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Delsea, Paulsboro successfully defend sectional wrestling titles, Kingsway falls

tom mcgurk, cherry hill courier-post
·2 min read
Delsea's Jamar Dixon Jr. defeated Washington Township's Chaz Melton, 16-1, on Jan. 4. Dixon delivered a pin on Wednesday as the Crusaders successfully defended their sectional title.
Delsea's Jamar Dixon Jr. defeated Washington Township's Chaz Melton, 16-1, on Jan. 4. Dixon delivered a pin on Wednesday as the Crusaders successfully defended their sectional title.

Two of South Jersey’s longest title streaks were extended on Wednesday.

The Paulsboro and Delsea high school wrestling teams were crowned champions again, winning the South Jersey Group 1 and Group 3 titles, respectively.

There wasn’t anything unlucky about Paulsboro’s 13th straight in Group 1 as Big Red rolled to a 36-26 win over Gloucester in the championship.

More:Let the party begin, Haddonfield celebrates long-awaited sectional title

It was Paulsboro’s 43rd straight trip to the sectional final and the program’s 42nd crown. Collingswood was the only team to deny Paulsboro’s title reign in 2008.

After Gloucester won the first three bouts and took a 12-0 lead, Paulsboro rebounded with seven straight wins, including falls by Jordan Eli (285 pounds) and Logan Sichelstiel (126).

Paulsboro (19-3) will travel to Kittatinny for Friday’s state semifinal with the winner advancing to the Group 1 final on Sunday at Rutgers University.

More:Shawnee wrestling makes more history, downs Cherry Hill West to repeat as sectional champs

Delsea made it 12 in a row, including the last eight in Group 3, when it knocked off Jackson Liberty 53-9.

The Crusaders (24-1) will continue their state title defense when they host South Plainfield in the semifinals. A win would put Delsea back in the state final with a potential rematch with Warren Hills on Sunday.

After dropping two of the first three bouts, Delsea won seven straight, including pins by Jamar Dixon Jr. (150), Salvatore Marchese (157) and Tyson Dereneberger (165).

Austin Boos (138) and Gage Summers (106) also had pins for Delsea.

Southern 48, Kingsway 14. For the second consecutive year, the Dragons traveled to Stafford Township and returned home with a loss in the South Jersey Group 5 championship.

Kingsway mustered just three wins with a technical fall by Nathan Taylor (126), a 5-4 win by DJ DiPietro (138) over Wyatt Stout and a pin by Christopher San Paolo (285).

Kingsway fell to 16-9.

Tom McGurk is a regional sports editor for the Courier-Post, The Daily Journal and Burlington County Times, covering South Jersey sports for over 30 years. If you have a sports story that needs to be told, contact him at (856) 486-2420 or email tmcgurk@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @McGurkSports. Help support local journalism with a digital subscription.

This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: Paulsboro, Delsea earn South Jersey team titles