FOREST FIRE: Princeton High wrestler Forest Rose poses for a preseason photo. Last Saturday, freshman standout Rose placed first at 106 pounds at the District 18 boys’ wrestling championships. Rose is believed to be the first PHS freshman to win a district title. (Photo provided courtesy of Forest Rose)

By Justin Feil

Forest Rose put his name in the record books when he won the 106-pound division at the District 18 boys’ wrestling championships at Monroe High last Saturday.

Rose is believed to be the first freshman from Princeton High to win a district title.

“It was pretty exciting,” Rose said. “It was cool to do it because I was the first district champ in like five years and I could be double champ with my brother, both me and my brother are champs. It really makes me feel that I’m going to do good in my career.”

His brother, senior Cole Rose, won the 132-pound division to capture his first district title, and another senior, Blasé Mele, who was sixth in the state championships last year, took second place at 144 pounds. The three are the lone Tigers to reach the Region 5 tournament that will be hosted by Franklin High on Friday and Saturday. They will be competing for a top-three finish and berth in the state championships in Atlantic City.

“We’re excited to see how the next two weeks play out,” said PHS head coach Jess Monzo. “Hopefully we have a good region weekend and then we get to watch the guys let it fly in Atlantic City.”

Forest Rose is looking to continue to make history. His district title is notable because of just how hard it has been to accomplish. He’s the first Tiger wrestler since Aaron Munford in 2022 to earn a district crown. To do so as a freshman adds to his achievement. Top PHS wrestlers from earlier eras like Lou John Rossi, Angelo Arcaro and Ian Reddy never won a district title as a freshman. More recent successes like Alec Bobchin, James Verbeyst, Munford and James Romaine, along with Cole Rose and Mele never accomplished the feat.

“Ian Reddy was really good, Alex Bobchin, those are both multiple time state place winners,” said Monzo, “but I don’t think either one of them happened to win a district title his freshman year.”

Forest Rose wasn’t picked to win it either. He was seeded second at 106, behind a senior, Hopewell Valley’s Dean Meissner, a former Mercer County champion who qualified for the region tournament last year and had spent most of this year wrestling at 113 pounds. None of that mattered when Rose pinned him in the third period in the final.

“I was pretty confident because Dean Meissner was cutting a little bit of weight and I’ve been working my stuff,” said Rose. “In practice, I’ve been working hard and I’ve been going to a bunch of club. I was just super confident.”

In the semifinals, Rose defeated Kyle Capodanno of Monroe, 9-4. That put him into the finals and he forged an early lead before wearing down Meissner and pinning him thanks to his mindset going in.

“Staying aggressive,” said Rose, reflecting on his approach. “I think pushing the pace and getting kids to get more tired so I can work moves that in the end I can pin people with or get to a big lead in the match. If I get them tired, I can work my more aggressive moves and in the second and third and they work more easily.”

Rose has put together a 28-3 season. About the only thing that he hasn’t accomplished of his goals was winning a Colonial Valley Conference (CVC) Tournament title. He placed second while his older brother won his fourth straight tournament title in January. That made the double golds all the more special Saturday for the Rose boys.

“This was like a little bit of a redemption,” said Forest. “Me and my brother both got to win. It was a cool experience. We both dominated our finals matches. It was really good.”

Cole Rose, for his part, improved to 25-2 on the year with a 15-0 technical fall in the final over Manville’s Mohamed Abdelmageed. He pinned Rumson-Fair Haven’s Henry Marshall in the semifinals, and he had a 16-1 technical fall win over Franklin’s Alsenie Kamara in the quarterfinals.

“We saw what kids were left in the weight, and the way Cole’s been wrestling, we knew none of those kids were really within striking distance,” said Monzo. “So his goal was to go out there and take care of business, and he did. He left no doubt he was the best kid in the class.”

Princeton University commit Mele cruised into the final. He pinned Mohamed Hammad of WW-P/South in the first period, then was a technical fall winner over Jackson Obe of Montgomery in the semifinals. That set up the best showdown of the districts with Mele taking on defending state champion Sonn Amato of Rumson. Amato came away with the 6-3 win, but Mele is moving on to regions with a 23-1 record and an eye on enjoying more success at states.

“He did exactly what he needed to do to get to the final,” said Monzo. “He wrestled a very tough kid in the Rumson kid. And it could be a match that we get to see two more times. Hopefully they win and we win and we can advance and we can see him again because he’s a kid you can’t take anything away from his wrestling ability, but I think if we make a couple minor adjustments we can see a different score.”

The PHS girls also competed over the weekend. The Tigers did not advance anyone out of the Central Jersey Region on Sunday, but with so much of the team expected to return, they have a bright outlook.

“It was fun,” said Monzo. “The girls enjoyed it. They’re all underclassmen, and we had a little talk afterwards. We talked about the feeling right now and what they’re feeling and what they’re going through, and said, if we get here next year, remember this feeling. And let’s work all summer, all season, to make sure this doesn’t happen again next year. And some of them were like, what time is practice tomorrow because we’re coming? So they’re bought in. They’re excited for next year.”

They will be cheering for the trio of PHS wrestlers to extend their seasons. Forest Rose is looking to continue his success at the next level. The regions will be a step tougher, but he is taking the same approach that has helped him put together such a strong start to his first high school season.

“I think it’s because I’ve been wrestling offseason, like almost all my life and also in the practice room at Princeton I go with Josh Hannan, and he really pushes me to work harder every single practice,” said Rose. “I think that’s really helped me get better this season.”

Rose came into the season with some lofty goals, and one of them was to pick up a win at states. Rose has traveled to states to see his brother and his sister, Ava Rose, who is now wrestling at Iowa, compete at the state championship level. This weekend, he will have his chance to earn a trip to wrestle there himself, and a region crown would be quite an accomplishment.

“If I can get a win there, that’d be really good for my state seeding,” Rose said. “It’ll get me easier matches and I can maybe go further on in the state tournament. So I’m really trying to get a win there.”

Rose has his own approach to the high pressure high school matches. He remains even keel going into and through matches, regardless of his opponent’s pedigree or performance.

“Forest just doesn’t get flustered,” said Monzo. “He’s really cool, calm, collected the whole time. Sometimes it’s a little too cool for me and the rest of the coaching staff. We want him to go sometimes and he’s always just kind of laid back. He just he knows how to wrestle well, and he does what he does and it’s good.”

Rose believes that there is always time to make adjustments in a match. While he gets nervous beforehand, he doesn’t let it affect him.

“I always want to be locked in, and it helps me if I’m more calm,” said Rose. “I don’t stress about the match or do any of that stuff. It helps me just be more calm and act like it’s just live in practice.”

Rose will take the same approach as the matches and tournaments get bigger each week. It worked to produce a memorable day at districts for he and his brother, and there is now the chance to make more history at regions and add onto a special season.

“Overall I’ve been pretty happy,” said Rose. “I’ve had a couple losses that I think I should have won. But overall, I did get to go to Sam Cali, I got to go to counties and I just had one loss there. And then I go into the district and win it and I have a 28-3 which is pretty good for a freshman, so I’m pretty happy.”