Remembering a Great High School Wrestling Rivalry Between Bloomfield's Rami Ratel and Belleville's Anthony Conte

When he was in grade school, Joe Dubuque recalls going to a Bloomfield vs Belleville wrestling match, with one of his buddies, Joe Schoch, to see some intense wrestling, especially when Anthony Conte of Belleville would step onto the mat to face Rami Ratel.

“My friend, Joe Schoch, was a big Rami Ratel fan. and I was a Conte fan,” said Dubuque, today the head wrestling coach at Princeton University, following a successful stint as an assistant coach at Hofstra, the University of Indiana, and then Princeton. (Dubuque, of course, had an incredible wrestling career himself, winning two NJSIAA championships at Glen Ridge High and a pair of NCAA titles, at the University of Indiana).

“When Anthony and Rami wrestled,” said Joe, “Joe and I went to the match together, but sat on opposite sides of the gym while they had their match. After they finished wrestling, we’d sit together again. It was that intense, even for us kids.”

Anthony Conte (bottom row, far left) won the 1996 NJSIAA championship, at 103 pounds.

If it was intense for a bunch of middle school kids, then you can imagine what it meant to the actual participants.

The Ratel-Conte battles highlighted the high school wrestling seasons from 1995-1997, at Bloomfield and Belleville. Anthony and Rami were certainly familiar with each other, and they’ll both tell you, there wasn’t a lot of friendship between them.

Back then.

Over the years, Conte and Ratel would become high school assistant coaches at their respective alma mater. And with that connection, the two developed a mutual respect.

“It took a while,” Conte once said of becoming friends with Rami. “It’s just the way it was back then, when it came to wrestling. We always had respect, but we weren’t great friends back then. Over the years, we got to know each other.”

Rami Ratel (left) had a tremendous high school and college wrestling career.

Ratel felt the same way.

“Yeah, we didn’t hang out together back then,” he said, with a laugh. “But as time went by, we started to get along pretty well.”

Conte can arguably be called the best wrestler in Belleville High history. In the history of a proud program, he is the only four-time medal winner at the NJSIAA championships. He also won three Region 4 championships.

Anthony won the state title, at 103 pounds in 1996 and finished second at 112 pounds, the following year. He also earned a state medal, for finishing in the top eight, in both 1995 and 1998.

Ratel also had a standout high school wrestling career at Bloomfield, and ranks among the best ever Bengals on the mat. In his senior year, 1997, he took fourth place in the state, at 119 pounds. He also finished fifth at 103 pounds a year earlier.

Ratel also won the Region 4 championship at 103 pounds, in 1996, defeating Conte in the final. But Conte went on to win the state crown at 103 pounds a week later.

After graduation, both guys excelled in college. Ratel attended Montclair State and in 2003, finished undefeated at 149 pounds and won the Division 3 NCAA championship. He would be named the Outstanding Wrestler at that tournament. Rami was a two-time All-American at MSU, and also received the Sam Mills Outstanding Male Athlete of the Year Award in 2003.

Conte attended the College of New Jersey and had a stellar career, earning All-American accolades three times, including a second place finish in 2001, at 125 pounds.

As mentioned, they then returned to their alma maters as assistant wrestling coaches, which is where the two became coaching colleagues, so to speak. Later, Ratel would be named the head coach at Cedar Grove High, and had good success there.

Perhaps the best compliment about Anthony and Rami’s high school rivalry, and ultimate friendship, came from Ratel.

“Anthony made me a better wrestler,” said Rami. “There’s no doubt about it.”

Today, both men are successful in life, as well as devoted husbands and proud parents.

That says it all.

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