CRANFORD, NJ — How challenging will Region 4 wrestling be at North Hunterdon High School?
Nine Cranford grapplers will make the field that much more difficult.
Cranford High School continued a highly successful season by placing four champions, two second-place finishers and three third-place qualifiers at the District 13 competition that took place last weekend at Millburn High School.
This weekend, Cranford wrestlers will seek to make their mark once more in Region 4 action at North Hunterdon.
The seedings for the eight regions were on Monday, Feb. 21, with competition scheduled for two days instead of three this time. Action will commence on Friday, Feb. 25, and conclude on Saturday, Feb. 26, with the finals.
After winning the Union County Tournament for the seventh straight season and then falling by just one point at West Essex High School in the North 2, Group 3, semifinals, Cranford did well to place second in District 13 behind champion North Hunterdon.
The Cougars scored 213 points in the nine-team field and were one of only two schools to produce more than 200 points. Champion North Hunterdon, with eight of the 14 first-place finishers, won with 275.5 points.
Winning championships for Cranford were junior Connor Hoefling at 150 pounds, freshman Jordan Chapman at 157 pounds, undefeated senior Colin Murray at 165 pounds and junior Lucas Esposito at 175 pounds.
Placing second were juniors Michael Tona at 106 pounds and Shane Kanterman at 190 pounds.
Coming back after losses in the semifinals to finish third and qualify were senior Ronan Waters at 120 pounds, freshman Dylan Jones at 144 pounds and senior Kevin Shriner at heavyweight.
“We had 13 reach the semifinals, and four of them ended up champions, so I’m really proud,” Cranford wrestling head coach Pat Gorman said.
The wrestlers who advance out of regional competition this weekend will move on to the season-ending NJSIAA tournament, which is back at Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Hall and is set to take place March 3, 4 and 5.
There were no districts last year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The season didn’t commence until March. There were super regionals and the NJSIAA tournament, which was contested at Phillipsburg High School.
Hoefling, the top seed at 150 pounds, first pinned eighth-seeded Luke Talbert of Millburn High School in 33 seconds. He then won a major decision against fourth-seeded Darin Ladin of Voorhees High School, 15-4. In the final, Hoefling won another major decision, this time against third-seeded Brian Wilson of North Hunterdon High School, 10-0. Hoefling, who finished second in the UCT, is now 21-7.
Chapman, the top seed at 157 pounds, captured what he hopes will be the first of four district titles. In the semifinals, he pinned fifth-seeded Jahsim Williams of Elizabeth High School in 55 seconds. He took less time to pin second-seeded Tucker Lewis of North Hunterdon High School in the final, with the match ending after just 34 seconds. Chapman, also second in the UCT, now stands at 27-2.
Murray, the top seed at 165 pounds, first pinned eighth-seeded James Wachenheim of North Hunterdon High School in 44 seconds. He then pinned fourth-seeded Freddy Gabin of Elizabeth High School in 4:53. In the final, Murray pinned Brett Molka of Millburn High School in 1:55. Three matches and three pins for the UCT champion, who has a record of 28-0.
“Jordan and Colin, who is still undefeated, both were impressive in pinning their way through the entire district,” Gorman said.
Esposito, the second seed at 175 pounds, pinned Subtain Ali of John F. Kennedy Memorial High School in Iselin in 4:41 to reach the semifinals. He then won a 10-3 decision against third-seeded Zach Raifman of Millburn High School. In the finals, Esposito bested top-seeded Luke Yager of North Hunterdon High School 9-2. The second-place UCT finisher has a record of 23-6.
“With Connor and Lucas we saw they had a chance,” Gorman said. “They had to wrestle smart, and they did.”
Shriner, the second seed at heavyweight, pinned seventh-seeded Ryan Zamarra of Millburn in just 38 seconds in the quarterfinal round. Shriner was then defeated by third-seeded Justin Evans-Jenkins of Irvington 5-2 in the semifinals.
“With a broken nose he’s now wrestling with a mask on,” Gorman said of his heavyweight. “Against Evans, we won the flip and were winning 1-0; however, the rest of the match didn’t go as planned.
“Evans attempted a shot and got a takedown in the second period to take a 2-1 lead. He pretty much dominated from that point on. In the third period, he took bottom and got out for two more.”
The UCT champion then edged Mathew Ihemesie of Hillside High School 3-2 in the final, and now Shriner enters Region 4 with a record of 24-2. He pinned fifth-seeded Ja’Von Harris of Rahway High School in 4:53 in the third-place qualifying bout.
Liam Akers of North Hunterdon High School pinned Evans-Jenkins in 4:35 in the heavyweight final. Ihemesie ended up winning the heavyweight title at the District 14 competition at South Plainfield High School.
Tona, the third seed at 106 pounds, pinned sixth-seeded Noah Silber of Millburn High School in 52 seconds and then pinned second-seeded Joshua Garcia of Rahway High School in 3:33. Tona was pinned by top-seeded Logan Wadle of North Hunterdon High School in 5:15 in the championship match.
Kanterman, the second seed at 190 pounds, first pinned seventh-seeded Matthew Rodrigues of Iselin Kennedy in 53 seconds and then blanked Isaiah Augustin of Irvington High School 7-0 to reach the final. In the bout for first, it was top-seeded Alex Uryniak of North Hunterdon High School who pinned Kanterman in 1:29. Kanterman has a record of 22-7.
Waters defeated seventh-seeded Antonio Gallo of New Providence High School by pin in 35 seconds to place third at 120 pounds.
“It’s good for a senior to get out with a win,” Gorman said. “It’s very rare to end your career on a win.”
Jones defeated fourth-seeded Alexander Rosario of Iselin Kennedy 10-5 for his third-place showing at 144 pounds.
“He’s suffered losses to some pretty good wrestlers,” Gorman said. “The weight class of 144 is a tough one, with a lot of seniors.”
Notes: Gorman said he expected Murray, Chapman and Kanterman to receive top three seeds in their weight classes.
Regarding finishing second to North Hunterdon, Gorman said, “They’re a great team. They got 12 to the finals, and eight of them won. That’s a tough town and very competitive.”
Gorman also said that the District 14 competition should look the same next year, and then the district lineups will change for the following two seasons.
District 13 at Millburn:
• North Hunterdon, 275.5.
• Cranford, 215.
• Voorhee, 119.
• Irvington, 85.
• Rahway, 80.
• Millburn, 64.
• Iselin Kennedy, 57.
• Elizabeth, 36.
• New Providence, 12.
Finals:
• 106: Logan Wadle, North Hunterdon, pin Michael Tona, Cranford, 5:15.
• 113: Ben Makaritis, North Hunterdon, dec. Amadi Murray, Rahway, 14-8.
• 120: Hunter Cryan, Voorhees, dec. Eoghan O’Hara, Rahway, 4-0.
• 126: Braxton Hanna, North Hunterdon, dec. Markus Crespo, Iselin Kennedy, 7-5.
• 132: Nick DeLorenzo, North Hunterdon, md Giovanni Maglione, Iselin Kennedy, 14-0.
• 138: Daniel DeLusant, North Hunterdon, pin Jayson Turner, Irvington, 1:30.
• 144: Mike Mosier, Voorhees, pin Ian Hewitt, North Hunterdon, 4:42.
• 150: Connor Hoefling, Cranford, md Brian Wilson, North Hunterdon, 10-0.
• 157: Jordan Chapman, Cranford, pin Tucker Lewis, North Hunterdon, 0:34.
• 165: Colin Murray, Cranford, pin Brett Molka, Millburn, 1:55.
• 175: Lucas Esposito, Cranford, dec. Luke Yager, North Hunterdon, 9-2.
• 190: Alexander Uryniak, North Hunterdon, pin Shane Kanterman, Cranford, 1:29.
• 215: Brendan Raley, North Hunterdon md Lensley Therlonge, Irvington, 11-0.
• HWT: Liam Akers, North Hunterdon, pin Justin Evans-Jenkins, Irvington, 4:35.