As the wrestling season rolled into late January, one thing jumped out in looking at the Steinert High team. Louis Bilardo sure hasn’t had to work much in his matches this year.
Of course, that’s what happens when you work hard every day in between. You are ready to be a machine.
Through Jan. 20, Bilardo was 12-1, with his only loss coming in the championship match of the George Maier Invitational. And he was blitzing all comers.
Aside from one forfeit victory, all of the senior’s wins were by pin. He had yet to wrestle into the third period, and planted nine of his opponents in the first period. Three of those falls came in less than a minute. His longest match lasted 3 minutes, 57 seconds and in his 11 victories he averaged 1:35 of mat time.
“Yeah, they’re the best ones,” Bilardo said of first-period pins. “I try to feel them out first, see what I’m working with and whatever happens, I kind of take what I have. Some matches are quicker than others.”
But most are quick in some sense of the word. That kind of rapid success doesn’t happen by accident. It’s no fluke. It’s a byproduct of preparation.
“Louis has just really worked on strength, conditioning and wrestling,” coach Joe Panfili said. “He’s either at the gym or at one of the wrestling clubs. Or he’s wrestling around with his cousins, who were pretty good Mercer County wrestlers. The kid’s always working to get better.”
His cousins actually wrestled on enemy turf, but both were guys to admire and emulate. Nick Cecala was a state qualifier in 2013, and Ryan Bennett reached Atlantic City in 2020.
“I grew up in a wrestling family,” Bilardo said. “I watched Nicholas a lot when I was younger. When Ryan was in high school I was in high school. It was cool, our teams got to wrestle each other.”
Bilardo began with Hamilton PAL at age 4, and along with family, he had a lot of friends who wrestled and nudged him into it.
When he reached Steinert, Louis had a good grasp of the sport as witnessed by a 16-2 record his freshman season that included 11 pins and two technical falls. After beating Princeton’s Ryan Friedman for his 11th straight win, Bilardo was peaking heading into the Mercer County Tournament.
Until disaster struck.
“I was at practice, me and my friend were messing around with each other,” Bilardo recalled. “We were taking stupid shots and the leg twisted the wrong way and I tore my meniscus. I was feeling good heading into the counties. I was feeling real good.”
It marked the second time he suffered a left knee injury, having torn his ACL playing youth football. Bilardo could not go to school for over a month and when he returned, Covid showed up and would not go away for over a year. Steinert was limited to seven matches in 2021, but Bilardo made the most of his sophomore year by winning five of his seven matches. There were no counties or states that year.
After being denied a chance at the MCTs his his first two years, Bilardo got his opportunity as a junior and took third at 190 pounds by pinning Trenton’s Eric Brown in 1:21. Louis finished 17-4 on the season with 11 pins — nine in the first period and six in under a minute. He took third in District 21 at 190 by pinning Manasquan’s Noah Mammer in the consolation finals, but lost two straight in the regionals.
Panfili felt Bilardo was a victim of the power point rankings that give wrestlers better seeding in state matches. Much of that is based on previous showings in the postseason, and Bilardo had not yet wrestled in the postseason.
Panfili feels that a win over Hopewell’s Sam Ronollo in the MCT quarterfinals helped Bilardo realize he had arrived as a quality wrestler.
“That was a real breakout match for him against a kid who was a strong wrestler,” Panfili said. “He did well against him and that really improved his confidence going into the district tournament. But he was always pretty confident.”
Bilardo agrees that the victory awakened something in him. “The whole year, I was able to do the tournaments. It was good. It showed me what to work on. I was so happy I made it to regionals. It was a cool experience. Now I’ve already been there, I’m used to it, I know what I have to do this time and I’ll get it done.”
Louis looks even better this year than last, despite the fact he has slowed down his club wrestling. Bilardo joined Elite at age 8 and wrestled there frequently until getting into high school. He wrestles in the off-season as often as possible, but last summer his job as a pie cutter and server at DeLorenzo’s Pizza in Yardley, Pennsylvania, kept him fairly busy.
Fortunately, he didn’t eat too much of his employer’s product and still came back to Steinert in good shape and with a good attitude. His goal is to win counties and reach the states.
“My mind is way better this year,” he said. “I used to be so down on myself before a match and I would get into my head. I just go out and wrestle now. I don’t know where it came from, I just kind of got it.”
Panfili says he’s expecting big things in counties and states this year.
“He can possibly get through (to Atlantic City). I’m hoping all the stars align and he wrestles well. Hopefully he doesn’t catch the injury or illness bug, knock on wood. I’m really confident he’s gonna do well.”
Once the season is over, Bilardo has his sights set on college. He is not sure if he will be able to wrestle, but says if he gets some kind of scholarship offer he would look into it.
“Wrestling is fun,” he said. “I’ve been doing it a long time. I know I’d miss it if I didn’t do it. When I’m in wrestling season I’m all in. That’s all I’m thinking. Figuring out ways I can better myself, watching my matches on tape. When I’m out there, I’m not worried about anything except winning that match.”
At the pace he’s been beating opponents, he certainly hasn’t spent a lot of time worrying.
Through Jan. 20, Louis Bilardo was 12-1, with his only loss coming in the championship match of the George Maier Invitational. And he was blitzing all comers. (Photo by Rich Fisher.),
