Wrestling – District 23 Preview

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2015 NJSIAA District 23 Tournament

Saturday Feb. 21 at Brick Memorial 

Click here for brackets

Prelims and quarterfinals, 10 a.m.

Semifinals, 1 p.m.

Finals, 4 p.m.

Defending team champion: Brick Memorial

Returning individual champions: Denzel Tovar, Sr., 120, Wall; Dan Nobbs, Sr., 126, Point Boro; Alec Donovan, Sr., 145, Brick Memorial; Brett Donner, Jr., 170, Wall; Kyle Wojtaszek, Sr., 170, Brick; Dean Sherry, Sr., 182, Brick; Nick Rivera, So., Hwt, Brick Memorial.

Teams

Asbury Park

Team titles: none

District champions: six

Last champion: Domingo Perez (2013).

Brick Memorial

Team titles: 28 (Last: 2014)

District champions: 157

Last champion(s): Joe Ghione, Alec Donovan, Nick Costa, Tyler Poling, Nick Rivera (2014).

Brick

Team titles: none

District champions: 54

Last champion(s): Dan Rackliffe, Kyle Wojtaszek, Dean Sherry (2014).

Manasquan

Team titles: one (1979)

District champions: 26

Last champion: Todd Rinaldo (2004).

Monmouth Regional

Team titles: none

District champions: 13

Last champion: Cory Sellers (2008).

Neptune

Team titles: six (Last: 1986)

District champions: 71

Last champion(s): Karl Waldron, Dae’Sean Brown (2013)

Point Beach

Team titles: none

District champions: 31

Last champion: Riley Kelly (2013).

Point Boro

Team titles: four (Last: 1991)

District champions: 87

Last champion(s): Dan Nobbs, Ryan Budzek (2014).

Shore Regional

Team titles: none

District champions: 19

Last champion(s): Derek Arnette, Luke Bush (2011).

Wall

Team titles: seven (Last: 2005)

District champions: 102

Last champion(s): Denzel Tovar, Chad McClelland, Brett Donner, Tyler Romanelli (2014).

Weights to Watch

126

District 23 is pretty top-heavy, and 126 is one of the few weights where there will be at least some drama regarding who reaches the final. Point Boro senior Dan Nobbs (22-2) is a returning champion and heavy favorite to reach the final in the top half of the bracket. The likely semifinal in the bottom half will be Wall sophomore Nick Wagner (24-4) versus Brick Memorial senior Jose Bocalman (20-5). Wagner pinned Bocalman back at the Mustang Classic in December. Both have wrestled great down the stretch, so that should be a very good match. Nobbs is the favorite, but any of the top three could take the title. All three should advance.

Prediction: 1-Nobbs; 2-Bocalman; 3-Wagner.

138

The deepest weight in the district where any combination of the top six could conceivably advance. Brick sophomore Jack McLafferty (20-7) earned the top seed based on his win over No. 2 seed Anthony Mitchell (19-4) of Brick Memorial. Point Beach junior Giancarlo Crivelli (27-3) is the No. 3 seed and has a very tough quarterfinal bout with sixth-seeded Jack Wishart (14-4) of Wall. Manasquan senior Benjamin Meseroll (24-7) is the fourth seed and Neptune senior Eliezer Santiago (15-5) is the No. 5 seed, and those two will meet in the quarterfinals. This is a close one to call, but the edge goes to Mitchell because he is always a split-second from throwing someone to their back.

Prediction: 1-Mitchell; 2-McLafferty; 3-Wishart.

152

Breaking up the top three seeds here is highly unlikely, but it’s anybody’s guess as to what order they will finish in. Wall junior Josh Glantzman (24-3) jumped Brick Memorial senior Rob Ruggiero (20-5) for the top seed based on a decision win during the Shore Conference Tournament, while Ruggiero got the No. 2 seed because of an overtime win over Brick senior Nick Pollara during the regular season. Glantzman also has a win over Pollara. All bets are off when judo players Ruggiero and Pollara wrestle each other, so that should be a high-flying semifinal bout.

Prediction: 1-Ruggiero; 2-Glantzman; 3-Pollara.

Heavy Favorites

113: Gianni Ghione, So., Brick Memorial (26-1)

145: Alec Donovan, Sr., Brick Memorial (26-1)

182: Dean Sherry, Sr., Brick (28-0).

Hwt: Nick Rivera, So., Brick Memorial (23-1).

Solid Favorites

106: Chris Dean, Fr., Shore (31-4).

120: Denzel Tovar, Sr., Wall (29-0)

Collision Course

160: 1-Cliff Ruggiero, Sr., Brick Memorial (25-3) vs. 2-Will Scott, Sr., Brick (26-2)

170: 1-Brett Donner, Jr., Wall (7-0) vs. 2-Kyle Wojtaszek, Sr., Brick (28-0)

195: 1-Matt McKenzie, So., Wall (28-0) vs. 2-Dean Helstowski, So., Brick (22-4)

220: 1-Dominic Infante, Jr., Point Boro (23-4) vs. 2-Ray Fattaruso, Sr., Brick (8-1).

Wide Open

132: 1-Luke Vescovi, Jr., Brick Memorial (16-6); 2-Joe Demuner, Jr., Wall (21-9); 3-John Finnerty, Jr., Point Beach (25-1); 4-Thomas Wright, Sr., Brick (17-12).