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Competing with three open weight classes, the South Plainfield High School wrestling team saw its run of 10 consecutive Morris Knolls Invitational titles come to an end as Seton Hall Prep dethroned the defending champions and Watchung Hills finished ahead of the third-place Tigers on Saturday.
READ: Saturday's tournament results from across the entire state
Jake Stasil (145), Rob Saum (160) and Justin Hayward (182) won individual crowns to help Watchung Hills finish with 188 points, three more than South Plainfield.
Seton Hall Prep amassed 205 points to win the team championship.
Stasil’s 5-3 decision over South Plainfield’s Joe Sacco in the 145-pound final enabled Watchung Hills, which competed with 12 wrestlers, to finish ahead of the Tigers. Unlike Sacco, who qualified for states last year, Stasil, a senior, has not previously made it out of the regions, but his coaches know he is an outstanding grappler.“Everybody placed in the top six, so everybody scored for us,” said Watchung Hills head coach Dan Smith, who received a second-place finish from 126-pounder Danny Miller.
READ: Saturday's GMC box scores
“South Plainfield is a really good team. Things just worked out well for us today. (Finishing second) is something to build on for the season and something for our kids to feel good about themselves and let them know how good they can be.”
Anthony White (106), Joe Heilmann (126) Luke Niemeyer (195) and Zach DelVecchio (220) won individual titles for South Plainfield, which did not have wrestlers competing at 113, 120 and 285 pounds.
“We knew what we were up against,” South Plainfield head coach Bill Pavlak said, noting the field for this year’s Morris Knolls tournament, which included Jefferson and Henry Truman (Pa.) was loaded.
“Obviously, we would have liked to have had a full team. I think we are satisfied with the result. We just need to get a full lineup.”
South Plainfield, which received a second-place finish from Alex Amato at 138 pounds, will get a shot at redemption when it hosts Seton Hall Prep in a dual meet on Dec. 28.
“In a couple of weeks we are hoping to have a stronger lineup,” Pavlak said. “Our goals are still to win a section and compete for a group title.”
Eight Tigers placed among the Top 4 finishers in Saturday’s tournament.
Piscataway has six placewinners at Hopatcong Wrestling Tournament
The Piscataway High School wrestling team, competing without standouts Joseph Hatcher and Michael Petite, had six placewinners including individual champion Nick Recine (170) at Saturday’s Hopatcong Invitational.
Elijah Pitt-Goodson (182) and Paris Foster (195) each placed second for the Chiefs, while teammate Jake Sisk (138) took home a third-place medal. Piscataway’s Marcus Petite (145) and Eric Valentin (132) finished fourth.
Despite losing Bradley to dislocated shoulder, Monroe places third at Neptune Classic
Despite losing incumbent state tournament qualifier Kaylon Bradley to a dislocated shoulder in the semifinal round, Monroe High School rallied without one of its best wrestlers to place third in the Neptune Classic on Saturday.
READ: Complete Neptune Classic results
Long Branch rolled to the team title with 188 points. Highland Regional (130) finished second, 3.5 points ahead of Monroe.
“We would have liked to have done better, but that’s just the way the cards fell,” said Monroe head coach Joe Eurell, who was pleased that 13 of his wrestlers placed in the 14-team event.
“It was a rough day for us as a team, but all the guys put their noses down and got the job done. We had a strong showing in the wrestlebacks.”
Andy Lombard was the lone Monroe wrestler to reach a final, falling 7-0 to North Hunterdon’s Andrew Gapas, who placed eight in the state last season.
Mikey Wilson (pin of Collingswood’s Joe Downing at 145 pounds) and Tucker Kirchberger (7-2 decision over Isaac Shohet of Long Branch at 152 pounds) also won individual titles for North Hunterdon, which placed fourth.
Bradley’s shoulder popped out during his semifinal bout. In obvious pain, he was carted out of the gymnasium on a stretcher and taken to Jersey Shore University Medical Center, from where he was discharged Saturday night.
A three-sport star and one of the best athletes at the high school, Bradley will be sidelined for an indefinite period.
“He’s home and doing well,” Eurell said. “I know Kaylon. He’s going to be telling me he’s ready to go in a week, which obviously isn’t the case. He could get hit by a bus and still try to come to practice the next day. That’s the type of kid he is.”
In addition to being a Home News Tribune second-team All-Area selection in football, Bradley also throws the shot put and runs on one of Monroe’s relay teams during the outdoor track season.
“He’s very talented,” Eurell said. “Wrestling is his forte. I think that’s his best sport. We have a great (athletic) training staff here at Monroe. We are going to do everything in our power to get him back to full health.”
Eurell spoke with his wrestlers after the semifinal round and had a clear message for how they were to proceed in Bradley’s absence.
“I said this is what makes good teams great,” Eurell recalled. “How do they respond and when they face adversity, what are they going to do. Hard times build character. They need to know that; not just in the sport of wrestling, but in all aspects of life.”
Lombard, who missed his sophomore season after enduring wrist surgery, started to hit his stride last season, qualifying for regions. He clearly has the potential to get to Atlantic City, where his older brother, Nick, who is now wrestling at the University of Michigan with former high school teammate Sal Profaci, placed fifth last year.
“Gapas is a really tough opponent,” Eurell said. “Andy did a nice job of wrestling him; real hard-nosed. He’s the first one in the room and the last one to leave. He’s going to get better and better as the season goes on.”
With strong senior leadership and a stellar sophomore class, Monroe hopes to contend for a Red Division and league tournament title.
Old Bridge wrestling crowns five champs while winning Icebreaker Invitational
The Old Bridge High School wrestling team crowned five individual champions en route to capturing the Icebreaker Invitational Tournament on Saturday.
Vincent Nadera (106), Dylan Ur (132), Alex Meyers (138), Justin Gonzalez (145) and Luigi Luppino (160) won their respective weight classes for the Knights.
READ: Iceabreaker Invitational complete results
Old Bridge posted a team score of 188. East Brunswick, whose flagship wrestler, Mitch Polito, won the 120-pound title, finished fifth in the eight team field.
Old Bridge coach Bryan Garnett said that a handful of his wrestlers were competing out of their normal weight class because of injuries.
“The kids were inspired and they didn’t care,” Garnett said. “They just went to work. I was very proud of them and they all wrestled with heart today. ... It was just an awesome day."
The Knights led after the first round and Garnett said he had a simple message for his team: “They can’t catch you if you keep winning.”
That they did.
Woodbridge's Nyers and Brucato place second in the Hopatcong Tournament
Woodbridge High School had five wrestlers finish in the top four at the Hopatcong Tournament on Saturday. The Barrons entered seven wrestlers and had two finalists.
“The guys that were there competed and did pretty well,” Woodbridge coach Michael Carbone said.
In the 220 final, Nick Nyers lost 3-2 to Wayne Valley’s Nick Trani, who is ranked fifth in New Jersey at 195 pounds in the Wrestling Full Circle statewide rankings.
After a scoreless first, Nyers went up 1-0 with an escape in the second period. Trani got a takedown with about 20 seconds left to go up 2-1. Nyers escaped to knot the score at 2-2. Early in the third, Trani escaped for the 3-2 lead.
Nyers tried his best, but just couldn’t get a takedown.
“They went back and forth at each other,” Carbone said. “It wasn’t like they just stared at each other.”
Nyers, who is Woodbridge’s all-time leading tackler as a linebacker, finished 24-12 last season with a third-place finish in the district. Carbone noted that Nyers has improved and “he’s bigger and stronger from last year. He competed real well.”
At 145, Woodbridge junior Joey Brucato made his return after missing all of last season with a knee injury. He gutted out an overtime win in the semifinals and placed second.
Hunter Kiraly (152) and Dominick Zecchino (170) each took third and Sergio Cespedes (160) placed fourth.
Spotswood's Obado and Platt reach Nottingham Wrestling Tournament finals
Shea Obado and Connor Platt each reached the finals of Saturday’s Nottingham Invitational Tournament for the Spotswood High School wrestling team, which placed ninth in the 15-team field.
Bishop Ahr, which did not have a wrestler reach the finals or consolation finals, finished 12th.
Obado dropped a 10-7 decision to Manalapan’s Matt Benedetti in the 160-pound championship bout.
Rahway’s Chris Dalmau pinned Platt in the 120-pound final.
Westwood won the team title with 188.5 points.
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