Wrestling: 'Liners simply fine with 9; Carida repeats

LOPATCONG TWP. -- Phillipsburg's wrestling team certainly put the nine in District 9.

Senior Brian Meyer made program history with his fourth title and earned the Outstanding Wrestler Award as the Stateliners went 9-for-9 in the championship round to claim the team title on Saturday at Phillipsburg High School.

P'burg celebrates the program's 45th district team title.

The 'Liners, who easily outdistanced second-place Mendham (268-185) and won all four head-to-head matchups with the Morris County school in the finals, advanced a tournament-best 12 wrestlers to next week's Region 3 Tournament at West Orange High School. Senior Cullen Day (113), junior Travis Jones (120) and Cody Harrison (138) were repeat winners, while freshman Logan Maczko (106), juniors Kyle Tino (132) and Austin Roth (182), and seniors Josh Ramos (160) and Lance Wissing (170) and all won their first titles.

"It's awesome. It shows the depth of our team," said Meyer, who is just the eighth P'burg wrestler to win four district titles -- joining Bob Jiorle (1968-71), Rick Thompson (1970-73), John Margeson (1976-79), Justin Koeller (2000-03), current head coach Dave Post (2000-03), Luke Grassi (2005-08) and John Horak (2007-10).

Hackettstown seniors Alex Carida (145) and Joe Andes (285) won titles as the Tigers sent six wrestlers on to Region 3. Zebulon Burke (160), Shawn Burke (170), Alejandro Castro (182) and Daniel Olson (220) moved on with third-place finishes.

Brian Meyer on top of the podium once again at 152.

Meyer (32-2), who finished third in the state last season at 145, converted the only takedown in sudden-victory overtime for a 3-1 win over Caldwell senior Gerald Jones in one of the most anticipated finals matchups. Jones (30-2), a three-time state qualifier, got in on a single-leg attempt in overtime, but Meyer was able to counter off a re-attack for the winning points.

"I expected more out of myself [in the final]," said Meyer, who improved to 124-34 overall while moving past Jimmy Schuitema for second place on the school's all-time wins list. "I think that was only his second shot. On the first one, I felt the re-attack was there, but I couldn't get to it. Once I got in, I knew I could finish."

Post was extremely pleased to welcome Meyer into the four-time winners' club, as his 'Liners put on quite the finals performance with their most champs since a program-record 11 in 2002, Post's junior season.

"What a great round," Post said of going 9-for-9 in the finals. "We knew we had a chance to win all of the them. Obviously a lot of things have to go right ... we won some close matches."

Travis Jones, who is a serious state medal contender this season, ran his impressive win streak to 27 straight with a 5-0 win over Mendham junior Dom DiGena in their 120-pound final. Jones (34-4) hasn't lost since dropping an 11-8 decision to Council Rock South's Shane Hanson-Ashworth in the Bethlehem Holiday Wrestling Classic quarterfinals on Dec. 29. During his current streak, Jones has nine pins, five technical falls and five major decisions.

"I got taken down three or four times [in that loss to Hanson-Ashworth," said Jones, a dangerous mat wrestler who converted the only takedown of the bout against DiGena with 35 seconds left in the second period. "I got in pretty close a couple of times. He wrestles a lot like me, but I know if I can get a takedown, I can win the match."

Chasing history

Carida (37-1), who was silky smooth in a 14-5 major against Mendham junior Alex Winant, became just the 12th wrestler at Hackettstown to win consecutive titles.

Alex Carida celebrates his second District 9 title.

"It feels good. It's good to win another district title," said Carida, now 133-27 overall and the Warren County school's all-time wins leader. "I feel more confident [this season] and I have improved on my feet, even though they told me I was pretty good there last season."

With each victory, Carida moves closer to his ultimate goal -- putting his name alongside former great Doug Blake (1967-68) as the only state champions for the Tigers.

"It's what I keep striving for and it's motivating me to win matches," said Carida, whose only loss this season is 1-0 to DePaul's Ricky Cabanillas, a state runner-up last season. Tigers coach Frank Rodgers said he deliberately scheduled a match against DePaul for that bout.

Andes (36-1) blitzed his way through the field at 285, decking Bloomfield junior Xavier Gulley in just 22 seconds for his first district championship and the program's 62nd overall. Andes is the sixth to win at heavyweight for his school and the first since Steve Giraldo went back-to-back in 2010-11.

Back points

As Robert Melise correctly predicted a year ago, Meyer got his fourth title on Saturday. "[Meyer] is going to get [his fourth next year," Melise said after he pinned previously unbeaten Sam Mellow of Montclair with an arm bar in 1:17 to earn the Outstanding Wrestler Award in 2017. "He's a phenomenal wrestler. The kid is just freaking good."

Harrison (29-3), who will be a title favorite in Region 3 at 138, won his third straight title by pinning Caldwell sophomore and returning champion Alex Jones in 1:28. This was his second title in a P'burg uniform after winning as a freshman for Warren Hills.

Maczko claimed the second district title in his immediate family and really helped set the finals tone for P'burg as the freshman converted a double-leg takedown in the third period to help seal a 5-2 win over freshman Jack Bertha of Mendham, which has gone 2-for-12 in the finals the past two seasons. Pat Maczko, who is Logan's uncle, won a district title for the Stateliners in 1989.

P'burg junior Jayson Zinsmeister (145) and seniors Shamyr Brodders (195) and Patrick Sharpe (285) finished third to join their teammates for next week's Region 3 Tournament.

Ramos needed a late reversal -- with 47 seconds left in the third period -- to win his first district title. According to Post, it's Ramos' first win this season without a takedown.

Wissing (35-3) kept rolling with a first-period pin of previously-unbeaten Glen Ridge senior Joseph Marchesano. Since a 7-4 loss to Kittatinny's Josh Hiler on Jan. 11, Wissing has won 18 in a row with nine pins and three technical falls.

Team standings

1. Phillipsburg (P) 268.5; 2. Mendham (Me) 185; 3. Caldwell (C) 135; 4. Hackettstown (H) 125; 5. Lyndurst-North Arlington (LNA) 91; 6. Bloomfield (Bl) 40; 7. Montclair (Mo) and Glen Ridge (GR) 35.5; 9. Barringer (Ba) 0.

Region 3 qualifiers by school

Phillipsburg 9+0+3=12; Mendham 1+7+2=10; Hackettstown 2+0+4=6; Caldwell 2+2+2=6;  Lyndurst-North Arlington 0+1+2=3; Bloomfield 0+1+1=2; Glen Ridge 0+2+0=2; Montclair 0+1+0=1; Barringer 0+0+0=0.

Championships

106 -- 4-Fr. Logan Maczko (18-13), P, d. 2-Fr. Jack Bertha (23-13), Me, 5-2.
113 -- 1-Sr. Cullen Day (27-9), P, p. 2-So. Tristan Navarino (25-12), Me, 1:49.
120 -- 2-Jr. Travis Jones (34-4), P, d. 1-Jr. Dom DiGena (35-2), Me, 5-0.
126 -- 1-Sr. Alex Schlegel (27-8), Me, d. 3-Jr. Nicholas Fiorillo (17-7), GR, 2-0.
132 -- 2-Jr. Kyle Tino (22-8), P, d. 1-Jr. Peter Tringali (30-7), Me, 8-3.
138 -- 1-Jr. Cody Harrison (29-3), P, p. 2-So. Alex Jones (15-3), C, 1:28.
145 -- 1-Sr. Alex Carida (37-1), H, md. 2-Jr. Alex Winant (31-6), Me, 14-5.
152 -- 1-Sr. Brian Meyer (32-2), P, d. 2-Sr. Gerald Jones (30-2), C, 3-1 SV.
160 -- 2-Sr. Josh Ramos (21-8), P. d. 1-Jr. Victor Jorge (34-4), LNA, 2-1.
170 -- 2-Sr. Lance Wissing (35-3), P, p. 1-Sr. Joseph Marchesano (28-1), GR, 1:26.
182 -- 1-Jr. Austin Roth (20-10), P, p. 3-Jr. Damony James (26-13), Mo, :39.
195 -- 2-Sr. Kyle Schaffer (29-4), C, p. 1-So. Gage Armijo (31-2), Me, 5:54.
220 -- 2-Sr. Stephen Murphy (28-7), C, d. 1-Sr. Giuseppe Canino (20-17), Me, 2-1 TB2.
285 -- 1-Sr. Joe Andes (36-1), H, p. 3-Jr. Xavier Gulley (15-9), Bl, :22.
Outstanding Wrestler Award -- Brian Meyer, Phillipsburg.
Coach of the Year Award -- Dave Post, Phillipsburg.
Assistant Coach of the Year Award -- Scott Silvis, Phillipsburg.

Third-place consolations

106 -- 1-So. Elias Sanchez (23-8), LNA, md. 3-So. Ricardo Caamano (14-13), C, 9-1.
113 -- 3-Sr. Mark DeAngelis (23-10), C, md. 5-Fr. Samuel Castner (14-14), H, 9-0.
120 -- 3-So. Darren Jones (29-6), C, d. 4-Sr. Jacy Jones (24-3), Mo, 6-2.
126 -- 2-So. Jarrett Weber (27-10), LNA, d. 5-Fr. Luke Schaffer (17-16), C, 5-2.
132 -- 3-Sr. Danel Felix (19-12), Bl, p. 4-So. Brandon Vitacco (10-20), LNA, 3:10.
138 -- 3-So. Justin Hyde (16-19), Me, md. 4-Jr. Zachery Yanoff (14-22), H, 16-5.
145 -- 3-Jr. Jayson Zinsmeister (18-12), P, p. 4-Jr. Derin Stitzer (27-9), LNA, 2:28.
152 -- 3-Fr. Andrew Bryan (19-13), Me, p. 4-Sr. Ethan Hughes (8-18), LNA,
160 -- 3-So. Zebulon Burke (23-14), H, p. 4-Fr. Zachary Andruchowitz (18-15), Bl, :59.
170 -- 4-Sr. Shawn Burke (23-15), H, d. 3-Jr. Terrell White (25-11), Mo, 4-2.
182 -- 5-So. Alejandro Castro (15-11), H, d. 2-Sr. Nick Fernandez (19-13), LNA, 5-0.
195 -- 4-Sr. Shamyr Brodders (16-14), P, d. 3-Jr. Matt Castro (25-10), H, 4-0.
220 -- 4-Jr. Daniel Olson (19-18), H, p. 3-So. Cody Cruts (10-12), P, 1:16.
285 -- 2-Sr. Patrick Sharpe (21-15), P, p. 4-Sr. Tyler Partyka (10-11), LNA, 1:54.

Semifinals

106 -- 4-Fr. Logan Maczko (17-13), P, d. 1-So. Elias Sanchez (22-8), LNA, 7-5; 2-Fr. Jack Bertha (23-12), Me, p. 3-So. Ricardo Caamano (14-12), C, 5:37.

113 -- 1-Sr. Cullen Day (26-9), P, p. 5-Fr. Samuel Castner (14-13), H, :42; 2-So. Tristan Navarino (25-11), Me, p. 3-Sr. Mark DeAngelis (22-10), C, 3:57.

120 -- 1-Jr. Dom DiGena (35-1), Me, p. 4-Sr. Jacy Jones (24-2), Mo, 3:11; 2-Jr. Travis Jones (33-4), P, md. 3-So. Darren Jones (28-6), C, 11-2.

126 -- 1-Sr. Alex Schlegel (26-8), Me, d. 5-Fr. Luke Schaffer (17-15), C, 3-1;  3-Jr. Nicholas Fiorillo (17-6), GR, d. 2-So. Jarrett Weber (26-10), LNA, 6-4.

132 -- 1-Jr. Peter Tringali (30-6), Me, p. 4-So. Brandon Vitacco (10-19), LNA, 2:32; 2-Jr. Kyle Tino (21-8), P, p. 3-Sr. Danel Felix (18-12), Bl, 1:46.

138 -- 1-Jr. Cody Harrison (28-3), P, p. 4-Jr. Zachery Yanoff (14-21), H, 1:04; 2-So. Alex Jones (15-2), C, d. 3-So. Justin Hyde (15-19), Me, 6-0.

145 -- 1-Sr. Alex Carida (36-1), H, p. 4-Jr. Derin Stitzer (27-8), LNA, :52; 2-Jr. Alex Winant (31-5), Me, d. 3-Jr. Jayson Zinsmeister (17-12), P, 8-4.

152 -- 1-Sr. Brian Meyer (31-2), P, p. 4-Sr. Ethan Hughes (8-17), LNA, :58; 2-Sr. Gerald Jones (30-1), C, p. 3-Fr. Andrew Bryan (18-13), Me, 5:07.

160 -- 1-Jr. Victor Jorge (34-3), LNA, p. 4-Fr. Zachary Andruchowitz (18-14), Bl, 1:51; 2-Sr. Josh Ramos (20-8), P, d. 3-So. Zebulon Burke (22-14), H, 7-4.

170 -- 1-Sr. Joseph Marchesano (28-0), GR, d. 4-Sr. Shawn Burke (22-15), H, 8-4; 2-Sr. Lance Wissing (34-3), P, p. 3-Jr. Terrell White (25-10), Mo, :40.

182 -- 1-Jr. Austin Roth (19-10), P, p. 5-So. Alejandro Castro (14-11), H, 2:59; 3-Jr. Damony James (26-12), Mo, p. 2-Sr. Nick Fernandez (19-12), LNA, 3:55.

195 -- 1-So. Gage Armijo (31-1), Me, p. 4-Sr. Shamyr Brodders (15-14), P, :38;  2-Sr. Kyle Schaffer (27-4), C, p. 3-Jr. Matt Castro (25-9), H, 3:02.

220 -- 1-Sr. Giuseppe Canino (20-16), Me, d. 4-Jr. Daniel Olson (18-18), H, 6-3; 2-Sr. Stephen Murphy (27-7), C, d. 3-So. Cody Cruts (10-11), P, 3-2.

285 -- 1-Sr. Joe Andes (35-1), H, p. 4-Sr. Tyler Partyka (10-10), LNA, 1:07; 3-Jr. Xavier Gulley (15-8), Bl, d. 2-Sr. Patrick Sharpe (20-15), P, 1-0.

Quarterfinals

106 -- 1-So. Elias Sanchez (22-7), LNA, forfeit; 4-Fr. Logan Maczko (16-13), P, p. 5-So. Michael Sullivan (16-19), H, 2:42; 3-So. Ricardo Caamano (14-11), C, forfeit; 2-Fr. Jack Bertha (22-12), Me, forfeit.

113 -- 1-Sr. Cullen Day (25-9), P, forfeit; 5-Fr. Samuel Castner (14-12), H, d. 4-Fr. Jesse Samuelson (13-12), GR, 5-1; 3-Sr. Mark DeAngelis (22-9), C, p. 6-Fr. Grayson Jurado (9-17), LNA, 1:10; 2-So. Tristan Navarino (24-11), Me, p. 7-Fr. Caleb Johnson (9-16), Mo, 1:57.

120 -- 1-Jr. Dom DiGena (34-1), Me, forfeit; 4-Sr. Jacy Jones (24-1), Mo, tf. 5-Sr. Brain Aguilar (11-6), Ba, 16-1, 3:24; 3-So. Darren Jones (28-5), C, p. 6-Jr. Drew Wohlgemuth (7-7), GR, :29; 2-Jr. Travis Jones (32-4), P, p. 7-So. Joel Galindo (2-18), LNA, :58.

126 -- 1-Sr. Alex Schlegel (25-8), Me, md. 8-Jr. Luke Hardin (2-6), P, 8-0; 5-Fr. Luke Schaffer (17-14), C, d. 4-Sr. Erick Garcia (15-19), H, 5-1; 3-Jr. Nicholas Fiorillo (16-6), GR, p. 6-Sr. Disan Singelton (7-5), Ba, 3:30; 2-So. Jarrett Weber (26-9), LNA, p. 7-So. Zakai Mack (14-12), Mo, :33.

132 -- 1-Jr. Peter Tringali (29-6), Me, p. 8-Jr. Matthew Goldbach (1-14), C, 1:30; 4-So. Brandon Vitacco (10-18), LNA, p. 5-Jr. Thomas Rosenthal (12-18), Mo, 3:11; 3-Sr. Danel Felix (18-11), Bl, md. 6-So. Iain Shaw (8-14), GR, 17-6; 2-Jr. Kyle Tino (20-8), P, md. 7-So. Christian Bremner (6-16), H, 17-5.

138 -- 1-Jr. Cody Harrison (27-3), P, forfeit; 4-Jr. Zachery Yanoff (14-20), H, d. 5-So. D'Isaiah Larrea (8-5), Bl, 3-2; 3-So. Justin Hyde (15-18), Me, p. 6-Jr. Amir Hutchins (9-11), Mo, 1:00; 2-So. Alex Jones (14-2), C, p. 7-Fr. Alexander Castro (3-11), LNA, 1:19.

145 -- 1-Sr. Alex Carida (35-1), H, p. 8-Jr. Saverio D'Angelo (4-21), C, :50; 4-Jr. Derin Stitzer (27-7), LNA, d. 5-Sr. Ben Baily (25-11), Mo, 11-10; 3-Jr. Jayson Zinsmeister (17-11), P, p. 6-Jr. Kevin Adorno (15-2), Bl, :34; 2-Jr. Alex Winant (30-5), Me, p. 7-Jr. Jamil Morel (3-8), Ba, 1:40.

152 -- 1-Sr. Brian Meyer (30-2), P, p. 8-Jr. Victor Celi (4-9), Bl, :23; 4-Sr. Ethan Hughes (8-16), LNA, p. 5-So. Chad Sutherland (6-9), Mo, 3:38; 3-Fr. Andrew Bryan (18-12), Me, md. 6-So. Garrett Meyer (8-10), H, 9-0; 2-Sr. Gerald Jones (29-1), C, p. 7-Fr. Stephen Nichols (5-11), GR, 1:32.

160 -- 1-Jr. Victor Jorge (33-3), LNA, p. 8-Fr. Dean Geraci (7-14), GR, :24; 4-Fr. Zachary Andruchowitz (18-13), Bl, d. 5-So. Joseph Jenkins (12-17), C, 11-10; 3-So. Zebulon Burke (22-13), H, d. 6-Jr. Dominic Diaz (9-10), Mo, 7-6; 2-Sr. Josh Ramos (19-8), P, tf. 7-Jr. Robert Chittenden (8-11), Me, 19-4, 4:49.

170 -- 1-Sr. Joseph Marchesano (27-0), GR, tf. 8-Fr. Max Ruiz (1-3), C, 16-1, 5:33; 4-Sr. Shawn Burke (22-14), H, d. 5-Sr. Walter Longo (11-17), Me, 14-8; 3-Jr. Terrell White (25-9), Mo, d. 6-Sr. Jordan DeAbreu (20-12), LNA, 12-6; 2-Sr. Lance Wissing (33-3), P, p. 7-So. Jarred Garcia (7-21), Bl, :43.

182 -- 1-Jr. Austin Roth (18-10), P, forfeit; 5-So. Alejandro Castro (14-10), H, p. 4-Jr. Frank Mondsni (10-15), C, 3:14; 3-Jr. Damony James (25-12), Mo, d. 6-Jr. James Dameus (12-16), Bl, 6-2;  2-Sr. Nick Fernandez (19-11), LNA, p. 7-Jr. Sebastian Quinn (6-24), 1:15.

195 -- 1-So. Gage Armijo (30-1), Me, forfeit; 4-Sr. Shamyr Brodders (15-13), P, p. 5-So. Alvaro Gongora (14-13), LNA, 1:17; 3-Jr. Matt Castro (25-8), H, forfeit; 2-Sr. Kyle Schaffer (26-4), C, forfeit.

220 -- 1-Sr. Giuseppe Canino (19-16), Me, forfeit; 4-Jr. Daniel Olson (18-17), H, d. 5-Jr. Javon Whitehead (4-4), Bl, 5-1; 3-So. Cody Cruts (10-10), P, p. 6-Sr. Jack Olczak (5-16), GR, 1:36; 2-Sr. Stephen Murphy (26-7), C, p. 7-Jr. Kyree Moore (3-10), Ba, 1:19.

285 -- 1-Sr. Joe Andes (34-1), H, forfeit; 4-Sr. Tyler Partyka (10-9), LNA, d. 5-Fr. Ben Rivera (12-12), C, 3-1; 3-Jr. Xavier Gulley (14-8), Bl, p. 6-Jr. Adam Smith (7-19), Me, :36; 2-Sr. Patrick Sharpe (20-14), P, forfeit.

Preliminaries

170 -- 8-Fr. Max Ruiz (1-1), C, p. 9-Fr. Jose Baez (0-12), Ba, :45.