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Wrestling: Complete breakdown of the region championships in North Jersey

sean farrell, northjersey.com
·5 min read

The second leg of the state wrestling tournament returns this week with Region championships on Friday and Saturday. Each region has 12 wrestlers per weight class, and the top four will punch their tickets to Boardwalk Hall.

What's new this year is the alignment of teams at each site.

Here's a breakdown of the four regions involving North Jersey wrestlers.

Region 1 at West Milford

Schedule: Friday 5 p.m. start with pre-quarters and quarters, Saturday 9 a.m. start with semifinals and wrestlebacks, medal rounds on three mats in the early afternoon.

Returning champions (current weight): Don Bosco's Santino Rodriguez (144) and Benjamin Garcia (165).

What to watch: One of the big winners of the new region format is Don Bosco. After finishing with two individual champions last year, the Ironmen have the potential for much more on Saturday with seven top seeds and with St. Joseph moved out of the region. Don Bosco has four bracket favorites near the bottom in Ben Garcia at 165, Michael Fuccilli at 175, Nevin Mattessich at 190 and Robert Ekins at 285.

Florham Park, NJ -- December 27, 2023 -- Sowzrawca Tsay of Wayne Hills defeated Daniel Nashed of Paramus in the 132 lb. match in the opening round of the Sam Cali Wrestling Invitational taking place at Ferguson Recreation Center on the campus of FDU-Madison
Florham Park, NJ -- December 27, 2023 -- Sowzrawca Tsay of Wayne Hills defeated Daniel Nashed of Paramus in the 132 lb. match in the opening round of the Sam Cali Wrestling Invitational taking place at Ferguson Recreation Center on the campus of FDU-Madison

Rematches are a common theme across the region. The top three seeds at 126 all competed at District 1 with Don Bosco's Marco Alarcon getting the gold (7-4 in the final), Wayne Hills' Sowzrawca Tsay settling for silver and Jefferson's Michael VanderMeulen earning the bronze.

A similar situation occurs at 138. Lakeland's Ryan Langenmayr tops the bracket after beating Warren Hills second seed Josh Lee, 3-0, in their District 2 final.

Weight to watch: The bracket is strong at 120 led by Seton Hall Prep's Logan Brzozowski. The Pirates' senior beat New Milford's Devin Ryan in last year's state semifinal (11-5) and those two could match up again on Saturday in the region finals.

Keep an eye on 113 as well. Lakeland top seed Jack Bergmann knocked off second seed Anthony Pellegrino (Seton Hall Prep), 4-2, in the Sam Cali finals back in December.

Florham Park, NJ -- December 28, 2023 -- Vince Anello of Blair Academy defeated Oumar Tounkara of Teaneck in the finals of the 106 lb. match to win the Sam Cali Wrestling Invitational that took place at Ferguson Recreation Center on the campus of FDU-Madison
Florham Park, NJ -- December 28, 2023 -- Vince Anello of Blair Academy defeated Oumar Tounkara of Teaneck in the finals of the 106 lb. match to win the Sam Cali Wrestling Invitational that took place at Ferguson Recreation Center on the campus of FDU-Madison

Region 2 at Mount Olive

Schedule: Friday 5 p.m. start with pre-quarters and quarters, Saturday 10 a.m. start with semifinals and wrestlebacks, medal rounds to follow.

Returning champions (current weight): Mount Olive's Tyeler Hagensen (113), Phillipsburg's Gavin Hawk (150) and John Wargo (285), St. Joseph's Johnathon McGinty (113), Adrian DeJesus (132), Donny Almeyda (138), Zach Ballante (150), Ryan Burton (175) and Rocco Dellagatta (285).

What to watch: St. Joseph will be out in full force in Flanders with 13 region qualifiers, including seven top seeds. The Green Knights are the favorites in four straight weights in the top half with Mikey Bautista at 120, Vincent Paino at 126, Adrian DeJesus at 132 and Donny Almeyda at 138. The only weight without a Green Knight is at 215 as state medalist Aidan Schlett wasn't able to return from a foot injury that's kept him out almost all year.

One of the most interesting battles could come at 106 between Teaneck's Oumar Tounkara and St. Joseph's Charlie Esposito. The last meeting between them was in the Bergen County final when Tounkara emerged with a 10-5 decision. The third seed at their weight is Lodi unbeaten senior Omar Asfour, who backed out of his district final with Esposito by medical forfeit.

At 150, St. Joseph's Zach Ballante and Phillipsburg's Gavin Hawk are two of the top-ranked wrestlers in the state. Ballante is a returning state sixth and Hawk made the Blood Round last year in Atlantic City.

With Hawk, the Stateliners wound up tied for the region lead with 13 qualfiers. Host school Mount Olive will send a dozen wrestlers onto the mat.

Weight to watch: No region has a better group of heavyweights than this one. Top seed Rocco Dellagatta (St. Joseph), second seed Daniel Elyash (Paramus) and third seed John Wargo (Phillipsburg) are all returning state medalists with the chance to make deep runs down in Boardwalk Hall. Dellagatta accepted a medical forfeit win over Elyash in both the Bergen County and District 5 finals this year.

Another formidable bracket is at 113 with four 30-match winners plus St. Joseph state medalist Johnathon McGinty. If the chalk holds, McGinty would face Mount Olive's Tyeler Hagensen in a battle of returning region champs.

Benjamin Shue of Bergen Catholic, left, and Max Acciardi of Paramus Catholic wrestle in the 285-pound semifinal bout on day two of the NJSIAA state wrestling tournament in Atlantic City on Friday, March 3, 2023.
Benjamin Shue of Bergen Catholic, left, and Max Acciardi of Paramus Catholic wrestle in the 285-pound semifinal bout on day two of the NJSIAA state wrestling tournament in Atlantic City on Friday, March 3, 2023.

Region 3 at West Orange

Schedule: Friday 4:30 p.m. start, Saturday 10 a.m. start.

Returning champions (current weight): Bergen Catholic's Nathan Braun (113), and Ryan Ford (157), Hanover Park's Vincenco LaValle (190), Pope John's Dalton Webber (126) and Carson Walsh (132).

What to watch: It's been four years since a Bergen County wrestler won gold down in Union, but the new alignment is bound the change the dynamic.

Bergen Catholic joins the field this year after previously competing in Region 2 and heads down to Union with plenty of title hopefuls. Five of the Crusaders' 12 qualifiers sit on top of their respective brackets, headlined by state finalist Nathan Braun at 113 and state fourths Ryan Ford (157) and Benjamin Shue (285).

The Crusaders will share the mat with a pair of sectional champions in Delaware Valley and Caldwell along with sectional finalist West Essex.

Weight to watch: The heavyweight bracket has quite a 1-2 punch with Shue as the top seed and Nutley senior Brandon Toranzo right behind him. Toranzo, who is 38-0 on the season, started his career at St. Joseph alongside his brother Michael.

John Quinonez of Paramus Catholic, left, wrestles Joseph Ortega of Arthur Johnson in a 150-pound bout on day one of the NJSIAA state wrestling tournament in Atlantic City on Thursday, March 2, 2023.
John Quinonez of Paramus Catholic, left, wrestles Joseph Ortega of Arthur Johnson in a 150-pound bout on day one of the NJSIAA state wrestling tournament in Atlantic City on Thursday, March 2, 2023.

Region 4 at Union

Schedule: Friday 6 p.m. start with pre-quarters and quarters, Saturday 9 a.m. start on four mats, medal rounds on three mats at 2 p.m.

Returning champions (current weight): Cranford's Jordan Chapman (165), Colonia's Michael Feliciano (175), Hunterdon Central's Rhett Washleski (150), St. Joseph-Metuchen's Brian Christie (215), Paramus Catholic's Edward Terreri (175), Daniel Rella (190) and Xavier Williams (215).

What to watch: Paramus Catholic is the lone representative from the Bergen-Passaic area.

Weight to watch: Three of the most interesting races all involve Paladins. At 165, Chapman and Paramus Catholic's John Quinonez are both returning state medalists. At 175, PC's Eddie Terreri landed the top seed over a pair of unbeaten seniors in Hunterdon Central's Thomas Brunetti and Colonia's Michael Feliciano.

And at 215, Paladin Xavier Williams (24-5), St. Joseph-Metuchen's Brian Christie (35-2) and Governor Livingston's Nathan Faxon (36-0) are all in the midst of excellent seasons.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: NJ wrestling: Complete breakdown of the region championships