Wrestling: Clayton joins HP elite with R1 title repeat

WEST MILFORD -- High Point senior Nick Clayton feels right at home on the mats when he's in a tightly-contested match. 

Needless to say, Clayton was in his glory while pulling off a 7-6 victory over Ridgewood senior Charles Shaddow in their 150-pound title bout in the Region 1 Tournament on Saturday afternoon at West Milford Township High School. 

Clayton was 2 wins shy of a state medal in 2024

"I love those matches," said Clayton, who escaped and converted the winning takedown off a wild scramble near the one-minute mark in the third period to win his second straight region gold medal. "It's kind of who wants it more to a certain point. I believe I want it more so that's why I win."

In doing so, Clayton (31-3), who logged two pins and a technical fall in winning a District 4 title last weekend, became just the 13th wrestler in High Point history to win two-plus region championships and the first since three-time state champion Brian Soldano reeled off four in a row from 2019-22. Wildcats coach Billy Smith, who also won two (2010-11), saw his team advance three to the 92nd State Championships at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City.

Joining Clayton are sophomore Carter Drouin (fourth at 120) and junior Gavin Mericle (third at 285) as High Point had a total of eight top-six finishers among its 11 region qualifiers. In all, a total of 38 (15 from Sussex County and 14 overall from Region 1) from the Hunterdon-Warren-Sussex area moved on to AC. Pope John leads the way with seven qualifiers out of Region 3, while Phillipsburg (including Region 1 champions Luke Geleta and Gavin Hawk) and North Hunterdon each have six. The area went 3-4 in the Region 1 finals, as Kittatinny senior Ethan Dalling (175), Phillipsburg's Anthony Pettinelli (113) and Sparta's Ryan Hrenenko (132) and Logan Hrenenko (138) all finished second.

Clayton, who is making his third consecutive state appearance after finishing fifth in the region as a freshman, also scored a tight 2-1 win over Phillipsburg's Gavin Geleta in the Region 1 semifinals. Clayton improved to 115-33 overall -- moving past Alex Dalrymple (113-29 from 2004-08) for 13th place on the school's all-time wins list.

Clayton (2nd from left in back) with all 14 champs

"It's cool," Clayton said of putting his name up with some of the finest ever to don a High Point singlet. "It's great. I put a lot of hard work into this and it's paying off. It feels great."

Clayton started things off with a takedown against Shaddow, but was down, 4-3, after one period as he yielded an escape and a takedown. Shaddow, who was making his first region finals appearance, stretched his lead to 5-3 with an escape in the second period. That's when Clayton went to work.

"It's close. It's a dogfight," said Clayton, who chose bottom to the start the final period. "Just have to come out on top. That's all."

Clayton, a two-time district champion and the OW at 132 pounds last year, feels he's better prepared this time around for his third and final trip to Atlantic City. He was two victories shy of medal last season, falling in the third round of wrestlebacks. The three-day tournament begins on Thursday.

"I've got a better mindset than last year and I'm just ready to wrestle," he said.

Legend

Bergen Catholic (BC), Butler (B), Cresskill (C), Demarest (Dem), DePaul (Dep), Don Bosco Prep (DB), Dumont (Du), Emerson-Park Ridge (EPR), Glen Rock (GR), Hawthorne (Haw), High Point (HP), Indian Hills (IH), Jefferson (J), Kinnelon (Kin), Kittatinny (Kit), Lakeland (L), Mahwah (Mah), New Milford (NM), Newton (New), Northern Highlands (NH), North Warren (NW), Old Tappan (OT), Pascack Hills (PH), Pascack Valley (PV), Pequannock (Pe), Phillipsburg (Pb), Pompton Lakes (PL), Ramapo (Rama), Ramsey (Rams), Ridgewood (Rid), River Dell (RD), Sparta (Spa), Vernon (Ve), Waldwick-Midland Park (WMP), Wallkill Valley (WV), Wayne Hills (WH), West Essex (WE), West Milford (WM), Westwood (West).

Championships

165 -- 6-Jr. AJ DiGiovanni (18-10), BC, d. 1-Jr. Santino Rodriguez (31-5), DB, 7-3.

175 -- 3-Sr. Genti Idrizi (23-10), BC, p. 1-Sr. Ethan Dalling (36-3), Kit, 5:26.

190 -- 1-Jr. Nevin Mattessich (32-3), DB, tf. 2-Sr. Zak Darwish (26-3), Rama, 16-1, 4:13.

215 -- 1-Jr. Dante DeLuca (26-0), DB, md. 2-Sr. Adam Mashfej (33-4), WH, 19-5.

285 -- 1-Sr. Benjamin Shue (31-6), BC, p. 2-Sr. Mason Brancato (34-2), PL, :51.

106 -- 1-Fr. Matthew Mulligan (26-6), BC, md. 2-Fr. Will Webb (24-12), DB, 13-2.

113 -- 1-Fr. Marcos Asan (21-7), BC, d. 3-So. Anthony Pettinelli (33-7), Pb, 4-2.

120 -- 2-Jr. Joseph Rizzuto (30-6), Dep, md. 4-So. Michael Echeverri (31-5), NH, 13-5.

126 -- 1-Jr. Nathan Braun (19-6), BC, md. 2-Sr. Devin Ryan (31-4), NM, 8-0.

132 -- 3-So. Brian Little (13-3), DB, tf. 1-Jr. Ryan Hrenenko (33-5), Spa, 19-4, 4:09.

138 -- 1-Fr. Gideon Gonzalez (29-5), BC, md. 2-Sr. Logan Hrenenko (32-7), Spa, 10-1.

144 -- 1-Sr. Luke Geleta (36-1), Pb, d. 2-So. Reid Clausi (35-7), WE, 11-4.

150 -- 2-Sr. Nick Clayton (31-3), HP, d. 4-Sr. Charles Shaddow (35-5), Rid, 7-6.

157 -- 1-Sr. Gavin Hawk (36-1), Pb, d. 2-Jr. Joey Canova (31-4), BC, 6-2.

Outstanding Wrestler Award -- Gavin Hawk, Phillipsburg.

Coach of the Year Award -- Ray Cottiers, New Milford.

Assistant Coach of the Year Award -- Matt Ulrich, New Milford.

Third-place consolations

106 -- 4-Fr. Zack Swingle (29-9), Pb, p. 3-So. Johnny Emes (32-8), GR, 3:48

113 -- 5-Jr. Alec Murado (36-7), Dem, d. 4-So. Frank Figel (28-12), J, 11-8.

120 -- 3-So. Chace Severs (27-9), L, p. 8-So. Carter Drouin (28-13), HP, 5:23.

126 -- 3-So. Andrew Bonita (23-11), DB, d. 4-So. Delvan Rotte (28-10), Dep, 3-1.

132 -- 2-So. Owen Garriques (29-10), Pb, d. 4-Jr. Adan Cedeno (33-6), PV, 6-2.

138 -- 4-So. Isaias Hernandez (26-13), Dep, d. 8-Sr. Jack Drucker (27-9), OT, 6-3.

144 -- 4-Sr. Joey Fulco (32-4), Rama, d. 11-Jr. Joseph Petriello (19-7), Du, 6-1.

150 -- 3-Jr. Gavin Geleta (31-7), Pb, d. 1-Jr. Sowzrawca Tsay (22-8), BC, 8-2.

157 -- 6-So. Benjamin Marques (28-10), WE, d. 3-Sr. Christian Fojon (32-7), Rams, 12-6.

165 -- 2-So. Chad McConnell (35-4), PL, p. 5-Sr. Cody Aniche-Farrell (26-12), Dep, :47.

175 -- 2-Sr. Carmine Masi (33-6), WE, md. 5-Sr. Logan Garriques (28-6), NW, 11-2.

190 -- 5-Sr. Luke Brown (17-11), Spa, md. 3-Jr. Redon Xheladini (30-10), PL, 13-3.

215 -- 3-Jr. Wyatt Sisco (33-6), Kin, p. 5-Jr. Jeffrey Papienuk (28-7), WM, 4:32.

285 -- 3-Jr. Gavin Mericle (33-5), HP, p. 11-So. DJ Fiore (25-16), WE, 1:57.