UNION COUNTY, NJ — At its own gym for the last time this year, Cranford High School showed wrestlers from Bergen and Hudson counties how it’s done and was right there with a standout team from Essex County.
Speaking of Essex County, Governor Livingston High School grapplers excelled at Nutley High School.
Wrestlers from the other remaining Union County schools proved their worth in District 13, 14 and 16 competition.
All in all, it was a pretty good day of wrestling for Union County grapplers in the one-day districts on Saturday, Feb. 22.
Those that advanced, the top three in each weight class in the 32 districts, are now prepping for this weekend’s two-day region competition that will commence Friday, Feb. 28, and conclude Saturday, March 1, at eight venues.
Grapplers from Union County will be competing at Region 3 at West Orange High School, which will be Cranford and Governor Livingston, and the rest at Region 4 at Union, including the host Farmers.
The top four finishers in each weight class at the regions will advance to the season-ending New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association Tournament, scheduled for three days of competition from Thursday, March 6, through Saturday, March 8, at Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Hall.
Cranford had 10 wrestlers advance to Region 3, with seven champs, two second and one third. The Cougars finished second to Caldwell High School in the team standings at 245-227. Five of the other schools were from Hudson County and three from Bergen County.
Governor Livingston had four champions and three second-place finishers at Nutley, placing third in the team standings with 171 points. West Morris Regional High School won with 204.50 and Nutley was second at 183.5.
Winning championships for Cranford at District 10 were Michael Daly at 113, Ryder Connors at 126, Eoghan O’Hara at 144, Luke Scholz at 150, Dylan Jones at 157, Jordan Chapman at 175 and Louis Kruk at heavyweight.
Chapman, the District 10 Most Outstanding Wrestler, is a four-time district champion. Chapman defeated Jake Simone of Caldwell High School by fall in 1:21 in the 175 final.
Daly, Connors and O’Hara also defeated Caldwell grapplers in their finals. Daly edged Carmine Sipper 2-1 at 113, Connors won a 13-2 major decision against Dominic Holler at 126 and O’Hara halted Rocco Conforti by fall in 1:28 at 144.
Winning championships for Governor Livingston at District 11 at Nutley were Brandon Rayack at 126, Henrique Ribeiro at 138, Cristian Gioia at 165 and Nathan Faxon at 215.
District 13 was at Scotch Plains–Fanwood High School, with Seton Hall Preparatory School winning.
District 14 was at North Hunterdon Regional High School, with North Hunterdon coming out on top with 240 points. Bridgewater-Raritan Regional High School was second with 212.5 points and Union High School third with 164.5.
District 15 was at Watchung Hills Regional High School, with Delaware Valley High School finishing first.
District 16 was at South Plainfield High School, with Bergen County parochial power Paramus Catholic High School placing first.
Union County champions from District 13 at Scotch Plains–Fanwood included: Daniel Berardi of Westfield at 106, Dylan Sontz of Westfield at 132, Yehia Abdelrahman of Westfield at 138 and Jake Zemsky of Westfield at 190. Zemsky was the MOW.
Union County champs from District 14 at North Hunterdon were: Zachary Belverio of Arthur L. Johnson High School at 113, Ariel Azeredo of Union at 138, Braeden Valley of New Providence High School at 144 and Samuel Henry of Summit–Chatham high schools. Henry attends Summit High School. Valley was the MOW.
Union County champions from District 16 at South Plainfield High School included: Jaeczar Evans of Rahway High School at 106, Andrew Avent of Rahway at 190 and Jonathan Martinez of Rahway at heavyweight.
Here’s a breakdown of district champs by Union County schools:
Union County’s 22 District Champions
D10 – Cranford (7): Daly, Connors, O’Hara, Scholz, Jones, Chapman MOW, Kruk.
D11 – Governor Livingston (4): Rayack, H. Ribeiro, Gioia, Faxon.
D13 – Westfield (4): D. Berardi, Sontz, Abdelrahman, Zemsky MOW.
D14 – Arthur l. Johnson (1): Belverio. Union (1): Azeredo.
New Providence (1): Valley MOW. Summit-Chatham (1): Samuel Henry.
D16 – Rahway (3): Evans, Avent, Martinez.
Cranford wrestlers (10) in District 10 at Cranford
First
113: Michael Daly
126: Ryder Connors
144: Eoghan O’Hara
150: Luke Scholz
157: Dylan Jones
175: Jordan Chapman
HWT: Louis Kruk
Second
138: Brandon DiPaolo
190: Joey Acinapura
Third
106: DJ Torsone
Cranford wrestlers will next compete in Region 3 at West Orange.
District 11 at Nutley
Governor Livingston wrestlers (7)
First
126: Brandon Rayack
138: Henrique Ribeiro
165: Cristian Gioia
215: Nathan Faxon
Second
106: Lucas Villanueva
120: Eduardo Ribeiro
150: Vincent Capone
Governor Livingston wrestlers will next compete in Region 3 at West Orange.
Region 4 qualifiers from Union County Schools
Out Of Districts 13, 14, 15 and 16
D13 at Scotch Plains–Fanwood. D14 at North Hunterdon.
D15 at Watchung Hills. D16 at South Plainfield.
106
D13
1-Daniel Berardi, Westfield
3-Angel Lopez, Roselle Park
D14
2-Shan Singh, Summit-Chatham
D16
1-Jaeczar Evans, Rahway
3-Abraham Carire-Cruz, Linden
113
D13
3-Max Berardi, Westfield
D14
1-Zachary Belverio, Arthur L. Johnson
120
D13
2-Tristan Simmons, Scotch Plains–Fanwood
3-Jake Conti, Westfield
D14
2-Matty Ortega, Arthur L. Johnson
126
D13
2-Maxwell Griffin, Arthur L. Johnson
D14
2-Gabriel Hargrove, Union
132
D1
1-Dylan Sontz, Westfield
2-Jamere Wyatt, Elizabeth
D14
2-Keegan Parkhill, Arthur L. Johnson
138
D13
1-Yehia Abdelrahman, Westfield
3-James Villafana, Elizabeth
D14
1-Ariel Azeredo, Union
144
D13
2-Luke Sluberski, Westfield
D14
1-Braeden Valley, New Providence
2-Nick Cilento, Arthur L. Johnson
3-John Cipriano, David Brearley–Jonathan Dayton
D16
2-Adrian Harris, Rahway
150
D13
3-Seth Bekker, Westfield
D14
2-Ryder Vorndran, David Brearley–Jonathan Dayton
D16
2-Daniel Gonzalez, Rahway
157
D13
2-Michael Cantwell, Scotch Plains–Fanwood
3-Anthony Cianfrocca, Roselle Park
D14
2-Antonio Gallo, New Providence
3-Raymond Guenther, Arthur L. Johnson
4-Joe Squillaro, David Brearley–Jonathan Dayton
165
D13
2-Ethan Forbes, Elizabeth
D14
2-Alan Walczak, David Brearley–Jonathan Dayton
175
D13
3-Gabriel Salazar, Elizabeth
D14
2-Tyler Sebastian, Summit–Chatham
3-Aaron Acevedo, Union
190
D13
1-Jake Zemsky, Westfield
D14
2-Nicholas Bertolotti, Union
D16
1-Andrew Avent, Rahway
2-Shahad Brown, Linden
215
D13
2-Timothy Smith, Elizabeth
D14
2-Mark Belfleur, Union
D16
3-Chantz Fitz, Plainfield
HWT
D13
3-Isaiah Lambert, Hillside
D14
1-Samuel Henry, Summit–Chatham
2-Obreight Ingram, Union
D16
1-Jonathan Martinez, Rahway
3-Raynmir Brighton, Plainfield
These Union County school wrestlers will next compete at Region 4 at Union.