UNION, NJ — When Tom DiGiovanni edged Philip Angelo of Summit High School, 2-1, to win the 138-pound weight class in 2017, he became the first Cranford High School wrestler, and the eighth overall, to win four Union County Tournament championships.
Eight years later, Cranford now has the most wrestlers that have won four crowns, three to be exact.
That’s because Cranford seniors Michael Daly and Luke Scholz pulled off the feat at the 51st annual wrestling Union County Tournament on Saturday, Jan. 17, at Union High School’s Louis J. Rettino gymnasium.
DiGiovanni, Daly and Scholz on the wall now at Cranford as four-time UCT champions.
“Wrestling, that’s their life,” Cranford head coach Pat Gorman said. “They will both continue wrestling in college.”
Daly is going to the University of Pittsburgh and Scholz to Appalachian State University.
“I’ve been happy every year after winning this tournament,” Daly said. “It’s always led to more success.”
“We’ve been going at this since middle school; we just love this sport,” Scholz said. “We’re the team that is hunted.”
Both top seeds again, Daly defeated Arthur L. Johnson High School junior Matty Ortega, 7-3, in the 120-pound final. Ortega won at 120 pounds last year as a sophomore, one weight class after Daly won at 113 pounds.
Scholz was dominant against Rahway High School senior Daniel Gonzalez for the second straight year in a final. Last year, Scholz pinned Gonzalez in 1:48 in the 150-pound final. This time, Scholz defeated Gonzalez by technical fall in the 157-pound final, winning by the score of 17-2 in 2:23.
“Michael and Luke represent Cranford wrestling well,” Gorman said. “It’s not easy to win this tournament four times, if only 11 wrestlers have. Both wrestlers don’t take anything for granted, the way they continue to work really hard.”
Larry Guarino, a surgeon in Wayne, was the first four-time UCT champion, accomplishing the feat for Union in 1988 with head coach Al Lilley.
Dave Bubnowski of Union was the second four-time winner, reaching that status 30 years ago in 1996.
Three years later, in 1999, Roselle Park High School senior Craig Frost was the next four-time winner and first for the Panthers. In the same tournament, Roselle Park freshman Dan Appello won his first UCT title and then, three years later, in 2002, became the fourth grappler to capture four crowns.
Rahway’s lone four-time winner is 2006 graduate Darrion Caldwell, who also won three New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association Tournament championships for the Indians, before excelling collegiately at North Carolina State, winning one NCAA championship.
David Brearley High School’s two four-time winners were produced in consecutive seasons. In 2008, the late Jesse Boyden became the first and then, later that year, he went on to become the 215-pound state champion. Kenny Knapp followed in 2009.
Boyden was the only four-time UCT winner to capture all four of his titles at the same weight class, 215 pounds.
After DiGiovanni became Cranford’s first four-time winner, Luke Hoerle achieved the feat three years later in 2020 to become the first Westfield grappler with four crowns.
“Jordan Chapman didn’t win for us his freshman year, so there have been a lot of really good wrestlers who didn’t win four times,” Gorman said.
Four-time UCT Champions = 11
Two from Union, two from Roselle Park, one from Rahway, two from David Brearley, one from Westfield and three from Cranford.
Larry Guarino, Union, Class of 1988
1985: 158 final: maj. dec. Ken Weeks of Summit, 13-2
1986: 158 final: defeated Tony Coleman of Westfield
1987: 170 final: dec. Jim O’Donnell of Cranford, 4-0
1988: 171 final: defeated Randy Wojcik of Westfield
Dave Bubnowski, Union, Class of 1996
1993: won championship at 103
1994: won championship at 103
1995: 121 final: dec. Bill Crecca of Roselle Park, 5-4
1996: won championship at 135
Craig Frost, Roselle Park, Class of 1999
1996: 103 final: dec. Shawn Stueber of Rahway, 10-4.
1997: 112 final: maj. dec. Rich Sachsel of New Providence, 21-8.
1998: 130 final: dec. Shawn Stueber of Rahway, 6-0.
1999: 135 final: pin Jeff Bubnowski of Union, 2:48.
Dan Appello, Roselle Park, Class of 2002
1999: 103 final: dec. Dare Ajibade of Union, 8-3
2000: 112 final: tech. fall Tom McDermott of Arthur L. Johnson, 21-6 (3:08).
2001: 119 final: maj. dec. William Banks of Elizabeth, 17-5.
2002: 125 final: dec. William Banks of Elizabeth, 11-4.
Darrion Caldwell, Rahway, Class of 2006
2003: 103 final: pin Rob Mench of Westfield, 1:05.
2004: 119 final: pin Ross Baldwin of New Providence, 2:44.
2005: 135 final: pin Steve Mineo of Scotch Plains–Fanwood :54.
2006: 160 final: pin Hany Elshiekh of David Brearley, 1:26.
Jesse Boyden, David Brearley, Class of 2008
2005: 215 final: dec. Julio Loperena of Linden, 10-4.
2006: 215 final: pin Trevor Martin of New Providence, :43.
2007: 215 final: maj dec. Richard Tabor of Elizabeth, 12-3.
2008: 215 final: dec. Mike Lefano of Roselle Park, 5-2.
Kenny Knapp, David Brearley, Class of 2009
2006: 103 final: pin Juan Herrera of Rahway, 3:46.
2007: 103 final: pin Anthony Casselli of Roselle Park, 4:23.
2008: 119 final: pin Anthony Zangari of Roselle Park, 3:40.
2009: 130 final: maj. dec. John Barnes of Westfield, 9-1.
Tom DiGiovanni, Cranford, Class of 2017
2014: 113 final: dec. Philip Angelo, Summit, 2-1
2015: 120 final: dec. Carmine Boccellari, New Providence, 5-0.
2016: 120 final: dec. Nic Mele, Governor Livingston, 4-3
(3-3 UTB – Ultimate Tie Breaker)
2017: 138 final: dec. Philip Angelo, Summit, 2-1
Luke Hoerle, Westfield, Class of 2020
2017: 106 final: maj. dec. Gabe Leo, Roselle Park, 10-3.
2018: 113 final: dec. John Ojeda, Linden, 9-4.
2019: 120 final: maj. dec. Chris Dalmau, Rahway, 8-1.
2020: 126 final: dec. Brandon Bowles, Scotch Plains–Fanwood, 8-5.
Michael Daly, Cranford, Class of 2026
2023: 106 final: dec. Christian Sabatino, Governor Livingston, 5-4.
2024: 106 final: dec. Matty Ortega, Arthur L. Johnson, 6-3.
2025: 113 final: pin Phillip Griffin, Rahway, 3:09.
2026: 120 final: dec. Matty Ortega, Arthur L. Johnson, 7-3.
Luke Scholz, Cranford, Class of 2026
2023: 126 final: pin Tahrae Brown, Plainfield, 5:13.
2024: 132 final: maj. dec. Julian McGarry, David Brearley, 12-2.
2025: 150 final: pin Daniel Gonzalez, Rahway, 1:48.
2026: 157 final: tech. fall Danial Gonzalez, Rahway, 17-2 (2:23).
