Wrapping up the district tournaments for South Jersey high school wrestling
The road to Atlantic City completed its first stop on Saturday.
Eighty-four wrestlers earned the right to move onto the second leg of the state individual tournament, advancing to next weekend’s regional competition.
Region 7 (Districts 25-28) will be wrestled at Cherry Hill East on Friday and Saturday while Region 8 (District 29-32) will be contested at Egg Harbor Township on the same days.
The top three place winners in each district move onto regions. The top four place winner at regions advance to the state tournament at Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Hall (March 2-4).
Here’s a recap from Saturday’s action:
More:Wrestling: Complete list of qualifiers for every region in New Jersey
District 26
Team champion: Seneca. The Golden Eagles crown five individual champs en route to their first sectional title since 2007.
District champs: 106-Jackson Bauer (Seneca); 113-Yasin Carter (Rancocas Valley); 120-Owen Kulb (Highland/Triton) 126-Kyle Pickard (Seneca); 132-Daniel Bogardus (Seneca); 138-Richie DeFulvio (Holy Cross); 144-Renaldo King (Rancocas Valley); 150-Drew Roskos (Delran); 157-Kyle Stickel (Seneca); 165-Luke Theis (Delran); 175-Max Borton (Seneca); 190-Cole DuBois (West Deptford); 215-Jonathan Graham (Highland/Triton); 285-William Taylor (Highland/Triton).
Outstanding Wrestler: Delran’s Drew Roskos reeled off three straight first-period pins en route to the 150 title.
Coach of the Year: Seneca’s Greg Bauer; Assistant Coach of the Year: Seneca's Scott Minuto.
Note: Rancocas Valley's Jase Deiter made his season debut at the tournament. The senior had been sidelined with a foot injury suffered in a playoff football game in November. He went 2-1 en route to a second-place finish.
District 27
Team champion: Camden Catholic. The Irish crowned seven individual champs and will send 11 wrestlers to regions. It’s the team’s fifth straight district title.
District champs: 106-Jordan Segal (Shawnee); 113-Luke Sherlock (Shawnee); 120- Sammy Spaulding (Camden Catholic); 126- Jackson Young (Camden Catholic) 132-Kage Jones (Camden Catholic) 138- Wayne Rold (Camden Catholic); 144- Michael Craft (Camden Catholic); 150- Josiah Canales (Cherry Hill West); 157 Austin Craft (Camden Catholic); 165-Terry Terch (Camden Catholic, District 27); 175- Ty Smith (Lenape); 190- Anthony Horiates (Cherry Hill West); 215- JoNathan Valentin (Cherry Hill West); 285- Jackson Harris (Shawnee).
Outstanding Wrestler: Camden Catholic’s Jackson Young recorded two pins and a technical fall en route to his title at 126.
Coach of the Year: Shawnee’s Kyle Packer; Assistant Coach of the Year: Casey Mitchell, Shawnee.
Note: Camden Catholic could have had another wrestler advance but heavyweight Tyler Byrd withdrew before the tournament.
District 28
Team champion: Paulsboro. Big Red earned its 66th district title overall and its sixth in a row. Paulsboro crowned five individual champs and will send 10 wrestlers to regions.
District champs: 106-Michael Lamb (Haddonfield); 113-Hayden Holmes (Paulsboro); 120- Aundre Hill (Paulsboro) 126- Logan Sichelstiel (Paulsboro); 132-Chase Bish (Paulsboro); 138- Alex Hurly (Haddonfield); 144- Jacob Zearfoss (Gloucester); 150- Roman Onorato (Paulsboro); 157- Grady Keebler (Moorestown) 165- Kaleb Wright (Gloucester); 175- Joseph Savell (Haddon Twp.); 190- Sam Myers (Audubon); 215- Bryan Gonzalez (Gloucester City); 285- Scott Lynch (Audubon).
Outstanding wrestler: Paulsboro’s Roman Onorato produced three first-period pins en route to the 150 title.
Coach of the Year: Audubon’s John Walsh; Assistant Coach of the Year: Audubon’s Kyle Muckley.
District 29
Team champion: Kingsway. The Dragons had five champs and will send 12 wrestlers to Region 8. Kingsway celebrated its 10th district title in its history, including four in a row.
District champs: 106-Elijah Clark (Deptford); 113- Adriano Platt (Pitman); 120-Nathan Lubonski (Kingsway); 126- Nathan Taylor (Kingsway) 132-Brendan Callahan (Kingsway); 138- DJ DiPietro (Kingsway); 144-Noah Pagaduan (Deptford); 150- Andres Cortes (Gateway/Woodbury) 157-Ryan Datz (Pitman); 165-Nicholas Sindoni (Clearview); 175-Cole McFadden (Pitman); 190-Luke Van Brill (Kingsway); 215-Joey Toner (Gateway/Woodbury); 285-Ike Sholders (Gateway/Woodbury).
Outstanding wrestler: Pitman’s Ryan Datz recorded a pair of pins before earning a 3-1 decision over top-seeded Ben Dryden, of Kingsway, in the final.
Coach of the Year: Kingsway’s Mike Barikian; Assistant Coach of the Year: Kurt DeWoody, Kingsway.
Note: Deptford boasts a pair of undefeated wrestlers going into Region 8 competition with Elijah Clark (6-0) and Noah Pagaduan (14-0). Pagaduan was a third seed at 144.
District 30
Team champion: Washington Township. The Minutemen sent 12 wrestlers to the finals and had seven crowned champions as the squad successfully defending their team title.
District champs: 106-Colton Hagerty (Washington Twp.); 113- Christian Hoopes (Washington Twp.); 120-Dylan Hetzel (Washington Twp.); 126-Luca Giagunto (Hammonton) 132-Gavin Haegele (Eastern) 138-Tyler Lucia (Washington Twp.) 144-Chaz Melton (Washington Twp.); 150-Donovan Valles (Eastern); 157-Lukas Pearce (Eastern); 165-Nikita Alcoba (Eastern); 175-Deryk Hannold (Williamstown) 190-Mason Brown (Williamstown); 215-Nate Leone (Washington Twp.), 285-Shane Tait (Washington Twp.)
Outstanding wrestler: Eastern’s Gavin Haegele. The Viking earned a 3-1 decision in sudden victory against top-seeded Jackson Hoopes, of Washington Township.
Coach of the Year: Washington Township’s Eric Ring; Assistant Coach of the Year: Washington Township’s Joe Esposito.
District 31
Team champion: Delsea. The Crusaders earned a whopping 326.5 points en route to their 28th district title, including the last three in a row. All 14 Delsea wrestlers advanced to the district finals with 10 winning titles.
District champs: 106-Gage Summers (Delsea); 113- Blaise Verdino (Delsea); 120- Max Elton (Holy Spirit); 126 Alex Zimmermann (Delsea) 132- Giovanni DeGeorge (Delsea); 138- Austin Boos (Delsea) 144- Jamar Dixon Jr. (Delsea); 150- Adrien Laboy (Middle Twp.) 157- Salvatore Marchese (Delsea); 165- Tyson Derenberger (Delsea); 175- Jared Schoppe (Delsea); 190- Danny DiGiovacchino (Delsea); 215- John Vinciguerra (Woodstown); 285- Edison Andino (Millville)
Outstanding wrestler: Woodstown’s John Vinciguerra recored three first-period falls en route to the 215 title, including a fall over Delsea’s Luke Maxwell in the final.
Coach of the Year: Vineland’s Jake Homiak; Assistant Coach of the Year: Rob Jillard, Delsea.
Note: Millville's Edison Andino decked defending champion Rocco Bennett, of Delsea, in the final. Bennett finished third at last year's district before storming through the field at Region 8.
District 32
Team champion: St. Augustine. The Hermits cruised to their 11th consecutive district title – the longest current streak in South Jersey – with eight individual champs.
District champs: 106-Wyatt Pharo (Pinelands); 113- Kaden Naame (St. Augustine); 120- Jackson Slotnick (St. Augustine) 126- Anthony DePaul (St Augustine); 132-Chase Hansen (Lower Cape May); 138-Vincent Faldetta (Egg Harbor Twp.); 144- Richie Grungo (St. Augustine); 150- Brady Conlin (St. Augustine); 157- Dennis Virelli (St. Augustine); 165- Jake Slotnick (St. Augustine); 175- Gavin Wagner (Pinelands, District 32); 190- George Rhodes (Absegami); 215-Nick Timek (Mainland); 285- Ed Vincent (St. Augustine).
Outstanding wrestler: Absegami’s George Rhodes knocked off Lower Cape May’s Brock Zurawski, 3-2, in one of the most anticipated district finals in the state.
Coach of the Year: Absegami’s Shawn Scannell.
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: Highlights from the South Jersey district tournaments
