CRANFORD, NJ — The Cranford Cougars proved to be just as dominant in the District 13 competition at Cranford High School on Saturday, Fen. 18, as they were at last month’s Union County Tournament at Kean University.
Once again, Cranford had 12 of its 14 wrestlers place, with the dozen moving on to this weekend’s Region 4 competition at Union.
Winning championships were freshman Ryder Connors at 113 pounds, senior Michael Tona at 120 pounds, freshman Luke Scholz at 126 pounds, senior Conor Hoefling at 150 pounds and sophomore Jordan Chapman at 157 pounds.
Placing second were junior Alex Mueller at 138 pounds, sophomore Dylan Jones at 144 pounds and seniors Lucas Esposito at 175 pounds, Shane Kanterman at 190 pounds and Dylan McDonald at 215 pounds.
Finishing third at 106 pounds was freshman Michael Daly and third at 165 pounds was senior Quentin Connolly.
Hoefling and Chapman repeated as champs while Connors, Scholz and Tona all won for the first time.
Cranford had 12 of 14 wrestlers place when it captured a record eighth straight UCT title in January.
Region 4 wrestling at Union will commence Friday, Feb. 24, and wrap up Saturday, Feb. 25, with the championship and third-fourth place matches.
Region wrestling, contested at eight sites around the state, used to be a three-day affair, starting on Friday and continuing on Saturday and Sunday. The format now is a two-day event, with the top four wrestlers from each of the 14 weight classes advancing to the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association Tournament at Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Hall for March 2, 3 and 4.
Rahway did not have a champion, but did have one grappler place second and five more third.
Union County’s lone champions out of District 13 were the five from Cranford. Others who placed second were Eoghan O’Hara of Rahway at 126 pounds, Braedon Valley of New Providence at 132 pounds and Aiden Lazas of New Providence at 165 pounds.
Finishing third from Union County, in addition to Daly and Connolly of Cranford, were Amadi Murray of Rahway at 113 pounds, Daniel Gonzalez of Rahway at 132 pounds, Robert Macaluso of Rahway at 144 pounds, Brandon Papa of New Providence at 157 pounds, Austin Tilton of Rahway at 190 pounds and Jonathan Martinez of Rahway at heavyweight.
The eight region sites are: Region 1 at West Milford, Region 2 at Mount Olive, Region 3 at West Orange, Region 4 at Union, Region 5 at Franklin, Region 6 at Jackson Liberty, Region 7 at Cherry Hill East and Region 8 at Egg Harbor.
The seeding meeting for Region 4 was Monday, Feb. 20, with coaches seeding the wrestlers who advanced out of Districts 13, 14, 15 and 16.
Here are the top seeds for Region 4 at Union:
106: Logan Wadle, North Hunterdon, senior
113: Jake Talerico, St. Peter’s Prep, junior
120: Giovanni Schinina, St. Peter’s Prep, freshman
126: Caedyn Ricciardi, St. Peter’s Prep, sophomore
132: Donovan Chavis, St. Peter’s Prep, senior
138: Angelo Pellicci, St. Peter’s Prep, senior
144: Mayson Harms, Roselle Park, senior
150: Landon Kearns, St. Thomas Aquinas, senior
157: Jordan Chapman, Cranford, sophomore
165: Michael Murphy, Westfield, senior
175: Brett Molka, Millburn, junior
190: Alex Uryniak, North Hunterdon, senior
215: Domenick Lettini, St. Peter’s Prep, junior
HWT: Hunter Seubert, Watchung Hills, senior
District 13 at Cranford
Teams
1-Cranford 260.5. 2-North Hunterdon 202.5. 3-Rahway 107. 4-Voorhees 102. 5-Iselin Kennedy 86. 6-New Providence 65. 7-Irvington 51. 8-Millburn 31. 9-Elizabeth 25. 10-Roselle 24.
Finals
106: Logan Wadle, North Hunterdon, tech. fall Christian Bollette, Voorhees, 16-1.
113: Ryder Connors, Cranford, dec. Joseph Celentano, North Hunterdon, 10-3.
120: Michael Tona, Cranford, SV Shane Wysocki, North Hunterdon, 2-0.
126: Luke Scholz, Cranford, tech. fall Eoghan O’Hara, Rahway, 17-2.
132: Giovanni Maglione, Iselin Kennedy, pin Braedon Valley, New Providence, 2:45.
138: Mark Roche, Iselin Kennedy, dec. Alex Mueller, Cranford, 7-5.
144: Daniel DeLusant, North Hunterdon, maj. dec. Dylan Jones, Cranford, 16-2.
150: Conor Hoefling, Cranford, dec. Markel Simeon, Irvington, 7-3.
157: Jordan Chapman, Cranford, pin Logan Wiecoreck, Voorhees, 1:48.
165: Brian Wilson, North Hunterdon, dec. Aiden Lazas, New Providence, 6-0.
175: Brett Molka, Millburn, dec. Lucas Esposito, Cranford, 9-2.
190: Alex Uryniak, North Hunterdon, pin Shane Kanterman, Cranford, 1:54.
215: Brendan Raley, North Hunterdon, pin Dylan McDonald, Cranford, 4:58.
HWT: Cameron Baumann, Voorhees, UT Louis White, North Hunterdon, 4-3.
Third-place qualifiers
106: Michael Daly, Cranford
113: Amadi Murray, Rahway
120: Alejandro Montalvo, Iselin Kennedy
126: Grant Goldan, North Hunterdon
132: Daniel Gonzalez, Rahway
138: Jayson Turner, Irvington
144: Robert Macaluso, Rahway
150: Evan Kinney, North Hunterdon
157: Brandon Papa, New Providence
165: Quentin Connolly, Cranford
175: Tyler Kinney, Voorhees
190: Austin Tilton, Rahway
215: Jack Mosier, Voorhees
HWT: Jonathan Martinez, Rahway
Photos Courtesy of Pat Gorman