It looked like this could be the year Sal Famularo would finally battle through his injury issues and gain a state tournament berth; until the problem came back to bite him at the worst time of the season.
And yet, despite withdrawing from the NJSIAA District 21 tournament after losing his semifinal match while dealing with severe pain in his arms, Famularo can look back on his senior season with Steinert wrestling as something to take pride in.
A two-sport standout in soccer and wrestling, the top-seeded Famularo carried an 18-0 record with 11 pins into his 132-pound semifinal district bout with Lakewood’s Edgar Silva. The fourth-seed recorded a first-period pin, and the chronic pain in Sal’s arms became too insufferable for him to attempt to wrestle the consolation match for a berth in the regionals.
“He was having really bad pain in his arms,” Steinert coach Joe Panfili said. “It’s a shame that he went out like that. He had a heck of a year.”
Included in his season was a championship in the Mercer County Tournament, when Famularo earned Outstanding Wrestler by virtue of a two first-period pins and a major decision in the championship bout.
“He’s been spectacular,” Panfili said following the counties. “He’s just been a great leader for us and like a coach in the wrestling room for us.”
Famularo had just one point scored against him the entire season prior to districts, and that came in the MCT finals against Princeton’s Martin Brophy.
“For me coming in as a new coach he’s everything I could have asked for and more,” Panfili said. “He’s been a great leader to the younger guys, he’s the first one to come in, he rolls out the mats for us, gets everybody going. He gets the team going and warmed up. He makes sure they’re on point.”
Famularo had himself on point in the counties.
“He was a machine,” Panfili said. “He really kind of set out on a mission and just executed. We’re extremely happy for him and the program.”
And Sal was happy for himself.
“It means a lot to win it,” he said. “What it really means is I’ve been working hard. I’ve been through a lot. Winning something like this has always been big for me.”
Work is something Famularo has never been afraid of. As self-described “chubby kid” he was convinced to try Hamilton PAL wrestling by his friend and his friend’s father at age 5. He went to his first tournament and “a buddy of ours destroyed me” who wrestled for The Wrecking Crew, which is the club Famularo ended up joining.
“I’ve always been decent at it, but going to that club really got me going,” he said.
After a fun first year, Famularo struggled the following season.
“That was a rough patch,” he said. “I didn’t enjoy it then, I lost a lot of matches. But we all have a little bit of a rough patch.”
Upon arriving at Steinert, Famularo wrestled and played soccer, and kept improving at both. But the first signs of trouble came toward the end of his freshman wrestling season, when a pectoral muscle tore away from his biceps when the tendon connecting the two ripped in half. He underwent surgery and “that was a long, grueling process of trying to recover.”
Famularo was back in time to play soccer and returned to wrestling as a sophomore but the arm still hurt during most of the season. He rebounded to win districts, but could not make it to regionals because of his arms.
“It’s always been a process of injuries,” he said, in an unfortunate foreshadowing of what would occur at this year’s districts. “At that point it bothered me, but you make your way back.”
Last year’s wrestling season was pretty much a wash due to Covid, and Famularo returned to enjoy a stellar soccer season last fall. He was chosen to play in the Mooch Myernick game featuring some of Mercer County’s top seniors.
“Playing soccer has always been a passion of mine, but winning in wrestling is a whole different experience,” said Famularo, who has received some offers to wrestle in college. “When you go on the mat and absolutely just beat a kid and it’s that individuality that gets you over people, it’s the best feeling. To me it’s always been an individual thing, no matter if you’re good or bad, just trying to win is what you try to do. I hate losing. Losing is hard for me.”
Not competing due to injury is even tougher, which is what made his exit from districts so upsetting.
“It’s a long-term problem,” he said after the MCT. “They hurt every match. You just have to have a higher threshold of pain. You gotta learn to live with it.”
Unfortunately, his high school career ended because it was too tough to live with. Hopefully, he gets back on the mat in college and has a chance to make up for it.
Sal Famularo was undefeated this wrestling season before injuries derailed his senior year campaign.,
