Wrestling: South Plainfield claims eighth-straight sectional title with big win
It’s just something about South Plainfield wrestling and the postseason that flips their killer instinct switch.
“I think their mindset changes,” coach Steve Johnston said. “They’ve grown up on this. They’ve seen the teams come before them go out and win sectional and group titles. When they were little kids, these were things that they wanted to do when they got to high school. They find a way to turn it up.”
Wednesday, the second-seeded Tigers turned it way up in defeating top-seeded Hopewell Valley 37-30 to claim the NJSIAA Central Group 3 title. It’s the program’s eighth-straight sectional title and 19th in program history.
It wasn’t quite as close as the score indicated – South Plainfield clinched with four matches left and forfeited the final bouts.
Joseph Stanzione (106), Nicholas Irizarry (120), Aldo Pigna (126), Andrew Loniewski (132), J.J. Giordano (150), Nicholas Campagna (157) and Justus Niemeyer (165) all won matches to build the big lead.
Next up, South Plainfield (12-5) drew the fourth seed for Friday’s Group 3 semifinals and will travel to top-seeded Delsea (24-1). The winner advances to Sunday’s final at Rutgers.
Fans know that South Plainfield has been Middlesex County’s top program for decades and they were state-ranked earlier in the season.
However, due to some injuries, inexperienced varsity wrestlers getting up to speed and the emergence of other teams like St. Joseph-Metuchen and Old Bridge, the Tigers placed third in the GMC Red Division and fourth in the 24-team GMC Tournament. They did beat state-ranked North Hunterdon, which captured the North 2 Group 4 championship.
Many teams would take their accomplishments, but South Plainfield wanted to finish strong with that sectional title. Monday, the Tigers advanced with an opening 68-12 win over seventh-seeded Middlesex/Dunellen and a 66-3 win over third-seeded Robbinsville in the semifinal.
“We’ve dealt with a lot of adversity this year,” Johnston said. “Whether it’s injury or just things not going right for us. It’s good to be able to go out there and get a sectional title. They know they’re South Plainfield when it comes down to it. … In the end when it comes down to it, we want to go out and win a sectional title and compete for a group title. Those are our main goals. Those other goals are steps along the way.”
Wednesday, South Plainfield bumped up stars Giordano and Campagna a weight class and they delivered with a 19-4 technical fall and in a pin in 157.
The Tigers inserted Nolan Hook at 144. The junior delivered with a 6-5 win over Adam Beigman. Hook (3-0) recently returned from a broken leg suffered in football, but he gave South Plainfield an important boost in the final.
“We’ve banded together,” Johnston said. “I really think they’re a different team come postseason time as far as the sectionals and when we get to the individual tournament. I feel like we’re starting to peak at the right time. I’m excited to go down to Delsea and hopefully get a good match with them. If we can pull it out, great. We know it’s a tall order, but our guys are going to go down there and they’re going to scrap and they’re going to give their best effort.”
Box Score
106: Joseph Stanzione (SOPL) over Dean Meissner (HVH) (MD 16-7) 113: Dylan Hersh (HVH) over Justin Culver (SOPL) (Dec 4-1) 120: Nicholas Irizarry (SOPL) over Luke Caldwell (HVH) (MD 15-7) 126: Aldo Pigna (SOPL) over Rex Peters (HVH) (Dec 4-0) 132: Andrew Loniewski (SOPL) over Isaac Miller (HVH) (Fall 1:52) 138: Michael Meissner (HVH) over Daniel Gonzalez-Ross (SOPL) (Dec 7-3) 144: Nolan Hook (SOPL) over Adam Beigman (HVH) (Dec 6-5) 150: J.J. Giordano (SOPL) over Konrad Haugeto (HVH) (TF 19-4 5:22) 157: Nicholas Campagna (SOPL) over Tim McKeown (HVH) (Fall 1:24) 165: Justus Niemeyer (SOPL) over Landon Schafer (HVH) (Fall 1:54) 175: Nate March (HVH) over (SOPL) (For.) 190: Chase Overman (HVH) over (SOPL) (For.) 215: Gael Vasquez (HVH) over (SOPL) (For.) 285: Jon Trainor (HVH) over (SOPL) (For.)
This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Wrestling: South Plainfield claims eighth-straight sectional title with big win
