UNION – Will Brearley make it a record eight in a row?
Or will Roselle Park capture its first county crown in a decade?
Those questions and more will be answered Saturday when the 38th annual wrestling Union County Tournament takes place at Union High School’s Louis J. Rettino Gymnasium, beginning at 9 a.m.
The seeding is to take place Thursday at Union.
Brearley has won the last seven titles, which are all seven championships the Bears have won.
Roselle Park last won the crown in 2003, which was for the seventh straight season.
No team has won the title eight years in a row.
Returning champions include Brearley junior Nick DeMarco, Governor Livingston senior Jon Mele, Summit senior Nick Abbott, GL junior Ryan Hoy, Brearley junior John Balboni, Brearley junior Joe Balboni and Scotch Plains senior Anthony Tufaro.
State-ranked Union County wrestlers according to nj.com as of Tuesday included Brearley junior John Balboni third and Westfield senior Colin Barber fifth at 160, Brearley junior Joe Balboni fourth at 170, Summit senior A.J. Iarussi eighth at 195 and Scotch Plains senior Anthony Tufaro second at heavyweight.
Governor Livingston senior Jon Mele was ranked fifth at 120, Brearley senior Anthony Rice fifth at 132 and Iarussi – who will play football in college at Colgate – fourth at 220 in the Jan. 9 rankings.
Rice won at 119 as a freshman in 2010 and at 125 as a sophomore in 2011. He missed last year, out for the season with a torn ACL from football.
In the 119 final in 2010, Rice defeated Jabari Shults of Rahway 7-4.
In the 125 final in 2011, Rice defeated Dan Pisauro of Roselle Park 6-2.
Roselle Park began the week with a record of 8-0.
The Panthers have won the most county crowns, with a total of 11 championships.
Other top Union County wrestlers include Cranford’s Gavin Murray at 132, Rahway’s Justin Becker at 160, Roselle Park’s Phil Woods at 170, Cranford’s Corey Markovitch at 170, Westfield’s Brian Bulger at 182, Brearley’s Jeff Velez at 182, GL’s Shane Haddad at 195 and Westfield heavyweight Kyle Kania.
GL’s Rick Iacono, the Union County Coach of the Year in 2010 and 2011, is in his 39th and final season as a head coach. He won his 300th match last season.
Iacono started as an assistant coach under Buddy Frezza for three years at Rutgers Prep from 1971-1972 to 1973-1974.
His first head coaching position was at Dayton, which lasted 23 years from 1974-1975 to 1996-1997.
Iacono was then the head coach at Middlesex for four years from 1997-1998 to 2000-2001.
This is his 12th and final season at GL, with the Highlanders posting winning seasons every year since the 2006-2007 campaign.
Iacono also won his 200th game as a head softball coach last year. He guided GL to back-to-back UCT titles in 2011 and 2012, which was a program first.
RETURNING UCT CHAMPIONS:
Brearley junior Nick DeMarco
Captured his first title last year, winning at 103.
Now wrestling at 113.
Gov. Livingston senior Jon Mele
Captured his first title in 2011, winning at 103
and won his second crown in 2012, winning at 113.
Now wrestling at 120.
Summit senior Nick Abbott
Captured his first title last year, winning at 126.
Now wrestling at 138.
Gov. Livingston junior Ryan Hoy
Captured his first title last year, winning at 132.
Now wrestling at 138.
Brearley junior John Balboni
Captured his first title last year, winning at 160.
Still wrestling at 160 – ranked third in state.
Brearley junior Joe Balboni
Captured his first title last year, winning at 170
Still wrestling at 170 – ranked fourth in state.
Scotch Plains senior Anthony Tufaro
Captured his first title last year, winning at heavyweight.
Still wrestling at heavyweight – ranked 2nd in state.
UCT CHAMPIONS SINCE 1990:
2012: Brearley.
2011: Brearley.
2010: Brearley.
2009: Brearley.
2008: Brearley.
2007: Brearley.
2006: Brearley, first time.
2005: Rahway.
2004: Scotch Plains, first time.
2003: Roselle Park.
2002: Roselle Park.
2001: Roselle Park.
2000: Roselle Park.
1999: Roselle Park.
1998: Roselle Park.
1997: Roselle Park.
1996: Rahway.
1995: Rahway.
1994: Union.
1993: Roselle Park.
1992: Roselle Park.
1991: Union.
1990: Westfield.
37TH WRESTLING UNION COUNTY TOURNAMENT
AT UNION’S LOUIS J. RETTINO GYMNASIUM
2012
TEAMS: 1-Brearley 180. 2-Westfield 153. 3-Roselle Park 146.5.
4-Scotch Plains 139. 5-Gov. Livingston 129.5. 6-Cranford 107.5.
7-Linden 86.5. 8-Rahway 65. 9-Elizabeth 55. 10-Plainfield 52.
11-Union 50. 12-Johnson 49. 13-Summit 46.
14-New Providence 35.
FINALS:
182 – Vic Pozsonyi, Roselle Park, dec. Zach Heissler, GL, 7-1
195 – Anthony Tancs, Brearley, dec. A.J. Iarussi, Summit, 1-0
220 – Andrew Jacobs, Scotch Plains, pin Jeff Weiss, Cranford, 5:19
HWT – Anthony Tufaro, S. Plains, dec. Mike Christian, Brearley, 3-0
106 – Nick DeMarco, Brearley, dec. Nick Tekula, Linden, 5-3
113 – Jon Mele, Gov. Livingston, pin Gabe Magalhaes, Linden, 1:25
120 – Mike Kalimtzis, Westfield, dec. Ryne Morrison, GL, 2-1
126 – Nick Abbott, Summit, dec. Isaac Valentin, Rahway, 3-0
132 – Ryan Hoy, GL, pin Brendan Leary, Roselle Park, 5:34
138 – D’ondre Floyd, Elizabeth, dec. Nick Rotondo, Westfield, 8-3
145 – Nick Lospinoso, Brearley, dec. Justin Becker, Rahway, 6-1
152 – Sean Cannon, S. Plains, dec. Brian Merkle, Roselle Park, 10-9
160 – John Balboni, Brearley, dec. Shane Haddad, GL, 8-6
170 – Joe Balboni, Brearley, dec. J.P. Christiano, Cranford, 5-2
THIRD-PLACE FINISHERS:
106 – John Devito, Roselle Park
113 – Tommy Cunningham, Scotch Plains
120 – Gavin Murray, Cranford
126 – Brian Lapham, Scotch Plains
132 – Mike Disko, Brearley
138 – Dominick Natale, Scotch Plains
145 – Ellis Opoku, Westfield
152 – Colin Barber, Westfield
160 – Mike DeLouisa, Wesfield
170 – Travis Foster, Linden
182 – Jeff Velez, Brearley
195 – Joshua Knight, Plainfield
220 – Jake Cocchiarella, Union
HWT – Kyle Kania, Westfield
TOP SEEDS:
106 – John Devito, Roselle Park
113 – Jon Mele, Governor Livingston
120 – Mike Kalimtzis, Westfield
126 – Nick Abbott, Summit
132 – Brendan Leary, Roselle Park
138 – Nick Rotondo, Westfield
145 – Nick Lospinoso, Brearley
152 – Brian Merkle, Roselle Park
160 – John Balboni, Brearley
170 – J.P. Christiano, Cranford
182 – Vic Pozsonyi, Roselle Park
195 – Anthony Tancs, Brearley
220 – Andrew Jacobs, Scotch Plains
HWT – Anthony Tufaro, Scotch Plains
T. Ralph Williams Award: Summit parent Jim Abbott
Coach of the Year: Glenn Kurz, Westfield
Most falls in least amount of time: Jon Mele, GL, 3 in 8:08
Outstanding Wrestler (106-145): D’ondre Floyd, Elizabeth, 138
Outstanding Wrestler (152-HWT): Sean Cannon, Scotch Plains, 152
4-TIME UCT CHAMPIONS:
Larry Guarino, Union, class of 1988
1985 – won championship at 158
1986 – won championship at 158
1987 – won championship at 170
1988 – won championship at 171
Dave Bubnowski, Union, class of 1996
1993 – won championship at 103
1994 – won championship at 103
1995 – won championship at 121
1996 – won championship at 135
Craig Frost, Roselle Park, class of 1999
1996 – won championship at 103
1997 – won championship at 112
1998 – won championship at 130
1999 – won championship at 135
Dan Appello, Roselle Park, class of 2002
1999 – won championship at 103
2000 – won championship at 112
2001 – won championship at 119
2002 – won championship at 125
Darrion Caldwell, Rahway, class of 2006
2003: 103 final: pinned Rob Mench of Westfield in 1:05.
2004: 119 final: pinned Ross Baldwin of New Providence in 2:44.
2005: 135 final: pinned Steve Mineo of Scotch Plains in :54.
2006: 160 final: pinned Hany Elshiekh of Brearley in 1:26.
Jesse Boyden, Brearley, class of 2008
2005: 215 final: decisioned Julio Loperena of Linden, 10-4.
2006: 215 final: pinned Trevor Martin of New Providence in :43.
2007: 215 final: major dec. Richard Tabor of Elizabeth, 12-3.
2008: 215 final: decisioned Mike Lefano of Roselle Park, 5-2.
Kenny Knapp, Brearley, class of 2009
2006: 103 final: pinned Juan Herrera of Rahway in 3:46.
2007: 103 final: pinned Anthony Casselli of Roselle Park in 4:23.
2008: 119 final: pinned Anthony Zangari of Roselle Park in 3:40.
2009: 130 final: major dec. John Barnes of Westfield, 9-1.
NOTES: Eric Swick, who wrestled collegiately at Harvard and last year was the head coach at Johnson, is a 1998 Roselle Park graduate who won three county titles without losing a UCT match. Swick won crowns his freshman year in 1995, his sophomore year in 1996 and his senior year in 1998. He could not compete his junior year in 1997 because of a broken hand.