Union standout senior wrestler David Brown experienced what it was like to make it to the NJSIAA Tournament last year and grapple with opponents from the other end of the state that he probably never heard of before.
Brown lost both of his state tourney matches last year, but still produced a solid 33-13 record that included a second-place finish in District 10, a third-place showing in Region 3 and Brown also became Union’s first wrestler to reach the states in 10 years.
This time Brown enters Atlantic City as one of the state’s eight region heavyweight champions after capturing his first Region 3 title in his own gym this past weekend.
Brown also won District 10 for the first time and has surpassed last year’s win total, with a record at the moment of 36-5.
Brown, the fourth seed on the bottom side of the heavyweight bracket for this weekend’s 83rd annual NJSIAA Tournament at Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Hall, will face the same wrestler who ended his season a year ago, fifth-seeded Keith Swartley of Cinnaminson.
Brown and Swartley will clash in Friday night’s pre-quarterfinals. Last year, after Brown lost his first match by pin to Calen West of Delran in 3:21, Brown fell to Swartley by pin in 1:41 the following day in the first round of the wrestlebacks.
“David has shown improvement and he now knows the Atlantic City atmosphere and how it operates,” Union head coach Dino DeBellonia said. “The kid from Cinnaminson, we know his techniques and we will try to build off that and try to turn the tables.”
Brown is Union’s first Region 3 champion since senior Mike Lodato won the heavyweight crown in 2001. Brown, as the second seed, first pinned seventh-seeded Antoine Pugh of Linden in 5:49 in the quarterfinals and then edged third-seeded Kevin Doran of Cranford 1-0 in the semifinals. Doran also advanced to the NJSIAA Tournament after placing third.
Brown then defeated fourth-seeded Michael Kellstrom of Chatham 7-4 in the final. It was the third time the two clashed this season, with Kellstrom winning in the regular season and then Brown in the District 10 final where Brown was the second seed and Kellstrom the top seed. Brown won the D10 matchup 4-1 on a tie-breaker. He lost to Kellstrom 3-2 on Jan. 9.
“After winning District 10 David’s confidence level went up,” DeBellonia said. “He took Region 3 one match at a time and wrestled smart. We’ll do the same thing this weekend, taking it one match at a time.”
Union County had two other Region 3 champions, including seniors Niko Cappello of Cranford at 182 and undefeated Tyler Gazaway of New Providence at 145.
Cappello and Gazaway won their second and second straight Region 3 championships. Cappello, one of eight Cranford wrestlers to advance to this weekend’s NJSIAA Tournament, repeated as the 182 champion. Gazaway won at 138 a year ago.
Cappello was also one of four Union County wrestlers to earn a medal in last year’s NJSIAA Tournament. At 182, Cappello placed seventh and finished a fine junior campaign at 35-5.
Union County has not had a state champion the past four (2012-2015) seasons and only one – Christian Barber of Westfield at 152 in 2011 – six of the past seven (2009-2015).
Gazaway enters this weekend’s season-ending competition with a 39-0 record. He is also his school’s all-time winningest wrestler with 137 lifetime victories over four seasons.
Cappello and Gazaway are also two of five Union County wrestlers who reached 100 career wins this season. The other three are Dayton student Saverio Salcfas who wrestles for Brearley’s team, Chris Gural of Roselle Park and Kyle Gregorio of Johnson.
The NJSIAA Tournament at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City commences Friday night with preliminaries first at 5 p.m., followed by the pre-quarterfinals.
Competition continues Saturday with Session 1 including Wrestleback Round No. 1 at 10 a.m., followed by the quarterfinals and Wrestleback Round No. 2.
Saturday’s Session 2 includes the semifinals and Wrestleback Round No. 3 at 5 p.m., followed by Wrestleback Round No. 4.
Competition concludes Sunday with Session 1 including Wrestleback Round No. 5 at 10 a.m. and the consolation finals to follow.
Sunday’s Session 2 has awards and presentations to start at 2:30 p.m. and a Parade of Medalists scheduled for 2:50 p.m.
The finals are scheduled to commence at 3 p.m.
15 WRESTLERS FROM UNION COUNTY SCHOOLS
WHO WILL BE COMPETING IN THE NJSIAA TOURNAMENT:
106:
Preliminaries – Top side of the bracket
Chris Gural, Roselle Park, vs. 2-Dante Minnino, Gateway
113:
Preliminaries – Bottom side of the bracket
7-Anthony Capece, Cranford, vs. Victor Lopez, West Orange
120:
Preliminaries – Top side of the bracket
Tom DiGiovanni, Cranford, vs. 8-Ian Tolotti, Dumont
7-Nicholas Mele, Gov. Livingston, vs. Jordan Robinson, Garfield
132:
Preliminaries – Bottom side of the bracket
3-Chris Scorese, Cranford, vs. Matt Kolonia, Delaware Valley
138:
Preliminaries – Bottom side of the bracket
Mike Nigro, Cranford, vs. 4-Benjamin Brismin, Pascack Hills
145:
Pre-quarterfinals – Top side of the bracket
3-Tyler Gazaway, New Providence, vs. 6-Brian Meyer, Phillipsburg
Preliminaries – Bottom side of the bracket
5-Vince Concina, Cranford, vs. Timothy Suter, Buena
160:
Preliminaries – Top side of the bracket
7-Jarek Gozdieski, Westfield, vs. Derek Ciavarro, North Hunterdon
170:
Preliminaries – Bottom side of the bracket
Sam Wustefeld, Scotch Plains, vs. 4-Shane Sosinsky, Northern Highlands
182:
Pre-quarterfinals – Bottom side of the bracket
2-Niko Cappello, Cranford, vs. 7-Christopher Stout, Hamilton West/Jake Brown, Pope John
195:
Preliminaries – Bottom side of the bracket
Saverio Salcfas, Brearley, vs. 1-Joseph McKenzie, Wall
220:
Preliminaries – Top side of the bracket
8-Alex Esposito, Cranford, vs. Todd Eckert, Roxbury
HWT:
Pre-quarterfinals – Bottom side of the bracket
4-David Brown, Union, vs. 5-Keith Swartley, Cinnaminson
Preliminaries – Top side of the bracket
Kevin Doran, Cranford, vs. 2-William Oxley, Christian Brothers
THE LAST UNION COUNTY STATE CHAMPIONS
AT THEIR HIGH SCHOOLS:
WESTFIELD: 152 – Christian Barber – 2011
BREARLEY: 215 – Jessie Boyden – 2008
RAHWAY: 152 – Darrion Caldwell – 2006
CRANFORD: 171 – Pat Hogan – 2006
NEW PROVIDENCE: 140 – Donnie DeFilippis – 1999
GOV. LIVINGSTON: 130 – Rick Ortega – 1993
UNION: HWT – Mike Ferroni – 1988
SUMMIT: 149 – Enzo Catullo – 1985
JOHNSON REGIONAL: 158 – Rich Zavali – 1978
PLAINFIELD: 130 – Ed Bailey – 1968
SCOTCH PLAINS: 136 – Rudy Lanza – 1967
SPRINGFIELD REGIONAL: 106 – Jerry Sachsel – 1956
ROSELLE PARK: 157 – Joe Yeats – 1953
DAYTON REGIONAL: 134 – Tony Davis – 1949
THOMAS JEFFERSON: 155 – Joe Simon – 1941
NJSIAA TOURNAMENT
At Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City
FRIDAY, MARCH 4:
Preliminaries, 5 p.m.
Pre-quarterfinals to follow
SATURDAY, MARCH 5:
SESSION 1
Wrestleback No. 1, 10 a.m.
Quarterfinals and Wrestleback No. 2 to follow
SESSION 2
Semifinals and Wrestleback No. 3, 5 p.m.
Wrestleback No. 4 to follow
SUNDAY, MARCH 6:
SESSION 1
Wrestleback No. 5, 10 a.m.
Consolation finals to follow
SESSION 2
Awards and presentations, 2:30 p.m.
Parade of Medalists, 2:50 p.m.
Finals, 3 p.m.
REGION 3 AT UNION
FINALS:
106: Joe Heilmann, South Plainfield, dec. Domenic DiFrancescantonio, Hanover Park, 8-3
113: Patrick Glory, Delbarton, pin Anthony Capece, Cranford, 1:26.
120: Nicholas Raimo, Hanover Park, tech. fall Nicholas Mele, Gov. Livingston, 22-7 (3:49).
126: Ty Agaisse Delbarton, maj. dec. P.J. Gohn, Parsippany, 15-4.
132: Nick Farro, Delbarton, dec. Chris Scorese, Cranford, 10-4.
138: Kyle Bythell, South Plainfield, dec. Jeff Johnson, Middlesex, 4-0.
145: Tyler Gazaway, New Providence pin Vince Concina, Cranford, 2:40.
152: Daniel Hedden, South Plainfield, dec. Aidan Monteverdi, Seton Hal Prep, 7-4.
160: T.J. Calas, Seton Hall Prep, pin Jarek Gozdieski, Westfield, 1:03.
170: Cole Kreshpane, Delbarton, injury default, Anthony Oliveri, Hanover Park.
182: Niko Cappello, Cranford, dec. Christian Gonzalez, South Plainfield, 5-3, sudden victory.
195: Kevin Ambicki, Middlesex, pin Thomas Rigas, Whippany Park, 5:24.
220: Zach DelVecchio, South Plainfield, pin Alex Esposito, Cranford, 3:42.
HWT: David Brown, Union, dec. Michael Kellstrom, Chatham, 7-4.
THIRD-PLACE QUALIFIERS:
106: Chris Gural, Roselle Park
113: Jake Giordano, South Plainfield
120: Tom DiGiovanni, Cranford
126: Lou Raimo, Hanover Park
132: Sean Conley, Hanover Park
138: Mike Nigro, Cranford
145: AJ Lonski, Delbarton
152: Nick Anselmi, Delbarton
160: Luke Anselmi, Delbarton
170: Sam Wustefeld, Scotch Plains
182: Louis Castellano, Delbarton
195: Saverio Salcfas, Brearley
220: Jack Sweeney, Middlesex
HWT: Kevin Doran, Cranford
FROM UNION COUNTY SCHOOLS:
FIRST (Champions – 3):
145: Tyler Gazaway, New Providence, senior
182: Niko Cappello, Cranford, senior
HWT: David Brown, Union, senior
SECOND (6):
113: Anthony Capece, Cranford
120: Nicholas Mele, Gov. Livingston
132: Chris Scorese, Cranford
145: Vince Concina, Cranford
160: Jarek Gozdieski, Westfield
220: Alex Esposito, Cranford
THIRD (6):
106: Chris Gural, Roselle Park, senior
120: Tom DiGiovanni, Cranford
138: Mike Nigro, Cranford
170: Sam Wustefeld, Scotch Plains
195: Saverio Salcfas, Brearley
HWT: Kevin Doran, Cranford
TEAM-BY-TEAM BREAKDOWN:
CRANFORD (8)
First: Niko Cappello, 182.
Second: Anthony Capece, 113; Chris Scorese, 132;
Vince Concina 145; Alex Esposito, 220.
Third: Tom DiGiovanni, 120; Mike Nigro, 138;
Kevin Doran, HWT.
NEW PROVIDENCE (1)
First: Tyler Gazaway, 145.
UNION (1)
First: David Brown, HWT.
GOV. LIVINGSTON (1)
Second: Nicholas Mele, 120.
WESTFIELD (1)
Second: Jarek Gozdieski, 160
ROSELLE PARK (1)
Third: Chris Gural, 106
SCOTCH PLAINS (1)
Third: Sam Wustefeld, 170
BREARLEY (1)
Third: Saverio Salcfas, 195
*Seniors Gural and Salcfas reached
100 career victories in Region 3.
UNION COUNTY WRESTLERS
WHO REACHED 100 WINS THIS YEAR:
Niko Cappello, Cranford, senior
Tyler Gazaway, New Providence, senior
Saverio Salcfas, Brearley-Dayton, senior
Kyle Gregorio, Johnson, senior
Chris Gural, Roselle Park, senior