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Wrestling: New No. 1s emerge in two weight classes in latest North Jersey rankings

sean farrell, northjersey.com
·4 min read

The county wrestling tournaments brought clarity and a little bit of chaos to the North Jersey individual rankings.

Eleven wrestlers climbed in and two weight classes have a new No. 1 with Teaneck's Oumar Tounkara (106) and St. Joseph's Adrian DeJesus (132) both ascending to the top with title runs. DeJesus, a state champion in 2022 and state third in 2023, was not included in past rankings since he sat out the opening month as a transfer.

Paramus Catholic's Nicholas Pallitto was in the same boat after changing schools and debuts this week at 132 pounds as a Bergen County finalist.

One of the other catalysts for change is the decision by some wrestlers to switch to a new weight. The first is Lakeland's Jack Bergmann, who bumped up to 120 after winning a Passaic County title there over the weekend. The other cases involve Don Bosco's Joey Monticello (150) and Becton/Wood-Ridge's Jordan Stallone (157), who slide down to a lighter weight class after a midseason cut.

West Milford, NJ -- January 20, 2024 -- Jack Bergmann of Lakeland won by pin in the 120 lb. final, defeating Joseph Rizzuto of DePaul in the Passaic County Coaches Association Wrestling Tournament held in West Milford, NJ on January 20, 2024.
West Milford, NJ -- January 20, 2024 -- Jack Bergmann of Lakeland won by pin in the 120 lb. final, defeating Joseph Rizzuto of DePaul in the Passaic County Coaches Association Wrestling Tournament held in West Milford, NJ on January 20, 2024.

And as usual, upsets can provide a major shakeup to the board. Pompton Lakes' freshman Christian Murcia did just that at 144 by pinning West Milford state medalist and former No. 2 Benjamin Marchetto on Saturday. The Cardinals' rookie was strongly considered for the rankings, but the last spots went to Bergen County third Anthony Moreno of St. Mary and Bergen fourth Christian Fojon of Ramsey – who notably beat Murcia, 6-1, earlier this season.

More data points mean more conflicting results and in those cases, county scores will usually take precedence.

106 pounds

  1. Oumar Tounkara, Teaneck 16-1

  2. Charles Esposito, St. Joseph 19-7

  3. Eddie Hufnagel, Paramus Catholic 14-6

  4. Kaleb Ambrose, Hawthorne 18-4

  5. Chace Severs, Lakeland 9-6

113 pounds

  1. Nathan Braun, Bergen Catholic 2-1

  2. Johnathon McGinty, St. Joseph 20-6

  3. Delvan Rotte, DePaul 17-5

  4. Jack Lorper, Hawthorne 17-2

  5. Andrew Bonita, Don Bosco 13-8

120 pounds

  1. Mikey Bautista, St. Joseph 14-7

  2. Devin Ryan, New Milford 22-5

  3. Jack Bergmann, Lakeland 17-2

  4. Brian Little, Don Bosco 12-6

  5. Christopher Nucifora, Bergen Catholic 13-7

126 pounds

  1. Brian Melamud, Bergen Catholic 8-5

  2. Vincent Paino, St. Joseph 21-6

  3. Najati Salim, Clifton 21-2

  4. Nicholas Barone, Paramus Catholic 16-7

  5. Joseph Petriello, Dumont 16-4

132 pounds

Adrian DeJesus, of St. Joseph Regional is shown on his way to defeating Nicholas Barone, of Paramus Catholic, during their 126 pounds match, in Garfield, Sunday, January 21, 2024.
Adrian DeJesus, of St. Joseph Regional is shown on his way to defeating Nicholas Barone, of Paramus Catholic, during their 126 pounds match, in Garfield, Sunday, January 21, 2024.

  1. Adrian DeJesus, St. Joseph 7-0

  2. Nicholas Pallitto, Paramus Catholic 5-2

  3. Santino Danise, Don Bosco 10-5

  4. Seach Hibler, Leonia/Palisades Park 21-3

  5. Sowzrawca Tsay, Wayne Hills 17-3

138 pounds

  1. Dylan Ross, Paramus Catholic 12-3

  2. Ryan Langenmayr, Lakeland 17-4

  3. Donny Almeyda, St. Joseph 19-6

  4. Noah Kochman, Bergen Catholic 16-9

  5. Colin Menier, West Milford 20-0

144 pounds

  1. Santino Rodriguez, Don Bosco 5-2

  2. James Sloan, St. Joseph 15-6

  3. Abe Zaretsky, Paramus Catholic 11-10

  4. Anthony Moreno, St. Mary 26-2

  5. Christian Fojon, Ramsey 18-4

150 pounds

  1. Zach Ballante, St. Joseph 18-5

  2. Joey Monticello, Don Bosco 18-4

  3. August Hibler, Leonia/Palisades Park 8-1

  4. Jayden Iznaga, Bergen Catholic 19-6

  5. James Conklin, Passaic Tech 22-4

157 pounds

  1. Ryan Ford, Bergen Catholic 22-2

  2. Frank DiBella, St. Joseph 19-7

  3. Jordan Stallone, Becton/Wood-Ridge 21-1

  4. Omar Tarecky, Passaic Tech 23-3

  5. Sean Walker, Lakeland 8-5

165 pounds

  1. John Quinonez, Paramus Catholic 10-3

  2. Benjamin Garcia, Don Bosco 12-3

  3. Joseph Paretti, St. Joseph 11-4

  4. Joseph Geleta, Clifton 19-3

  5. Logan Cantone, Bergen Catholic 6-7

175 pounds

  1. Ryan Burton, St. Joseph 22-1

  2. Michael Fuccilli, Don Bosco 9-4

  3. Edward Terreri, Paramus Catholic 8-4

  4. Gavin Seiler, Westwood 22-3

  5. Jacob Shannon, Emerson/Park Ridge 18-4

190 pounds

  1. Daniel Rella, Paramus Catholic 18-1

  2. Kaleb Jackson, St. Joseph 6-2

  3. Nevin Mattesich, Don Bosco 16-6

  4. Frankie Martino, Passaic Valley 13-1

  5. Pantaleo Varga, Bergen Catholic 17-7

215 pounds

  1. Aidan Schlett, St. Joseph 9-3

  2. Xavier Williams, Paramus Catholic 19-6

  3. Dante DeLuca, Don Bosco 15-7

  4. Ethan Mendel, Northern Highlands 21-1

  5. Cole Hughes, Emerson/Park Ridge 23-1

285 pounds

  1. Rocco Dellagatta, St. Joseph 18-4

  2. Benjamin Shue, Bergen Catholic 18-3

  3. Daniel Elyash, Paramus 12-1

  4. Spencer Ribitzki, West Milford 19-0

  5. Robert Ekins, Don Bosco 12-8

(Records through Monday.)

North Jersey team rankings

  1. St. Joseph 7-0

  2. Don Bosco 9-3

  3. Paramus Catholic 6-2

  4. Bergen Catholic 5-5

  5. Westwood 12-0

  6. Passaic Valley 8-1

  7. Pascack Valley 11-3

  8. Emerson/Park Ridge 13-2

  9. River Dell 13-4

  10. Old Tappan 7-4

  11. Passaic Tech 14-6

  12. Clifton 9-3

  13. West Milford 9-5

  14. Ramapo 7-7

  15. Lakeland 5-2

  16. Wayne Hills 9-5

  17. Hasbrouck Heights 9-2

  18. Wayne Valley 7-6

  19. Butler 12-4

  20. Pompton Lakes 11-4

  21. Cliffside Park/Ridgefield 10-0

  22. Dumont 6-1

  23. Pascack Hills 6-6

  24. Demarest 9-8

  25. New Milford 8-3

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: NJ wrestling: New No. 1s in two weight classes in latest rankings