Luke Mazzeo is one tough kid.

In the first round of the NJSIAA wrestling tournament his sophomore year, the Emerson native tore his ACL 10 seconds into the match, twisting his knee and feeling a pop after taking his opponent down.

Mazzeo not only finished the match, but ended up scoring a decisive 10-3 victory.

Unable to wrestle or even walk after, he would go on to endure a grueling stretch of rehab and training in order to come back ready for the 2017-18 season.

“After the surgery [the rehab] was very tough,” he said. “Some nights were awful. I couldn’t sleep, it was crazy, it took so long to get back – eight months – I kept working my hardest and I knew that I had to accomplish my goals.”

It’s that relentless determination which led to Mazzeo’s Bergen County championship at 138 pounds and the 6th overall ranking in the state at 132 pounds, and what’s fueling him this season to be even better.

Emerson/Park Ridge’s success was a bit of a surprise last season. As a team, the 29-year-old co-op program went 28-1, finishing first in District 3 over Don Bosco while falling just short of capturing a Group 1 state championship.

“We really didn’t expect that we were going to do this great,” he said.

Despite a heartbreaking loss in the state final, Emerson/Park Ridge won pivotal matches against perennial powers Hunterdon Central and South Plainfield, which Mazzeo described as “insane.”

“The team always comes first during the season and I kept leading my team and I just wanted them to do great and state finals against Paulsboro, that was rough, but we still put up a good fight,” he said.

He experienced similar success individually, reaching 114 career wins after a 44-3 record and finishing as the No. 6-ranked wrestler in New Jersey.

Reaching 100 wins was especially gratifying for Mazzeo. His dad Joe, one of the team’s coaches, and uncle, were both 100-win wrestlers for Emerson/Park Ridge in the 1980s.

That legacy is something Mazzeo is proud of. Wrestling for Emerson/Park Ridge under coach Stan Woods, who just completed his 52nd year at the helm – not to mention taking part in the team’s pre-match tradition of running out the “Born to be Wild” under the lights – has always been a goal of his.

“It’s crazy that’s coming down to the last season,” he said. “My dad and my uncle, state finalists, and trying to beat that and do it for them and for coach Woods having his first state final winner, it’d be awesome.”

Mazzeo said he plans on wrestling in college after graduating next spring. He’s garnered interest and been in contact with mostly Division I schools, but is unsure where he will attend. He’ll likely make a decision during or after the upcoming season.

In their own words

Mazzeo’s expectations for his senior year:

As a team, I’m expecting us to do very well. We have a lot of guys back. We’ve got Zach Lewis, Jonah Schechtman, Nick Babin and my brother Logan Mazzeo. We should win sections I believe. Individually, I want to win a state title really bad. That’s all I see in my mind and that’s what I’ve been training for, 24/7, 365 days of the year. I want it so bad, and my dad keeps pushing me and he wants me to be better than he ever was. It’s going to be a journey, and I really want this.

 

Written by Adam Evans, Record Sports Department