Spanning the Garden State: Wrestling Edition - Feb. 8

by Scott Stump on Mon, Feb. 8, 2010 at 4:07 PM / Updated Tue, Mar. 22, 2011 at 9:15 PM

Passaic Tech Captures Passaic County Tournament Title

By the slimmest of margins, 154.5-154, Passaic Tech edged Lakeland to bring home a county title thanks to four individual champions.

Kevin Manthi (103); Bryant Lighty (130); Pelal Deeb (135) and Lucas Broughton (171) all won individual titles, while Devrin Egipciaco (119) took second to help the Bulldogs bring home the title after taking fourth last season.

Lakeland had two champions of its own in taking second, as Scott Nichols (125) and Zach Conklin (189) took home the gold. Passaic Valley, which finished third, matched Passaic Tech’s output with three champions, all in a row, as Ryan Dunphy (140); Franco Crocco (145) and Jack Mulroony (152) all won by at least a major decision. Dunphy was one of the biggest stars involved in the tournament, as he finished third in the state at 140 last year and won the tournament’s Most Outstanding Wrestler award this season.

Other individual county champions included Wayne Valley’s Jeff Nicholls (119); Pompton Lakes’ John Secor (160); and DePaul’s A.J. Mott (215).

Lenape Valley’s Hagany Takes Home a Title at the Hunterdon/Warren/Sussex County Tournament

In an event dominated by two of the top teams in the state, High Point and Hunterdon Central, Lenape Valley’s Bill Hagany made his mark by bringing home the 112-pound title at the Hunterdon/Warren/Sussex County Tournament.

Hagany was losing 2-1 to Newton’s Kevin Churchill heading into the third period, but a reversal and two near-fall points helped him pull out a 5-2 victory over a wrestler who finished seventh in the state at 112 last season. Hagany took seventh at 103 pounds last season, and both are considered in the top six at 112 this year.

Delbarton Wraps up Morris County Tournament Title, Parsippany Crowns Three Champs

Highlighted by junior Jeff Canfora’s third county title, Delbarton finished ahead of Pequannock to bring home the Morris County Tournament team title for the third time in program history.

Canfora was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Wrestler after recording a 9-7 decision over another defending county champion, Boonton’s Eric Fajardo, at 130. Fajardo won the Region III title at 125 last season. A junior, Canfora now has the opportunity to become just the fifth wrestler in the history of the tournament to win four county titles if he brings home a title as a senior.

Jorge Lopez (112) and Matt Albano (119) also took home titles to help Delbarton win the overall trophy, and Derrick Flitcroft took second at 215.

Parsippany matched Delbarton’s output with three champions of its own, as Dave Standridge (135), Anthony Mariano (140) and Mike Kromka (160) all won individual titles to help Parsippany finish fourth as a team. Standridge won his second county title in addition to the one he won as a sophomore before he was beaten by Fajardo as a junior.

Montville had a pair of champions, as Mike Polizzi (125) and Mike Intile (152) each captured titles. Hanover Park’s Mike Lomio also took home a championship, edging Boonton’s Marlon Duque, 5-3, at 171.

Madison’s Ryan Colwell also got a measure of revenge with an 8-4 win over Randolph’s Rob Smith in the 145-pound final after losing to Smith in the final at 145 last season.

DiMarco Makes School History for Mountain Lakes

Austin DiMarco became the first wrestler in Mountain Lakes history to win a Morris County Tournament title when he edged Morristown’s Darren Dungee, 5-3, at 189 pounds to improve to 26-0 on the season.

DiMarco, a three-sport athlete who also plays football and lacrosse, was also a key component as a running back on the Mountain Lakes team that beat Glen Rock to win the North Jersey I, Group I football title in the fall.

DeLaNunez, Shaw Capture GMC Titles

While South Plainfield dominated the Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament with eight champions on its way to its 17th GMCT team title, it was Piscataway’s Tevin Shaw who helped highlight the event with a thrilling, 3-2 triumph over Middlesex’s Frank Bozzomo in a match-up of unbeatens in the 160-pound final.

Shaw led, 3-1, heading into the third period and only allowed an escape to hold on for his first GMCT title to improve to 26-0 one season after winning a District 19 title as a freshman.

Also, Edison’s Ray DeLaNunez also took home a title at 125 with a 10-3 decision over Bishop Ahr’s Mike Pysniack.

Long Branch Edges Jackson Memorial for Shore Conference Tournament Title

In a match-up of two programs that are favorites to bring home NJSIAA Group titles in the next few weeks, Long Branch pulled out a 29-23 victory over Jackson Memorial for its third straight Shore Conference Tournament title.

The Jaguars, who are the favorite to unseat defending champion Brick Memorial in the upcoming NJSIAA Group IV Tournament, fought until the end despite dealing with some adversity. Doug Hamann, one of the top 152-pounders in the state, did his best to battle Long Branch’s Doug Cornell at 152 despite having been out with mononucleosis and not having wrestled since January 16.

Cornell pulled out a pivotal 4-3 victory with a takedown inside the final 30 seconds. Long Branch’s Omar Akel then handed Jackson’s Dallas Winston his first loss of the season in the final bout of the match to clinch the victory. Long Branch became the first Monmouth County school to ever win three straight SCT titles and just the fourth in Shore Conference history.

The Green Wave is now the favorite to take home another NJSIAA Group II team title.

Long Time Coming: Perrotti Wins Essex County Title

West Essex took fourth in the Essex County Tournament, helped by Anthony Perrotti’s 8-2 decision over Livingston’s P.J. Farinella in the 119-pound final in which he hit a four-point move in the final 30 seconds of the third period.

Perrotti waited a long time to get the win as he sat out all of last season because of NJSIAA transfer rules after transferring to West Essex in the fall of 2008 from Queen of Peace. The junior improved to 24-1 with the victory and looks to make it back to Atlantic City for the NJSIAA Individual Championships, where he finished eighth in the state at 103 as a freshman in 2008.

West Essex had seven wrestlers finish in the top four in the tournament to power a top-five finish, including Frank Marotti, who took second at 140.