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Shore Conference district wrestling 2024 review - by the numbers

steven falk, asbury park press
·8 min read

Now, that the NJSIAA’s 32 district tournaments are in the books and the second part of the individual season takes place Friday and Saturday with the eight region tournaments, it is time to take a look by the numbers at how Shore Conference teams fared in the districts.

The seeding meetings for the eight region tournaments will take place Monday and Tuesday.

Shore Conference teams that participated in Districts 17-27 are in Regions 5-7. Districts 17-20 are the sending districts for Region 5; Districts 21-24 are the sending districts for Region 6 and Districts 25-28 are the sending districts for Region 7.

More: What's next for two of the Shore's district wrestling champions. Results for Districts 17-27

The Region 5 seeding meeting is Monday and that tournament will take place at Franklin.

The Region 6 seeding meeting is Tuesday and that tournament will take place at Jackson Liberty and the Region 7 seeding meeting is Tuesday and that tournament will take place at Lenape.

Much of the numerical information in compiling this look is based on information from Frank D’Esposito of the Web Site shoreconferencewrestling.com.

247

Shore Conference wrestlers who qualified for the region tournaments - 15 more than last year. That total is 79 more than it was from 1992-2016 when all Shore Conference teams were in Districts 21-24 in Region 6.

More: Wrestling: Complete list of the 247 Shore wrestlers headed to the region tournaments

Breakdown of Shore qualifiers for each region:

Region 5

80: Red Bank Catholic 12 (school record): Middletown North 11, Rumson-Fair Haven 11 (school record), Howell 10, Holmdel 9, Raritan 7, Red Bank 6, Matawan 5, Middletown South 3, Keansburg 3, Marlboro 3.

Region 6

103: Brick Memorial 11, Donovan Catholic 9, Ocean 8, Jackson Memorial 8, Colts Neck 8, Long Branch 7, Manalapan 7, Wall 6, Manasquan 6 (believed to be a program record), Jackson Liberty 6, Point Pleasant Borough 6, Brick 4, Freehold Borough 4, Freehold Township 3, Point Pleasant Beach 2, Shore 2, Neptune 2, Lakewood 2, Asbury Park 1, Monmouth 1.

Region 7

64: Southern 14 (Southern appears to be the only team in the state to advance wrestlers in all 14 weight classes to the regions), Christian Brothers Academy 12, St. John Vianney 10, Lacey 7, Toms River East 5, Central 4, Manchester 3, Toms River North 3, Toms River South 3, Barnegat 2, Pinelands 1.

218

How many district champions Jackson Memorial has had in its illustrious history after it won five titles in District 23. The total is the most of any program in Shore Conference history.

206

How many district champions the storied Brick Memorial program has had after it won seven championships in District 22.

Brick Memorial's Harvey Ludington (top) won his third district championship Saturday when he captured the 190-pound title in District 22.
Brick Memorial's Harvey Ludington (top) won his third district championship Saturday when he captured the 190-pound title in District 22.

162

The number of district champions Howell has had after it won five in District 18. The total is the most of any program in Monmouth County.

156

How many district champions Middletown North has had after it had four in District 18.

153

District champions Southern has had after it won 11 in District 25 for the second straight year.

91

The number of Shore Conference wrestlers who won district championships. That is down five from last year, but 35 more than the number was from 1992-2016 when Shore Conference teams were in Districts 21-24 in Region 6.

Shore district champions by region:

Region 5

29: Rumson-Fair Haven 6, Howell 5, Red Bank Catholic 5, Middletown North 4, Raritan 3, Red Bank 3 (first time with 3 since 1996), Holmdel 1, Keansburg 1 (Dominic Terraciano (126) is Keansburg's first district champion since 2017), Matawan 1.

Region 6

34: Brick Memorial 7, Jackson Memorial 5, Ocean 4, Donovan Catholic 4, Colts Neck 3, Point Pleasant Borough 3, Jackson Liberty 2, Manalapan 2, Wall 1, Manasquan 1 (Michael O'Connor (138) is Manasquan's first since 2004), Point Pleasant Beach 1 (Marcos Kaiafas (heavyweight) is Point Beach's first since 2020), Freehold Township 1.

Manasquan's Michael O'Connor (right) became Manasquan's first district champion since 2004, when he won the District 22 138-pound title.
Manasquan's Michael O'Connor (right) became Manasquan's first district champion since 2004, when he won the District 22 138-pound title.

Region 7

28: Southern 11, Christian Brothers Academy 10, St. John Vianney 4, Lacey 2, Toms River East 1.

42

The number of Shore Conference schools who qualified at least one wrestler to a region tournament. The conference has 43 schools that have wrestling programs.

It is also the number of years, Brick Memorial has had at least one district champion, which is every year of the program and district tournaments were held.

33

The number of district team championships Brick Memorial has after it won the District 22 title. It is the most in the Shore.

Brick Memorial head coach Mike Kiley was named the District 22 Coach of the Year.

27

The consecutive seasons Point Pleasant Borough has had a district champion after Joey DeAngelo (113), freshman Jake Clayton (157) and Ryan Acquisto (165) won titles in District 24.

25

Team district championships won by Southern after it rolled to the District 25 championship. It is the third most in the Shore.

18

The district championships won by the illustrious Skove family after Rumson-Fair Haven junior Hudson Skove won the District 20 215-pound title for his third district title.

Hudson Skove (top) won his third district championship when he won the District 20 215-pound title.
Hudson Skove (top) won his third district championship when he won the District 20 215-pound title.

He joins his uncles Luke and Andrew as three-time district champions.

Luke Skove was a four-time district champion, a three-time NJSIAA champion and a three-time NCAA All-American at Oklahoma State. Andrew Skove was a three-time district champion, a state champion and an NCAA sixth-place finisher at Ohio State.

Hudson Skove's father, Thomas and his uncles Jude and Simon each won two district championships and his uncles Matt and John each won one district title.

Jude Skove was a state champion and an NCAA champion at Ohio State.

All of the other Skoves wrestled for Long Branch.

16

The number of district team championships Howell has won after it won the District 18 title. Ten of those championships have come under current head coach John Gagliano - the Shore's all-time winningest coach with 565.

12

The number of district team titles Raritan has won after it won the District 19 title. Eight of those championships have come under highly-successful head coach Rob Nucci. Nucci, who was named the District 19 Coach of the Year, is resigning at the end of the season. He has 474 career wins - 456 at Raritan - second most in Shore Conference history. Nucci will coach the Hazlet Middle School team beginning next season.

10

How many district championships for the Stout family of Southern and Lacey after Southern sophomore Wyatt Stout won the 144-pound championship at District 25 for his third title.

Southern's Wyatt Stout (right) won his third district championship when he won the District 25 144-pound championship.
Southern's Wyatt Stout (right) won his third district championship when he won the District 25 144-pound championship.

Wyatt Stout’s father, John – the former highly-successful Southern head coach – won two titles for Lacey in 1988 and 90. John Stout’s younger Bryan won a district title for Lacey in 1990 and two for Southern in 1991 and 92 and Wyatt’s older brother John, now a heavyweight for the University of Pennsylvania, won district championships for Southern in 2018 and 2019.

Bryan Stout won the state 189-pound champion in 1992, was a two-time state finalist and a three-time state top five finisher and a four-time NCAA All-American for Clarion (Pa.).

Wyatt Stout’s father was third in the state at 140 in 1990.

8

The number of Shore Conference teams that won district team championships. They were: Howell (District 18), Raritan (District 19), Rumson-Fair Haven (District 20), Brick Memorial (District 22), Colts Neck (District 24), Southern (District 25), St. John Vianney (District 26) and CBA (District 27).

7

The number of district championships won by the Klinsky brothers - Tyler and Brady - of Middletown North after Brady Klinsky won at 113 in District 18 for his third title.

Middletown North's Brady Klinsky (right) won his third district championship when he won the District 18 113-pound title.
Middletown North's Brady Klinsky (right) won his third district championship when he won the District 18 113-pound title.

Tyler Klinsky, now Rider University's 125-pounder, won four from 2017-2020. He was also the state 113-pound champion in 2020, a state finalist at 106 in 2019 and a four-time region champion.

It is also the number of team district championships CBA has won after it rolled to the District 27 championship.

4

The district championships the Szuba family of Brick Memorial has after Ben Szuba won the District 22 215-pound title for his second.

Brick Memorial's Ben Szuba is shown during the District 22 215-pound final against Ocean's Daniel Farina.
Brick Memorial's Ben Szuba is shown during the District 22 215-pound final against Ocean's Daniel Farina.

Ben Szuba's older brother, David, now Rider's heavyweight, won district championships in 2019 and 2020, was the state heavyweight champion in 2021 and the state 195-pound runner-up in 2020.

It is also the number of team district titles St. John Vianney has won after it won the District 26 title. All of St. John Vianney's titles have come since 2018.

2.5

Howell's margin of victory over Middletown North for the District 18 team title.

2

The number of team district championships Colts Neck has won after it won the District 24 championship. Colts Neck head coach Brett Jankos was named the District 24 Coach of the Year.

1

Rumson-Fair Haven's district team championship in District 20 was its first

.5

Raritan's margin of victory over Hillsborough for the District 19 team championship.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Shore NJ Wrestling: District 2024 review by the numbers