Not only did Rahway wrestlers Kaelan Francois and Joshua Darisme capture Region 4 championships at Union, but the standout grapplers will enter the NJSIAA Tournament at Atlantic City with undefeated records.
Francois, the top seed at 113, defeated sith-seeded Donovan Chavis of St. Peter’s Prep 6-0 in the final to improve to 36-0.
Darisme, the top seed at 220, downed second-seeded Gage Horvath of Phillipsburg 7-2 in the final to improve to 31-0.
Rahway had the most wrestlers of any school in Union County that qualified for the NJSIAA Tournament, which was four. The other two were Amajuwan Murray second at 106 and Chris Dalmau, a four-time district champion, fourth at 126.
The NJISAA Tournament at Atlantic City will be contested March 6-8. As many as 19 wrestlers from Union County high schools qualified out of Region 4. Westfield and Cranford have three; Brearley, Elizabeth and Roselle Park two and Plainfield, Scotch Plains and Gov. Livingston one.
Brearley’s Patrick Phillips placed second at 120 and is 27-1. Westfield’s Luke Hoerle was second at 126 and is 34-1.
Union senior Quamek Fearon reached the 170 semifinals as the 11th seed and was one win away from reaching Atantic City. However, Fearon lost to Ki’Zuran Casey of Plainfield 13-4 and did not finish among the top four in his weight class to qualify. Casey made it by placing second.
Union County’s last state champion was Westfield senior Christian Barber winning 152 in 2011. Union County has been shut out in the last eight NJSIAA Tournaments and 10 of the last 11. Before Barber, Union County’s last state champion was Brearley senior Jesse Boyden winning 215 in 2008.
UNION COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL WRESTLERS (19)
WHO QUALIFIED FOR THE
NJSIAA TOURNAMENT AT ATLANTIC CITY
OUT OF REGION 4 AT UNION
CHAMPIONS (4):
113: Kaelan Francois, Rahway
138: Nicholas Stampoulos, Brearley
220: Joshua Darisme, Rahway
HWT: Moses Olowoopejo, Elizabeth
SECOND (4):
106: Amajuwan Murray, Rahway
120: Patrick Phillips, Brearley
126: Luke Hoerle, Westfield
170: Ki’zuran Casey, Plainfield
THIRD (5):
120: Jasiah Queen, Elizabeth
126: Brandon Bowles, Scotch Plains
145: Colin Murray, Cranford
152: Patrick Nevins, Roselle Park
170: Max Nock, Cranford
FOURTH (6):
113: Luke Jacobs, Westfield
120: Mayson Harms, Roselle Park
126: Chris Dalmau, Rahway
132: Jeremy Silber, Westfield
152: Connor Vill, Gov. Livingston
195: Evan Kanterman, Cranford
REGION 4 AT UNION
FINALS:
106: 3-Nico Calello, Watchung Hills, maj. def. 4-Amajuwan Murray, Rahway, 13-0.
113: 1-Kaelan Francois, Rahway, dec. 6-Donovan Chavis, St. Peter’s Prep, 6-0.
120: 2-Patrick Adams, St. Peter’s Prep 2, 1-Patrick Phillips, Brearley, 2-1.
126: 2-Sean Reindero, St. Peter’s Prep, dec. Luke Hoerle, Westfield, 8-4.
132: 1-Xavier Pena, Bound Brook, dec. 3-Devon Capato, Ridge, 4-3.
138: 5-Nicholas Stampoulos, Brearley, maj. dec. 3-Connor Decker, SHP, 8-0.
145: 1-Maximus Parra, Bound Brook, maj. dec. 2-Alejandro Leon, SPP, 12-3.
152: 2-Alexander Martinez, B. Brook, maj. dec. 5-Jack Murray, Watch. Hills, 8-0.
160: 2-Blake Bahna, Watchung Hills, dec. 1-Jack Wilt, Seton Hall Prep, 12-5.
170: 1-Jacob Vega, Carteret, pin 2-Ki’zuran Casey, Plainfield, 2:33.
182: 1-John Poznanski, Colonia, dec. 2-Brett MacMath, B-Raritan, 20-4 (TF 4:37).
195: 1-Michael Massa, Seton Hall Prep, dec. 3-John Dusza, Watchung Hills, 11-5.
220: 1-Joshua Darisme, Rahway, dec. 2-Gage Horvath, Phillipsburg, 7-2.
HWT: 2-Moses Olowoopejo, Elizabeth, pin. 1-Cody Cruts, Phillipsburg, 2:20.
THIRD- AND FOURTH-PLACE
QUALIFIERS:
106: 2-Angelo Pellicci, St. Peter’s Prep, dec. 1-Joseph Sciarrone, SHP, 4-2.
113: 5-James Day, Phillipsburg, dec. 3-Luke Jacobs, Westfield, 8-3.
120: 4-Jasiah Queen, Elizabeth, dec. 4-Mayson Harms, Roselle Park, 5-4.
126: 4-Brandon Bowles, Scotch Plains. dec. Chris Dalmau, Rahway, 3-2.
132: 2-Felix Lettini, St. Peter’s Prep, maj. dec. 5-Jeremy Silber, Westfield, 8-0.
138: 1-Mark Venson, Bound Brook, dec. 4-Connor Cortese, SPP, 15-0 (TF 5:06).
145: 4-Colin Murray, Cranford, pin. 3-Cole Carroll, Seton Hall Prep, 3:35.
152: 3-Patrick Nevins, Roselle Park, pin. 1-Conner Vill, Gov. Livingston, 5:59.
160: 4-Nate Zastowny, Phillipsburg, won by inj. def. 5-Luke Burns, Bernards, 1:59.
170: 8-Max Nock, Cranford, maj. dec. 4-Sergio Maglione, Iselin Kennedy, 10-2.
182: 3-Jahman McNeil, Bound Brook, dec. 7-Gerard Aroneo, Watch. Hills, 10-7.
195: 4-Jacob Wicks, Phillipsburg, maj dec. 2-Evan Kanterman, Cranford, 13-4.
220: 7-Jordan Campbell, Middlesex, pin. 3-Keith Simon, Bayonne, 2:35.
HWT: 8-Evan Scribner, St. Peter’s Prep, pin 4-Richard Herrera, Somerville, :44.
TEAM BREAKDOWN OF 19 QUALIFIERS:
RAHWAY (4): 1-Kaelan Francois (113), 1-Joshua Darisme (220).
2-Amajuwan Murray (106). 4-Chris Dalmau (126).
WESTFIELD (3): 2-Luke Hoerle (126). 4-Luke Jacobs (113).
4-Jeremy Silber (132).
CRANFORD (3): 3-Colin Murray (145). 3-Max Nock (170).
4-Evan Kanterman (195).
BREARLEY (2): 1-Nicholas Stampoulos (138). 2-Patrick Phillips (120).
ELIZABETH (2): 1-Moses Olowoopejo (HWT). 3-Jasiah Queen (120).
ROSELLE PARK (2): 3-Patrick Nevins (152). 4-Mayson Harms (120).
PLAINFIELD (1): 2-Ki’zuran Casey (170).
SCOTCH PLAINS (1): 3-Brandon Bowles (126).
GOV. LIVINGSTON (1): Connor Vill (152).
FIFTH-PLACE FINISHERS:
138: Luke DiGiovanni, Cranford
160: Luke Scanlan, Westfield
182: Justin Alpaugh-McLean, Cranford
SIXTH-PLACE FINISHERS:
138: Julian Colon, Roselle Park
145: Noah Samms, Scotch Plains
170: John Braun, Brearley
220: Jonathan Heard, Westfield