfinals advanced to the Region 1 competition that starts Tuesday, Feb. 23, at Wallkill Valley High School.
     Seven-for-seven.
     Morris Knolls 103-pounder Jan Rosenberg is moving on to the regionals as a district champion. He was also named the Outstanding Wrestler for the District 2 tournament.
     Eagles Adam Ramadan, John Arbelaez, Kevin Weis and Luke Homeijer are advancing as district runnerups and Steve McKowen and Steven Lane won their consolation bouts and are moving on as third-place finishers.
     As a team, Morris Knolls finished third in the nine-team field, trailing only team champion Montville and runnerup Randolph.
     Montville, the pre-tournament favorite to win the District 2 title, scored 164 points to Randolph’s 138. Morris Knolls finished with 120 points and was followed by Lenape Valley (4th, 113 points); Robury (5th, 110); Hopatcong (6th, 102); Morris Hills (7th, 59); Dover (8th, 51); and Morris Catholic (9th, 43).
     "The team wrestled the best they have all season," an elated Morris Knolls coach Larry Rizzo said the day after the tournament had ended. "I really enjoyed watching them compete ... even the guys who lost on Friday have a lot about which to be proud."
     Rosenberg, a sophomore and No. 2 seed at 103-pounds, won his title with a 3-1 decision over top-seeded Joe Cruz of Hopatcong, reversing an 8-5 loss he suffered at the hands of Cruz in a dual meet a month ago. Rosenberg reached the title bout with a 3-2 victory over No. 3 seed Matt Benvenuto of Lenape Valley and will take a 30-3 record with him into the regions.
    "“Jan was awesome ... he wrestled Cruz with a lot of confidence and did what he had to do to win," Rizzo said. "He's looking at a No. 1 seed in the regions but understands just how tough it will be ... he’ll be focused."
     Ramadan, a senior who will take a 27-6 record into the regions, lost a 5-3 decision to top-seed Dan Haines of Hopatcong in their 119-pound title bout. Earlier, Ramadan beat No. 3 seed Ray Timpani of Randolph, 5-2, in their semifinal bout.
     "Adam wrestled well against Haines, a state place-winner last year who has much more tournament experience that Adam," Rizzo said. "Adam has already beaten several guys in his weight class at the regions, so he's looking forward to the week and seeing just how far he can go."
     Arbeleaz, a sophomore who was seeded No. 3 at 130, is 17-13 after falling to top-seed David Restivo of Roxbury, 7-6, in their championship bout. Arbeleaz reached the title round by beating No. 2 seed Joey Moran of Morris Hills, 4-3 in overtime.
     "Jon nearly pulled off the upset of the tournament against Restivo," Rizzo said. "He was up by three points with 20 seconds to go, but got reversed to his back," Rizzo said. "It happened very quickly and it was a tough thing to watch ... but he understands what happened and what he needs to do to make sure it doesn’t happen again."
     Weis, a senior and a No. 3 seed at 152, will take a 19-12 record into regional competition after being pinned by top-seed Mike Intile of Montville at 5:23 of their championship bout. Weis defeated No. 2 seed Mike Rampone of Randolph, 6-1, in the semifinal round.
    "“Kevin wrestled the match of his career against Rampone, a kid to whom he has lost three times in his career with the most recent in the county tournament ... Kevin kept the match close and put him in a head lock with about 35 seconds left to clinch the win," Rizzo said. "As for his match against Intile ... well, Intile just happens to be one of the best around at 152."
     Homeijer, the No. 2 seed at 171, is now 23-8 after his runnerup finish at Hopatcong. Homeijer, a junior, pinned No. 3 seed Dan Harris of Dover in 5:49 of their semifinal match before losing a 10-4 decision to top-seed Mike LaBell of Lenape Valley in the title bout.
     "Luke has been wrestling great the last four weeks and he continued along those lines in the districts ... we're really anxious to see how he matches up at Wallkill," Rizzo said. "If he had avoided some early backpoints against LaBell, he just might have pulled off an upset."
     McKowen, a sophomore and No. 3 seed at 125 for the districts, is 30-4 after beating No. 4 seed Ryan Schaible of Dover, 5-1, in the consolations. McKowen went into the consolation round after losing to No. 2 seed Chris Benvenuto in the semifinal round.
    "For some reason, Steve didn't seem very focused in his semifinal loss to Benvenuto ... but he rebounded nicely and came out ready to go and won his consolation," Rizzo said. "He is our only guy with region experience and we’re looking to see how he matches up, too."
      Lane is now 16-11 after the Knolls senior, seeded No. 5 at 215, was pinned in the semifinals by top-seed and eventual champ Taylor Bernstein of Montville. Lane, too, bounced back to secure a spot in the regions with a pin over No. 3 Dave Maddison of Roxbury in their consolation.
     "“Steven beat two guys over the weekend he had lost to earlier this season," Rizzo said. "He has been somewhat inconsistent all year, so hopefully making it to the regions will inspire him."
     Rizzo will use this past weekend's performance by his wrestlers as a teaching tool for his younger wrestlers.
    "“I want them to see how this sport works when you work hard in practice and keep thinking positive thoughts," Rizzo explained. "Our guys proved this weekened it doesn't matter who you wrestle or what happened before, if you prepare physically and mentally you can be successful in not only wrestling, but in other sports ... and in life situations, too. 
    "I don’t want to get all philosophical here, but that’s why we do all this in hopes our kids will learn to prepare themselves for all the challenges they face will face - both on and off the mat."
     Notes: The top three finishers in Districts 1, 2, 3 and 4 will compete in the Region 1 tourney at Wallkill ... the district champion in each weight class gets a first-round bye while the eight second- and third-place finishers in each weight class will be seeded on Monday, Feb. 22 ... the first round of wrestling will be conducted on Tuesday, Feb. 23, starting at 5 p.m. ... Tuesday’s winners will be seeded along with the district champions in each weight class on Wednesday, Feb. 24, and the quarterfinals will be held Friday, Feb. 26, starting at 5 p.m. ... wrestling continues on Saturday, Feb. 27, starting at 9 a.m. with semifinal-round bouts followed by consolation-round bouts and the title  bouts. ...

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Eagles send seven to District 2 semifinals

     DENVILLE - Jan Rosenberg, Adam Ramadan, Steve McKowen Jon Arbelaez, Kevin Weis, Luke Homijer and Steve Lane of Morris Knolls High School advanced out of the quarterfinal round on Friday, Feb. 19, at the two-day District 2 Wrestling Tournament being held at Hopatcong High School.
     Wrestling resumes Saturday, Feb. 20, at 11 a.m. with the semifinals and will be followed by the consolation round for third and fourth place that is scheduled to start at 4 p.m. The championship bouts start at 5 p.m.
    The top three winners in each weight class advance to the Region 1 tournament that starts Tuesday, Feb. 23 at Wallkill Valley High School.
    With seven wrestlers reaching the semifinals, Morris Knoll is tied for fourth place with Randolph in the team standing with 66 points after the first day of wrestling. Montville is the leader with 92 points with Roxbury (83) and Lenape Valley (68) holding down the second and third spots.
     Hopatcong is sixth with 50 points followed by Dover (42), Morris Hills (38) and Morris Catholic (30) to round out the nine-team field.
     Rosenberg (27-3), the No. 2 seed at 103, had the easiest time of the seven advancing Eagles as he drew a bye into the semifinal round.
    Ramadan (25-5), also a No. 2 seed, won an 18-6 major decision over No. 7 seed Alex Poggi of Roxbury in their bout at 119.
    McKowen (29-3), seeded No. 3 at 125, pinned No. 6 seed Michael LaRusso of Roxbury at 4:48.
    Arbelaez (16-12), the No. 3 seed at 130, defeated No. 6 seed A.J. Barros of Randolph.
    In a battle of opposing football quarterbacks, No. 3 seed Weis (18-11) defeated No. 6 seed Willie Rzucidlo of Morris Hills, 3-1, at 152.
    Luke Homijer (22-7), the No. 2 seed at 171, got the quickest Eagle pin of the quarters when he stopped No. 7 seed Matt DeFranco of Morris Catholic at 2:10.
   No. 4 seed Steve Lane (15-10) advanced to the semifinals at 215 with an 11-6 decision victory over No. 5 seed Nick Gangemi of Randolph.
   Failing to advance for the Eagles were Chris Quadrel, Mike Main, Padric Hartnett, Joe Parisi and Joe Flora.
   No. 8 seed Quadrel (6-17) was pinned by top-seeded Kevin Collins of Randolph at 1:40 of their 135 bout after Quadrel had worked his way into the round-of-eight with a 24-9 tech fall at 4:40 of a preliminary-round bout against Sean Rabbit of Morris Catholic.
    Main (4-7), the No. 7 seed at 140, was pinned in 3:02 by No. 2 seed Mike Forlenza of Montville; Harnett (13-17), a No. 5 seed, lost a 7-5 decision to No. 4 seed Andrew LaBell of Lenape Valley at 145; No. 8 seed Parisi (2-6) was pinned by top- seeded Miguel Burgos of Hopatcong at 2:19 of their 160 bout; and Flora (16-14), the sixth seed at heavyweight, lost a 2-1 decision in overtime to No. 3 seed Mike Cautero of Roxbury.

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(To see MK quarterfinal photos, point to 'Winter Photo Pages' and then click on 'MK Dist 2 Mat' when the sub menu appears)

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Eagles finish season with 12-9 record

     DENVILLE - The Morris Knolls High School wrestling team ended its dual-meet season with two victories at the Roxbury Quad Fest at Roxbury High School on Saturday, Feb. 13, and coach Larry Rizzo & Co. are now looking ahead to the districts that start Friday, Feb. 19, at Hopatcong High School.
     Rizzo enters the post-season with mixed emotions after his Eagles defeated Belvidere, 42-13, and Elmwood Park, 53-20, at Roxbury.
    "Although we finished with a winning record (12-9) and we were 9-4 in our last month, it�s a bittersweet feeling because we know we could have done better ... we had our chances to do better, but couldn�t take advantage of them,"  Rizzo says. "If we made a movie of our season, it would be titled 'Missed Opportunities.'"
     Rizzo's Eagles missed qualifying for the team section tournament by one victory as the team record was 7-8 at the cutoff date. They were No. 3 in the section according to their Power Point rating at the time, too.
    Looking ahead, the Rizzo feels he has a handful of wrestlers who will be seeded in the "... top two or three" for the districts and another group who "...will get a real tough match on Friday night, but still have a chance to place."
     Jan Rosenberg (27-3 at 103), Adam Ramadan (25-5 at 119), Steve McKowen (28-3 at 125) and Luke Homeijer (21-7) figure to land top seeds while Rizzo feels that Jon Arbelaez (15-12 at 130), Kevin Weis (17-11 at 152), Steve Lane (14-10 at 215), Padric Hartnett (13-16 at 145), Michael Main (4-6 at 140), Mike Rettino (9-7 at 160) and heavyweight Joe Flora (16-13) could make some noise if they get past Friday night.
    At Roxbury, the Eagles won 9 of the 13 bouts against Belvidere (8-11) and won 10 of the 14 bouts contested against Elmwood Park (7-14) with Main, Luke Homeijer and Rosenberg each winning twice by pins.
     Main registered pin wins at 3:02 and 3:30 at 140; Luke Homeijer stopped his opponents at 1:09 and 4:28 at 189; and Rosenberg got his pins at 2:50 and 4:08 at 103.
     Ramadan had a pin at 1:47 and a forfeit win at 119; McKowen got a 30-second pin at 130 and won by forfeit at 125; and Weis won 6-4 and 5-0 decisions at 152 for the other Knolls double-winners.
   Other winners for the Eagles against Belvidere included Joe Parisi, who won a 3-1 decision at 160; Rettino, who won 4-2 at 171; and Lane, a 3-2 winner at 215.
     Against Elmwood Park, Jon Arbelaez won by pin at 3:27 at 130; Hartnett won a 7-1 decision at 145; and Jake Homeijer (215) and Flora (Hwt.) won by forfeit.
     The "Big Three" of McKowen, Rosenberg and Ramadan - or, as Rizzo calls them, "The Three Amigos" - will take a combined 80-11 record into the districts.

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Hartnett OT win helps Knolls hold off Hills

    DENVILLE - All it took for Larry Rizzo & Co. to forget the disappointments of the week was a good, old-fashioned back-and-forth struggle with their good friends from up the road.
     And that's exactly what the Morris Knolls wrestling team got when it beat sister-school Morris Hills, 32-22, in a high school wrestling match held at Knolls on Friday, Feb. 5.
     Both teams had failed to qualify for the NJSIAA�s six-team sectional team championships as Morris Knolls failed to post a .500 or better record (the Eagles were 8-9) in North 2, Group 3 and Morris Hills (9-7 at the cutoff) failed by .2 of a point to have one of the top six power-point ratings needed to qualify.
    "We had our chances in several matches earlier in the season and for one reason or another didn�t get it done," Rizzo explains.    "But it still tough to take when you look at the six teams that qualified and know that we beat the No. 1 seed (Warren Hills) and No. 3 seed (West Morris) and the No. 6 seed (Millburn) lost to Morris Hills by 10.
     "Hopefully, our kids will learn from this and make up for it later in life ... which is really why we all do this stuff, anyway."
     As for the match against Morris Hills, Knolls took a seemingly safe 15-point lead on Adam Ramadan's tech fall win at 119 and a Steve McKowen pin at 125.
     But Morris Hills ran off three victories get back to within four points of Knolls with two bouts left.
     "At that point, I thought it was going to be their night," Rizzo says. "But then Padric Hartnett won in overtime to clinch the meet and the crowd went crazy."
    If Morris Knolls vs. Morris Hills was close, then Hartnett vs. Willie Rzucidlo of Morris Hills was even closer as the two 145-pounders battled to a 2-2 draw after three two-minute periods.
    Hartnett got the 4-2 win on a takedown in overtime to clinch the match for Morris Knolls.
   "I can�t say enough about Hartnett's victory ... the match was on the line and he came through ... it's something he�ll never forget because everybody went crazy," Rizzo says. "Rzucidlo is a tough kid and he wrestled a good match, too ... he has nothing to feel bad about."
     Kevin Weis, Knolls' 152-pounder, followed with a 3-2 decision over Cody Sternlicht that "... was just icing on the cake ... another very good match and something Weis really needed, too.
    "Luke Homeijer, A.J. Latuja and Steven Lane gave us outstanding efforts ... as did the 'Three Amigos' - (Jan) Rosenberg, Ramadan and  McKowen.�
     Homeijer decisioned Joe Casale, 6-1, at 171; Latuja got a pin win at 4:22; and Lane decisioned Michael Clifford, 5-1, at 215 in the fourth bout of the evening.
     Rosenberg improved to 25-3 on the year with an 11-3 win over Brandon Acevedo; Ramadan (24-5) won via a 20-4 tech fall; and McKowen is 25-3 at after his pin win at 5:53 of his 125-pound bout.
    Rizzo and Morris Hills wrestling coach Joe Barchetto - Rizzo�s assistant at Knolls before taking the Hills head coaching job two seasons ago - had talked earlier in the week and Rizzo had predicted the match would be close and might even come down to the Weis-Sternlicht bout.
    "Then we found out the match was going to end with that bout," Rizzo says. "t was just something else to add to the drama of it all."
    But Hartnett took care of that with his OT win at 145 ... and the drama ended as fans poured out onto the floor to greet their heroes.
 "It�s nice for our guys to have a win like this, but we need to keep in mind that our goal was to make the team playoffs and we did not do that," Rizzo says. "Now we need to get as many guys as possible through to the regions by placing in the top three of the districts.
 "That is what we�ll be focusing on from here on out."
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Eagles rally to beat Montgomery for 9th win

    DENVILLE - Morris Knolls, down 12-0 after losing the first four matches of its dual meet against Montgomery, came storming back and won nine of the last 10 bouts to register a 42-18 victory in a high school wrestling match held at Knolls on Wednesday, Feb .3.
    Freshman Mike Rettino broke put Morris Knolls (9-9) on the scoreboard with a 1:55 pin win at 160 and, when Kyle Smith picked up forfeit points at 171, the teams were tied, 12-12.
    Luke Homeijer (187), Steven Lane (215) and heavyweight Joe Flora followed with pins - all in the first period - before Montgomery picked up its fifth win of the night on a pin.
     Adam Ramadan (119) and Steven McKowen (125) each won by first-period pins with McKowen�s 59-second pin win the quickest of the night for the Eagles. Jon Arbelaez won by injury default at 130.
    Notes: There was no match at 103, leaving Jan Rosenberg at 24-3 for the season ... McKowen improved to 24-3 and Ramadan is now 23-5 after his win ... Homeijer improved his season record to 18-7 and Lane is now 15-11 ... weather permitting, Knolls plays host to sister-school Morris Hills Friday, Feb. 5, at 7 p.m.  

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Rosenberg, Ramadan 2nd in county tourney

      DENVILLE - A top ten finish for the team ... two wrestlers in championship matches ... a fourth, a fifth and a sixth-place finish.
      Larry Rizzo will take it.
     "We had a successful tournament," the Morris Knolls High School wrestling coach said after his team finished 10th in the 23-team field of the Morris County Wrestling Tournament. "Finishing in the top ten was nice."
      Delbarton, as was expected, won the team title with 144 points with  Randolph (124.5), Pequannock (109), Roxbury (91) and Montville (87) rounding out the top five in the two-day competition that was held at Mount Olive High School on Friday and Saturday, Jan. 29-30.
     Jan Rosenberg, the No. 3 seed at 103, made it to the championship bout where he lost a 1-0 decision to No. 5 seed Patsy Davis of Madison.
     Adam Ramadan, the No. 3 seed at 119, also made it to the final round where he lost a 4-3 decision to No. 4 seed Matt Albano of Delbarton.
     Steve McKowen, the No. 4 seed at 125, finished fourth when he lost a 12-6 decision to No. 2 seed Nick Giordano of Hanover Park in the third-place consolation bout.
     Luke Homeijer, the No. 8 seed at 171, finished fifth when he decisioned No. 4 seed Joe Casale of Morris Hills, 8-5, in the fifth-sixth wrestlebacks.
     Steven Lane, the No. 7 seed at 215, finished sixth in his weight class when he lost a 4-3 decision to unseeded Dave Maddison of Roxbury in the fifth-sixth wrestlebacks.
     "Rosenberg lost 1-0 to a guy coming down from 112 and from another region," Rizzo said after the tournament. "There is nothing to be concerned with there.
     "Rosenberg�s best match of the tournament was in the semifinal when he pinned Pat Healy of Jefferson (the No. 4 seed) at 4:59 when he was losing 5-2. Healy is a quality guy who Jan beat by only one point earlier in the year. He took him down and pinned him ... the move seemed to take forever and it was very suspenseful to watch."
    Rosenberg, who is now 24-3 for the season, decisioned No. 8 seed Frank Crippen of Morristown, 5-2, in their quarterfinal-round bout to kickoff Saturday�s wrestling.
    "Ramadan wrestled a nice tournament but got a little passive on his feet in the final," Rizzo said. "He's a two-time place winner in the county tournament now ... nothing to be ashamed of there at all."
     Ramadan, now 21-5 for the season, opened the day with a 9-5 decision over unseeded Brendon Carcuffe of West Morris and then beat No. 7 seed Ben Conover of Madison in the semifinal round to reach the title bout against Albano.
     "McKowen had a great quarterfinal, majoring a guy he beat by only two points earlier in the season,"Rizzo said. "He needs to improve on a few things to get ready for a strong post-season run and the two losses he suffered in the tournament this weekend helped show him what he has to do.
     "I often say that coaches tell the wrestlers what they need to do, but their opponents teach it to them."
     McKowen, who is now 24-3, opened the day with a 12-5 decision over No. 5 seed Nick Matthews of West Morris before losing a 12-7 decision to top-seed and eventual champion Mike Polizzi of Montville in the semifinals before losing to Giordano.
    "Luke Homeijer had an excellent tournament," Rizzo added. "He wrestled Mike Lomio of Hanover Park very hard and then beat Joey Casale, who is also having an excellent season for Morris Hills."
     Homeijer, now 17-7 for the season, opened the day by losing a 7-3 decision to the top-seeded and eventual champ Lomio in the quarterfinals. He then decisioned unseeded Blaze Feury of Delbarton, 9-4, in the wrestleback semifinals before beating No. 4 seed Casale, 8-5, in the fifth-sixth wrestleback.
     Lane, now 14-11, was pinned in the quarters by No. 2 seed Derrick Flitcroft of Delbarton, and beat No. 6 seed Ron Tancer of Montville, 8-6, in the wrestlback semifinals before losing to Maddison in the fifth-sixth wrestlebacks.
     Heavyweight Joe Flora, the sixth Morris Knolls wrestler to reach the quarterfinal round, lost a 9-0 decision to top-seed and eventual runnerup Mike Spencer of Pequannock and then lost a 10-0 decision to No. 5 seed Joe Yarosz of Morris Catholic in the wrestleback semifinals.
     "We were a little disappointed about missing out on qualifying for the team sectionals," Rizzo said. "But now we have two weeks to get ready for the districts and concentrate on fine tuning our technique.
     "We also have a match with Morris Hills this Friday (Feb. 5 at Knolls, 7 p.m.) and that is going to be a very interesting competition, too."

Knolls now 6-5 after three wins at quad