High Point was denied its bid for back-to-back Group 2 titles with a 46-26 loss to South Plainfield, while Kittatinny was steamrolled in a 63-3 loss to Paulsboro in the Group 1 title match. Pope John, seeking its second straight title in Non-Public B dropped a 33-29 decision to Camden Catholic.
Phillipsburg and Hunterdon Central also lost in the Group 4 and 5 title matches, leaving the Hunterdon-Warren-Sussex area shut out for the first time since going 0-3 in 2010, when Central (Group 4), High Point (Group 3) and Newton (Group 1) were denied in the finals.
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| High Point picked up its 27th sectional title on Friday. |
South Plainfield (23-2), which captured its 11th state championship (fourth in a row) and first in Group 2 since 2007 after winning the previous three titles in Group 3, was just too balanced for the 'Cats. But an unfortunate miscue ended any early momentum after junior Devon Liebl's pin in the opening bout at 113.
High Point senior Devin Flannery took the mat at 120 and South Plainfield, which was designated to send out its wrestler first, opted to forfeit. Gardner immediately challenged it and wanted to pull his wrestler back, but Flannery already has his hand raised. By rule, the forfeit stood and instead of sending out sophomore Nick Douma at 120 to take the forfeit, the 'Cats were helpless as South Plainfield bumped state qualifier Anthony White up to 126, where he pinned Nick Douma in 4:53.
"I feel bad, it's something that's inexcusable," Gardner said of the tactical error. "It should've never happened. That's something the team shouldn't have to deal with, with a guy who's been here as long as I have. I'm going to apologize to them. I don't know if it impacted the overall match. But this is a match Devin [who missed last season's title run with a left elbow injury] has looked forward to for a long time. I'm sorry I didn't give him the opportunity to wrestle."
The Tigers were shorthanded as state qualifier Thomas Fierro (132) did not weigh-in for undisclosed reasons, so coach Steve Johnston bumped his lineup from 120 on up to cover the hole. It worked beautifully, along with dropping freshman Jacob DelVecchio to 106, as David Loniewski followed White with an important 16-6 major of Josh Gervey at 132.
High Point held a one-point lead through six bouts, thanks to a pin by junior Billy Talmadge at 138, but Gardner opted to forfeit to state qualifier Joe Sacco at 145, rather than send out senior Brandon LaRue, who was sporting a brace to protect his fractured right elbow, seemed like he wanted to go after he pulled out a 7-4 win on Friday in the North 1, Group 2 final win over Newton.
Freshman Brian Soldano (160) and senior Jonathan Morris (182) kept the 'Cats in the match and in the lead at 26-25 through 10 bouts, but South Plainfield won the next three, including a forfeit to two-time state placewinner Zach DelVecchio at 285 that clinched the match with High Point down eight and two bouts to go.
"South Plainfield wrestled really well," Gardner said. "We put out who we thought were the best kids today. That's all we can do."
Cougars win one, lose one
Delaware Valley and Kittatinny faced the tallest order of the day on the public side as each dropped tough decisions to Paulsboro, which rolled to its 32nd title in Group 1 with a 61-9 win over Del Val in the semifinals and a 63-3 waxing of the Cougars in the final -- dropping just three bouts overall.
Paulsboro (23-1), the top public school and ranked No. 2 in the New Jersey Writers Top 20, gave longtime coach Paul Morina his 700th career win in the title match.
Kittatinny (17-8) did enjoy some success with its thrilling 36-32 come-from-behind win over Shore Regional in the semifinals -- winning the final four bouts, including junior Jacob Mafaro's second-period pin at 285 that secured the program's 12th title match appearance. Not bad for a guy who didn't fully commit to wrestling this season until the first few weeks in December.
"It's pretty exciting," said Mafaro, who had an outstanding football season in leading the Cougars to their first sectional title in that sport. "I'm glad I came out and helped the team out. We lost some close ones, but we knew if we wrestled well for six minutes, we were going to be able to win."
The match took a weird turn four bouts in when sophomore Patrick Franco, leading 7-0 at the time, was decked by Gabe Scalise with 11 seconds to go at 126. That nine-point swing put Kittatinny in an early hole, then coach John Gill and his staff made a clerical error when they sent Christian Shotwell out at 138. Down, 4-1, just about a minute in, Shore realized that Shotwell, who was presented at 145 during weigh-ins despite weighing 140.0, was ineligible to go 138, and as a result, Al DeSantis was awarded the victory by disqualification.
But senior Brian Hanna won a key decision at 145, and the team's strong contingent of upper weights bailed the team out.
"Our upper weights, thank God, are amazing. The kids do a good job," said legendary coach John Gill, now 8-4 all-time in state finals, including three losses to Paulsboro in Group 1. "A month ago, I didn't think this was possible. We didn't look like a team that could be here. The biggest change were the kids who were losing sacrificed for the team. Instead of giving up 39 points, they started to give up like 32. That was huge."
GROUP 2
(Championship)
SOUTH PLAINFIELD 46, HIGH POINT 26
113 -- Jr. Devon Liebl (25-7), HP, p. Fr. Julian Irizarry (24-9), 3:50.
120 -- Sr. Devin Flannery (27-6), HP, forfeit.
126 -- So. Anthony White (32-1), SP, p. So. Nick Douma (3-2), 4:53.
132 -- Sr. David Loniewski (29-3), SP, md. So. Josh Gervey (22-6), 16-6.
138 -- Jr. Billy Talmadge (31-3), HP, tf. So. Xavier Santos (5-4), 22-7, 5:25.
145 -- Sr. Alex Amato (18-10), SP, p. Sr. Nick Auer (4-18), 1:35.
152 -- Sr. Joe Sacco (28-3), SP, forfeit.
160 -- Fr. Brian Soldano (32-2), HP, p. Sr. Sebastian Santos (18-13), :29.
170 -- Sr. Marc Giordano (24-8), SP, d. Jr. PJ Soldano (13-17), 6-4.
182 -- Sr. Jonathan Morris (15-13), HP, d. Sr. Divon Pender (13-18), 6-2.
195 -- Sr. Brenden Hedden (23-7), SP, p. So. Sean Van Wingerden (5-13), 1:05.
220 -- Sr. Luke Niemeyer (30-1), SP, d. Sr. Andrew Lewis (14-12), 4-2.
285 -- Sr. Zach DelVecchio (30-1), SP, forfeit.
106 -- Fr. Jacob DelVecchio (29-3), SP, p. Fr. Clayton Utter (26-7), :26.
Records -- High Point 16-3; South Plainfield 23-2.
(Semifinals)
HIGH POINT 34, WEST DEPTFORD 33
106 -- Clayton Utter, HP, p. Justin Monzo-Hull, :45.
113 -- Devon Liebl, HP, p. AJ Monahan, 1:22.
120 -- Devin Flannery, HP, p. Nate Schultes, :53.
126 -- Jake McConville, WD, p. Nick Douma, 5:01.
132 -- Josh Gervey, HP, md. Tom Steffney, 16-3.
138 -- Billy Talmadge, HP, p. Doron Tinsley, :55.
145 -- Steve Brittingham, WD, d. Nick Auer, 2-0.
152 -- Gavin Gismondi, WD, d. Alex Buchwald, 4-3.
160 -- Corey Fischer, WD, forfeit.
170 -- Brian Soldano, HP, forfeit.
182 -- Cody Thurston, WD, d. PJ Soldano, 3-2.
195 -- Gavin Shields, WD, d. Jonathan Morris, 3-2.
220 -- Hayden Holmes, WD, d. Justin Klass, 4-0.
285 -- Shane Kelly, WD, forfeit.
Records -- High Point 16-2; West Deptford 24-5.
GROUP 1
(Championship)
PAULSBORO 63, KITTATINNY 3
113 -- Jr. Georgio Mazzeo (20-6), P, p. So. Connor Hanna (7-14), 1:37.
120 -- Sr. Matt Marcucci (13-9), P, d. Sr. Mike Nelson (17-11), 4-2.
126 -- Sr. Quason Winstead (11-9), P, d. So. Patrick Franco (15-17), 6-1.
132 -- Sr. Geno Duca (26-6), P, d. Sr. Nile Mattar (19-14), 7-3.
138 -- Jr. Jacob Perez-Eli (28-3), P, p. Fr. Steven Dalling (2-4), :42.
145 -- Jr. Gabe Onorato (28-3), P, p. Sr. Brian Hanna (21-11), 3:14.
152 -- Sr. George Worthy (28-3), P, p. Sr. Chris Pollison (0-13), :14.
160 -- So. Shawn Williams (19-8), P, p. Jr. Gian Knippenberg (14-19), 5:08.
170 -- Jr. Brandon Green (30-2), P, p. Sr. Blake Dippel (12-20), 1:06.
182 -- Sr. Santino Morina (30-2), P, p. Sr. Zach Mafaro (30-2), 3:20.
195 -- Sr. Anthony Morina (22-10), P, d. Jr. Robert Bruce (20-10), 9-2.
220 -- Sr. Flynn Leaf (25-7), P, d. So. Jackson Crawn (28-5), 7-4.
285 -- Jr. Jacob Mafaro (20-3), K, d. Sr. Austin Mooney (22-9), 8-1.
106 -- Fr. Jackson Sichelstiel (16-4), P, injury over Fr. Shane Nelson (22-11), 5:13.
Records -- Paulsboro 23-1; Kittatinny 17-8.
(Semifinals)
PAULSBORO 61, DELAWARE VALLEY 9
106 -- Dante Onorato, P, d. Derek Schepens, 11-5.
113 -- Georgio Mazzeo, P, tf. Cooper Gill, 17-2.
120 -- Matt Marcucci, P, p. Ben Brown, 2:26.
126 -- Geno Duca, P, p. Chase Christie, 1:34.
132 -- A.J. DeRosa, DV, p. Quason Winstead, 1:03.
138 -- Jacob Perez-Eli, P, p. Gage Crater, 5:46.
145 -- Gabe Onorato, P, md. Tommy Horn, 13-3.
152 -- George Worthy, P, p. Samuel De Los Santos, :56.
160 -- Anthony DeRosa, DV, d. Shawn Williams, 4-3.
170 -- Brandon Green, P, md. Shawne Ramsby, 12-0.
182 -- Santino Morina, P, p. Kyle Carney, 1:32.
195 -- Anthony Morina, P, p. Anthony DiPaolo, 3:04.
220 -- Flynn Leaf, P, p. Nick Moose, 3:08.
285 -- Austin Mooney, P, d. Ryan Sutter, 5-0.
Records -- Paulsboro 22-1; Delaware Valley 13-7.
KITTATINNY 36, SHORE REGIONAL 32
106 -- Shane Nelson, K, p. Brendan Nichols, :56.
113 -- Matt Klemser, S, p. Connor Hanna, 3:26.
120 -- Jack Maida, S, d. Mike Nelson, 7-0.
126 -- Gabe Scalise, S, p. Patrick Franco, 5:49.
132 -- Nile Mattar, K, p. Andrew Decker, :39.
138 -- Al DeSantis, S, won by disqualification over Christian Shotwell.
145 -- Michael McGhee, S, tf. Derek Molfetto, 24-9, 5:26.
152 -- Brian Hanna, K, d. Ian Smith, 7-3.
160 -- Jack McCrae, S, d. Gian Knippenberg, 9-4.
170 -- Jamie Mazzacco, S, d. Blake Dippel, 11-7.
182 -- Robert Bruce, K, p. Brendon Denovaes, :58.
195 -- Zach Mafaro, K, forfeit.
220 -- Jackson Crawn, K, d. Taylor Sousa, 8-2.
285 -- Jacob Mafaro, K, p. Cade Torres, 3:36.
Records -- Kittatinny 17-7; Shore Regional 25-2.
NON-PUBLIC B
(Championship)
CAMDEN CATHOLIC 33, POPE JOHN 29
106 -- So. Shane Percelay (17-4), PJ, d. Fr. Chase Casey (26-7), 7-2.
113 -- Fr. Sam Kotch (27-6), CC, d. Fr. Zachary Hentschel (10-15), 5-2.
120 -- Jr. Eddie Ventresca (29-1), PJ, p. Sr. Michael Palait (5-4), 1:11.
126 -- Fr. Collin Neal (6-11), PJ, md. So. Thomas Madorno (3-5), 11-2.
132 -- Jr. Cody Walsh (28-5), CC, d. Jr. Kaya Sement (24-6), 3-2.
138 -- Sr. JoJo Aragona (31-0), PJ, tf. Sr. Anthony Croce (21-6), 23-8.
145 -- Sr. Lucas Revano (26-1), CC, p. Jr. Matthew Garcia (19-9), 5:49.
152 -- Sr. Robbie Garcia (12-0), PJ, disqualification over Jr. Brandon Mooney (26-7), 3:01.
160 -- Jr. Harrison Hinojosa (26-7), CC, d. Jr. Connor Fritsch (17-12), 5-3.
170 -- Fr. Martin Cosgrove (26-6), CC, p. Sr. Bryan Vargas (5-4), 4:40.
182 -- Sr. Ronny Crane (28-5), CC, p. Fr. Peter Deleportas (8-9), 2:09.
195 -- So. Austin Raynor (10-2), CC, d. Sr. Christopher Jhong (13-10), 9-4.
220 -- Sr. Jeremy Nutt (12-4), CC, d. Jr. Cole Zydel (13-8), 7-6.
285 -- Sr. Nicholas DeSenzo (2-2), PJ, forfeit.
Records -- Camden Catholic 20-2; Pope John 14-3.
Note -- Pope John deducted one team point for unsportsmanlike conduct.
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