The fans had arrived nearly two hours early. It was Saturday morning, Feb. 7, 1976, and the Belleville High wrestling team would have its final regular season bout, at home, against a Bergen County powerhouse in Pascack Hills High School.
The schools had agreed on a 2-year deal to wrestle each other, in 1975 and ’76, with each team hosting a match.
In February, 1975, Pascack Hills had won impressively against a good Belleville team, which had come into that bout with just one loss in the regular season.
Then head coach Jim Silvestri knew his Belleville team, a rising program, with a 13-2 record, still had work to do before competing at a level with Pascack Hills.
Nevertheless, Silvestri was named the Region 2 Coach of the Year, in the ’74-75 season.
This time, the match with Pascack Hills would be held at Belleville, and the passionate wrestling fans in that town had circled the date, Feb. 7, on the calendar for a long time.
Pascack Hills had a simply marvelous program. Coached by a great man in William ‘Bucky’ Rehain, Pascack Hills hadn’t lost a dual match in five years, and had won 53 straight matches.
Rehain would finish his 40-year coaching career with a mind-boggling 456-98-1 record. Among his many accomplishments, he coached 12 NJSIAA champions.
From a team perspective, he would win 21 League Championships, 20 District titles, 10 Bergen County Championships, and five State Sectional Championships.
Rehain would not only coach 12 state champions, he also coached 120 district and 56 region champions. He is truly a legend.
Pascack Hills’ lineup was beyond deep, and intimidating. They could beat you quickly, with a pin, or wear you down with a 6-minute punishment.
Multiple state champions and state medal winners adorned their team roster. Tom Husted would win a pair of state championships, in 1976 and ’77, and captured three NJSIAA medals.
Bob Waldron finished third in the state in ’76. Chris Catalfo and Tim Catalfo each won state titles in 1977, and Chris Catalfo also took second a year later. Bob Davis finished as high as third in the state. Steve Bessette won a state title in 1978. Howie Lainstrom was second in the state in 1978.
Either way, the team located in Montvale, NJ, was nearly unbeatable.
There was a knowledgeable fan base in Belleville, when it came to wrestling, so just about everyone in attendance that day in Belleville knew what was on the line.
What many people didn’t know was this would be Silvestri’s last home match as Belleville’s coach. He was already in position to succeed Herman ‘Jitty’ Wische as the school’s next athletic director, starting in the fall of 1976, as Wische was set to retire at the end of the ’75-76 school year.
A decade earlier, Silvestri had begun the process of making Belleville High wrestling a powerhouse, in both Essex County, the district, as well as the region.
So on Feb. 7, 1976, Silvestri would coach his final home match, and there was no question that it would be an incredible afternoon, win, or lose.
The match was scheduled for 1 p.m., but as I said earlier, the fans were piling into the gym by 11 a.m.
Rehain, Pascack Hills’ coach, recalled walking into the gym around 11:15 a.m., with his team.
“I remember coming into the gym that morning and couldn’t believe it was already full,” recalled Rehain. “We knew Belleville had a good team, and when I saw that crowd, two hours ahead of the start, I knew we’d be in for a crazy day.”
By 1 p.m., the fans were already in a frenzy before the first bout had begun, at 101 pounds. During the pre-match introductions, the first hint that Silvestri had something up his sleeve occurred when two Belleville wrestlers were introduced at 115 pounds. Most fans expected to see Belleville’s Vin Mustacchio, a really tough grappler, facing an eventual two-time state champion in Husted.
Husted, a junior, was the heart-and-soul of Pascack Hills from 1975-1977. He was a dominant athlete, who had defeated Mustacchio a year earlier and would later that ’75-76 season win a NJSIAA championship, his first of two titles. And when he took the mat, his performances would generally fire up his teammates.
Anyway, Mark D’Amico, a sophomore, was also introduced as a possible opponent for Husted at 115 pounds.
The match started well for Belleville at 101 pounds as Carl Arlt won by major decision, over Warren Jimenez, 8-0, to give the Bellboys a 4-0 lead. The crowd enjoyed that match, a great deal, but Pascack Hills’ Jim DeVanna would come back and win, by a 6-5 decision at 108 pounds. Belleville’s Bobby Freda had wrestled well, despite the setback, and saved his team a few valuable bonus points.
With Belleville leading, 4-3, next up was Husted at 115 pounds, and Silvestri made the decision to bump Mustacchio to 122 pounds and forfeit the 115-pound class. That meant six easy points for Pascack Hills, giving the Cowboys its first lead, at 9-4, but the momentum of a dominant Husted victory was taken away for Pascack Hills.
Mustacchio got his job done at 122 pounds, winning by major decision over Chris Hulford, 10-0, which cut the Hills lead to 9-8. Again, bonus points had helped keep Belleville close in the early going, despite a 6-point swing with the forfeit at 115.
“That was classic Jimmy,” said Rehain, who returned to BHS for the first time since the ’76 match, in 2014, and gave a wonderful speech at the third Jim Silvestri Memorial Match. “I had tremendous respect for him as a coach that day, because I knew he would get the most out of his team. We got the six with the forfeit, but our team had always gotten a lift when Tommy wrestled. Him not getting on the mat, and moving Vin to 122, was important for them.”
Pascack Hills would take control in the next three bouts and opened a 23-8 lead, as Chris Catalfo, Tom Hangeman and Tim Catalfo defeated Mark DeGiacomo, Ron Grolimond and Andy Schenke at 129, 135 and 141 pounds respectively.
But once again, bonus points were a key. Had Hills won all three matches by fall, instead of one fall and two major decisions, the Cowboys would have led 27-8, and all but clinched the match with five bouts left. (Based on the final results of the match, had Hills opened a 27-8 lead, the best Belleville could have done was finish in a tie).
But Belleville’s wrestlers, even in defeat, had saved some points by wrestling aggressively, and down 23-8, there was still hope for the Blue & Gold heading into the 148-pound match featuring Belleville’s Robert Villano and Waldron.
Villano needed a big effort against Waldron. Had Waldron won, even by decision, Belleville would have needed four straight wins, almost all by fall or major decision, to pull out a victory.
Villano got the job done. He didn’t win, but didn’t lose, either. Instead, he wrestled Waldron to a 2-2 tie, and kept his team within 15 points, 25-10, with four bouts left. (Back then, a tie didn’t necessitate overtime, as it does now. Instead, each team got two points).
“I thought we were in good shape,” Rehain recalled. “But give Robert Villano credit. We were up (23-8) and Robert got those two points to keep Belleville within 15. If we get a win there, we pretty much clinch the match. And then (Chris) Tremel gets a pin (at 158 pounds), again, against a top-level kid who would eventually be a state champion, and the momentum began to change. You could hear the crowd really picking up steam.”
Tremel would begin Belleville’s comeback, with that pin at 158 pounds, over a sophomore, Steve Bessette, to cut the Hills lead to 25-16. As mentioned, Bessette would eventually be a state champion, in 1978.
Tremel, who was undefeated for most of that season, gave the fans some excitement and the buzz was starting to be felt by the large crowd, which for a few bouts, didn’t have a lot to cheer about.
The momentum was starting to shift, starting with Villano’s bout at 148 and continuing with Tremel’s win. That set the stage for Keith Waddell’s match at 170 pounds.
Nicknamed ‘Wildman’ by his teammates, Waddell won by a major decision at 170, defeating Jim Thorsland, 9-1. As that bout drew to a close, the huge crowd was chanting ‘Wildman, Wildman‘, and the place was now incredibly loud, as a knowledgeable wrestling fan base was sensing a comeback for the ages.
While Belleville had closed to within 25-20, the math was rather simple. There were two matches left, at 188 pounds and heavyweight. Had Pascack Hills won that 188-pound match, even by a 3-point decision, it would clinch a team victory, making the heavyweight match anticlimactic.
Ken Milano was Belleville’s 188 pounder, and he wrestled his best match of the season, and perhaps in his career, in the most crucial of moments, winning by a 6-0 decision over Roy Barudin. Milano, with the fans clearly in his corner, was methodical in victory, working the edge of the mat to perfection, applying solid defense, and working well on his feet.
Belleville now trailed, 25-23, going into the final bout, where George D’Alessandro waited for the Bellboys. The deja vu was clearly evident, as George took the mat at heavyweight for the Bellboys.
A year earlier, D’Alessandro, a sophomore, stepped on the mat in the final match against Essex Catholic, with his team trailing 24-19. Big George would get the pin to provide Silvestri his biggest win, to date, 25-24, against a long-time nemesis.
Now a year later, D’Alessandro only needed a decision against Howie Lindstrom, to give Belleville the improbable win, but George, with a flair for the dramatic, would get the pin early in the second period, at 3:24. George had recalled taking an early lead in this match, but then almost got caught with a move.
George would later say Silvestri got a little nervous, but George would assure him he had the match where he wanted.
Belleville won, 29-25, and the reverberation of the gym walls was telling. Those who were there have said that the gym literally shook.
“I knew we were in big trouble by then,” Rehain said. “You could tell George wasn’t going to lose.”
Many will say it was Belleville High’s greatest team win in school history. That is debatable, but certainly has validity.
Nevertheless, it was probably Belleville’s greatest team win on the mat, and that’s saying something, considering the marvelous teams who have represented the Bellboys and Bucs, for over 50 years.
Silvestri would be Belleville’s athletic director from 1976-1990. One of his first priorities was hiring a new wrestling coach to succeed him, and he nailed that, bringing in Gene D’Alessandro, the one-time great coach at Essex Catholic.
Jim Silvestri passed away in 2010. During his run as athletic director, Belleville crowned its first two NJSIAA wrestling champions in Chris Musmanno, in 1980, and Armando Nardone in 1988.
Three more champions, Emilio ‘Junior’ Nardone (1991 and 1992), John Perna (1995) and Anthony Conte (1996) would follow with state gold for the Buccaneers. Belleville last had a state finalist in 2003.
Rehain is still very active in high school wrestling, as a teacher and big-time fan.
Belleville and Pascack Hills have not met in wrestling since Feb. 7, 1976.
But on that day, the walls did, indeed reverberate.
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