Welcome to The Pit for tonight's championship round of the District 1 Tournament.
Very few upsets as far as the seeds go, as all but one of the No. 1s advanced to the finals and only three No. 2 seeds fell in the semifinals.
A good wrestling story out of Phillipsburg continues as freshman heavyweight Robert Melise advanced to the Region 1 Tournament with a third-place finish. Melise (5-5) was one of the heroes in the Stateliners' 32-21 win over Southern last Sunday in the Group 4 final.
P'burg entered the tournament with only seven wrestlers and all earned trips to Wallkill Valley for the Region 1 Tournament that begins on Wednesday.
Warren Hills is seeking its first team championship since 1990. The Blue Streaks have four in the finals. West Morris leads the way with six and P'burg is next with five in the championship round.
They are setting up for the finals and we should be getting underway shortly. Refresh often for updates.
Starting at 170 pounds.
Team standings
1. Warren Hills 183; 2. Phillipsburg 142.5; 3. West Morris 128; 4. Belvidere 127; 5. Mendham 118.5; 6. Mount Olive 91; 7. North Warren 78; 8. Hackettstown 44.
Region qualifiers by school
Warren Hills 4+0+4=8; Phillipsburg 3+2+2=7; West Morris 1+5+1=7; Belvidere 0+3+3=6; Mount Olive 1+2+2=5; Mendham 3+1+0=4; North Warren 1+1+2=4; Hackettstown 1+0+0=1.
Coach of the Year -- Dave Post, Phillipsburg
Outstanding Wrestler Award -- Matt Ritchie, North Warren
Championships
170 -- 1-Sr. Jake Kocsis (34-2), Phillipsburg, p. 2-Jr. Kevin Merle (26-8), Belvidere, 1:21.
1-Kocsis seeking his first district title after finishing second last year and fourth as a sophomore. He gets the opening takedown. And the FALL with a low-leg cradle!
182 -- 1-Sr. Sam Button (34-1), Mendham, md. 3-Sr. Anthony Colabella (24-8), Mount Olive, 10-1.
1-Button has finished third, second and first in his fine career. Looking to repeat tonight. He gets the first takedown. Button a heavy favorite here and will be the man to beat at Region 1. DePaul's Nick DePalma also among the region favorites.
2-Button down to start, up 2-0. He gets the reversal, 4-0. Colabella out with 52 seconds left. Button converts the takedown with 11 seconds left, leads 6-1. Button tilts for two backs, 8-1. Two more, 10-1, with 42 seconds left.
3-Colabella down.
195 -- 1-Jr. Aaron Flitcroft (23-8), Mendham, d. 2-Jr. Joe Maso (23-7), Phillipsburg, 3-1.
1-Scoreless after one period.
2-Flitcroft takes bottom. He's out in six seconds, 1-0.
3-Not a lot of action in this one. Maso on bottom, he's out in a blink, 1-1. Flitcroft bull rushes on a double with 14 seconds left for the winning takedown.
220 -- 1-Sr. Jesse Windt (33-1), West Morris, d. 2-Jr. Tim Byrne (20-3), Mendham, 5-1.
1-Windt's lone loss this season to Montgomery's Anthony Cassar, 8-3, on Jan. 4. Windt with the takedown with 44 seconds left, 2-0.
2-Windt on bottom. Escape, he leads, 3-0. Stall warning on Byrne in the closing seconds.
3-Byrne takes bottom. He escapes 38 seconds in, trails, 3-1. Windt spins behind for a takedown with 40 seconds left, 5-1.
285 -- 1-Jr. Andrew Pacheco (30-2), Warren Hills, p. 2-Jr. Will O'Connell (24-5), North Warren, 1:43.
1-Pacheco, who had a six-second pin in the opening round, going for his second title. He decked O'Connell earlier this season. Pacheco fought off a headlock attempt, went for a chin whip, and spun behind for a takedown 16 seconds in. The big man is very athletic. They trade reversals, and Pacheco throws the legs in and turns O'Connell, then uses a mousetrap for the FALL!
Watching Pacheco is a lot like going to a baseball game, you may see something from a heavyweight you've never seen before.
106 -- 1-So. Brandon Paetzell (33-1), Phillipsburg, p. 2-Fr. Shane Metzler (26-7), West Morris, 2:50.
1-Paetzell with the first takedown 58 seconds in. The super sophomore eyeing his second title.
2-Paetzell on bottom to start, he's out quickly for a 3-0 lead. Another takedown makes it 5-0. Paetzell cuts him immediately, 5-1. Another takedown to a low-leg cradle for the FALL!
113 -- 1-Fr. Matt Valli (25-7), Warren Hills, p. 3-Fr. Kade Loughney (19-15), West Morris, :56.
1-Valli owns two wins over Loughney this season, 11-0, and a technical fall. Valli with the takedown and sinks a half deep for the FALL! Those basics sure do work -- even in this day and age.
120 -- 1-So. Joe Renne (31-6), Hackettstown, p. 3-Sr. John Schade (21-13), West Morris, 5:09.
1-Renne with the first takedown. He was third at 113 last year, while Schade finished second at 106. Renne with the first takedown, 2-0.
2-Schade takes bottom. Renne rides him out, still leads, 2-0.
3-Renne down. Hits a nice switch for the reversal, 4-0. Turks and switches to a headlock for the FALL!
126 -- 2-Sr. Matt Ritchie (28-6), North Warren, d. 1-Jr. Dylan Luciano (25-8), West Morris, 7-0.
1-Luciano pinned Ritchie in 4:51 when they last met on Jan. 18. Ritchie gets the opening takedown, seeking his second title and first since winning as a freshman.
2-Ritchie takes bottom, up 2-0. Ritchie gets the reversal and three backs, nearly decking Luciano. Ritchie leads, 7-0. Both of these guys like to roll around on the mat. Ritchie nearly in trouble as well.
3-Luciano takes bottom. Tries for a mousetrap, but nothing doing. Ritchie rides him out for the win and his second title. Earlier, he joined Kevin Brown as the only Patriots to reach the century mark for wins.
132 -- 1-Jr. Max Nauta (27-5), Warren Hills, md. 2-Jr. Steve Friedman (17-14), Phillipsburg, 10-0.
1-Nauta seeking his second title gets the opening takedown. Nauta is 2-1 all-time vs. Friedman, who won their last meeting, 10-6, in the 2012 finals. Nauta turns for three backs near the buzzer, he's up 5-0.
2-Friedman takes neutral. Nauta says thank you and gets another takedown, 7-0. Nauta hit for stalling with five seconds to go, very questionable.
3-Nauta takes bottom. He's out in a flash, 8-0. Friedman nearly has two at the edge, but Nauta funks out of trouble. Friedman in again on a single, but Nauta eventually works behind for another takedown, 10-0, with 30 seconds left. That's 89 career wins for the Blue Streak.
138 -- 1-Jr. Eric Friedman (32-3), Mendham, d. 2-Jr. David Migliaccio (25-8), West Morris, 1-0.
1-Scoreless after one period.
2-Friedman takes bottom, escapes for a 1-0 lead. Wow, Friedman nearly spins behind for two near the buzzer, but no dice.
3-Migliaccio starts on bottom. Stall warning on bottom with 49 seconds left. Friedman just riding with a tight waist, no action. Now a warning on top with 23 seconds left. Friedman hangs on for the win.
145 -- 1-Sr. Tommy Vazzano (26-8), Mount Olive, d. 2-Jr. Kenny Kane (19-10), Belvidere, 6-3.
1-Vazzano with the first takedown. He owns a 4-0 win over Kane in a dual meet earlier this season.
2-Vazzano starts on bottom with a 2-0 lead. Reversal with 1:04 left makes it 4-0. Kane escapes with 24 seconds to go, 4-1.
3-Kane down to start. He's out quickly to make it 4-2. Vazzano spins behind for another takedown, 6-2, with 1:20 to go. Kane out with four seconds left, but that's it.
152 -- 1-Jr. Max Elling (32-4), Phillipsburg, d. 2-Sr. Ronald Spera (28-4), Mount Olive, 9-2.
1-Elling going for his second title, third trip to the finals after finishing second as a freshman. Elling with the opening takedown, 2-0.
2-Elling starts on defense. He's out in a flash, 3-0. He spins behind for another takedown, 5-0, with 1:15 left. Spera escapes, 5-1, with 50 seconds to go. Spera nearly has a takedown, and somehow Elling gets behind for the two .. wow ... 7-1.
3-Spera down to start the third period. He's out, trails 7-2 with 1:25 left. Elling counters a desperation attempt for another takedown with two seconds left to ice it.
160 -- 4-Sr. Ryan Ostir (18-11), Warren Hills, p. 2-Jr. David Harris (25-8), Belvidere, 4:35.
1-Scoreless after one period.
2-Harris starts on bottom, escapes and gets a takedown for a 3-0 lead. Ostir escapes, 3-1. Harris with another takedown, 5-1.
3-Ostir on bottom. Escapes, 5-2. Ostir hits a headlock for the FALL! Streaks go 4-for-4 and lock up their first team title in 24 years!
Third-place consolations
106 -- 3-Fr. Shane Murphy (22-9), Mount Olive, d. Fr. Thomas Masucci (15-17), Mendham, 5-0.
113 -- 4-Jr. James Smith (16-17), Belvidere, p. 2-Sr. Tony Figueroy (18-16), Hackettstown, :41.
120 -- 2-Jr. Gino Fluri (24-11), North Warren, d. 4-Fr. Zach Nauta (18-10), Warren Hills, 5-3.
126 -- 3-Jr. Austin Pidoto (19-14), Warren Hills, d. 4-So. Chris Schlegel (18-15), Mendham, 9-6.
132 -- 4-Jr. Mike Oros (17-16), West Morris, d. 3-Sr. Kenny Morgan (21-12), Belvidere.
138 -- 3-Jr. Corey Zinsmeister (23-8), Phillipsburg, p. 5-Jr. Brett Hoffmaster (7-14), Belvidere, :40.
145 -- 5-Sr. John Norgard (15-11), North Warren, d. 3-So. Anthony Roessner (13-19), Warren Hills, 4-2 SV.
152 -- 5-Jr. Rene Sousa (13-12), Belvidere, d. 6-So. Shane Deemer (11-16), Warren Hills, 10-4.
160 -- 1-Sr. Anel Kadiric (18-8), Mount Olive, d. 3-Sr. Johnny Hayes (25-5), North Warren, 10-5.
170 -- 6-So. Kurt Nemeth (3-3), Warren Hills, p. 5-Fr. Kyle Connelly (12-19), Hackettstown, 1:58.
182 -- 4-Sr. Steve Cleaver (20-8), Warren Hills, d. 2-Jr. Stephen Merle (21-7), Belvidere, 11-10.
195 -- 5-Jr. Ryan Stephen (12-6), Belvidere, p. 6-So. Daniel Colabella (13-13), Mount Olive, 2:33.
220 -- 3-Sr. Ryan Witner (21-10), Warren Hills, p. 5-Sr. Mark Wolfe (15-15), Belvidere, 1:10.
285 -- 5-Fr. Robert Melise (5-5), Phillipsburg, d. 3-Jr. Alec Skaltsis (19-14), Mendham, 8-4.
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