Last-bout win helps Wayne Valley wrestling complete unprecedented sectional title run

WAYNE – Before he could tell who did it, Adam Janouk was carried off the mat and onto his teammates' shoulders.

For the first time all day, the Wayne Valley senior couldn't fend off a shot to his legs.

"I'm never going to feel something like this again in my life," Janouk said. "It's a once-in-a-lifetime experience."

The Indians' 126-pounder was the toast of the town after completing an unpresented title run and a hang-on-for-dear-life kind of victory. His decision in the final bout helped the seventh seed get past No. 8 Montville, 32-24, in the North 1, Group 3 championship on Wednesday night.

It is the first time a public school has won a sectional title as the seventh seed since the field expanded to eight teams in 2017.

The Indians took a commanding lead in the final by winning eight of the first nine bouts, then had to sweat things out for the next half-hour. So by the time Janouk closed out a 6-1 victory, every one of his teammates was standing behind the bench.

"I'm just so proud of him," Wayne Valley coach Todd Schroeder said. "Every day, I wish I could have 14 of him across the weight classes."

What it means

This is the third sectional title in program history and the first since another last-bout victory in 2019.

With the win, Wayne Valley (14-7) will head down to Delsea on Friday for the Group 3 semifinal round.

The Indians will be the underdog against the top seed and defending state champion but by now, that's a role that Schroeder's squad knows all too well. His team started the postseason on the road and beat two teams ranked higher in the bracket.

"Your seed is just a number," Schroeder said. "I told the kids that. Some people sit there and say, oh, it usually doesn't happen. But they believed it. They really did. I showed them our strength of schedule and said we wrestled tougher teams. We've beaten tougher teams and lost to tougher teams. Let's get ready. What happens in January means nothing."

Fast start, frenetic finish

The championship match got off to a fortuitous start for the Indians. Montville bumped up two of its better wrestlers to try to steal some points, but Cole Perry (132) and Noah Zindaki (138) answered the challenge both times for Wayne Valley.

Things continued to break the Indians' way after Nick Barone scored a late-ahead takedown at 165 and when Wilson Javier came up with a dramatic pin at 175. Javier was down 4-3 in the second when he threw Matt Chmielewski to his back for the lead and a fall.

While Javier was giving up about 16 pounds to his opponent, he was still happy to hear his name called after going in and out of the lineup this season.

"My reaction?," Javier said. "I was excited honestly. I was ready. I always know I have to be ready. Before a match, I'm always working and warming up. When I went out there, I just put on a show."

Wayne Valley was on the brink of victory with a 29-3 lead and five bouts to go when the tide started to turn.

Montville won the next four bouts and three by pin to get within 29-24 entering the final bout.

And as the score tightened up, Janouk was going through all the scenarios in his head.

"I was super nervous," said Janouk, a team captain and Calculus student at Wayne Valley. "As soon as the match started, I thought don't get pinned and don't get teched. Those were the two things going through my brain. It took me a bit to get warmed up and get my head clear and focus on winning. That's when I started taking over the match."

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Last-bout win helps Wayne Valley wrestling take home sectional title