18 Crusaders Commit To College Athletics

Even though yesterday was National Signing Day, the Bergen Catholic Crusaders top 18 will sign their Letters of Intent this afternoon. The bulk of the student athletes will continue their prowess on the gridiron, but several others will take to the track, pitch and the field.

"This is nothing short of a great send off to bigger and better things," Bergen's AD Jack McGovern said.

Under first-year head coach Nunzio Campanile, BC saw 14 Crusaders from this season's 10-2 team ink Letters of Intent.

Leading the pack is All-Bergen quarterback Tanner McEvoy (Hillsdale) who will head south to the University of South Carolina. He racked up 108 rushing yards per game, 205 passing yards per game and 314 total yards per game.

Defensive back Shutang Mungwa (New Milford) will head north to Syracuse University, averaging 16 tackles for the season. Wide receiver Cameron Dickerson (New Milford) joins Northwestern to continue improving his stats of 701 receiving yards and 11 tackles.

Also signing are LB Karl Bostick (Englewood) to Akron (40 carries for 334 yards, 177 receiving yards); RB Spencer Kulcsar (Harrington Park) to Penn (605 rushing yards, 484 receiving yards); DB 
Nick La Testa (Wood-Ridge) to Yale (8 rushing yards, 37 receiving yards); and DL Zach Sparber (Norwood) to Brown (4 tackles, 13 assists).

Other Crusaders that will continue playing football in college are DL Taylor Bishop of New Milford (.6 tackles per game average) and OL/DL Pat DiMase  of Wood-Ridge (.8 tackles per game average) will both head to Wesleyan; TE/DL Matt Rega of Hillsdale (1.3 tackles per game) is going to Washington University; Safety Rick Sinning (4.5 tackles per game) and TE Jack Gallagher of Allendale (3.6 points per game) will both head to Franklin & Marshall together; Center Martin Scheuring (Northvale) commits to Johns Hopkins; while QB/DB Joe Orsini of North Caldwell (53 passing yards) heads out to Gettysburg.

"This just shows the hard work and dedication not only from these guys but their parents as well," Campanile said.

Outside of the football team's successes, varsity soccer Marc Teitelbaum (Upper Saddle River) heads to Lafayette College in the fall. A three-year starter for BC, Teitelbaum led his team to an 11-7-2 record with a run in the county and state tournaments. A six-goal scorer last year, he booted 12 goals for Bergen this fall.

Lacrosse midfielders Jamie Ward (Glen Rock) and Billy Schwartz (Oradell) will take their short poles to Holy Cross and St. John's Universities respectively. Ward and Schwartz were both there to lead the Crusaders to the 2009 Bergen County Championship. Englewood Cliffs resident Mario Kranjac will head to Yale as a 200 and 400 meter sprinter.