Wrestling – Region 7 Friday Recap: CBA’s Jenks reaches 126-pound semifinals as No. 11 seed
MEDFORD -- Wrestlers with double-digit seeds rarely make it to the region semifinals, and while the odds weren't favoring Christian Brothers Academy's Randy Jenks entering the NJSIAA Region 7 Tournament, the sophomore underdog is now on the doorstep of a state tournament appearance.
Seeded 11th at 126 pounds, Jenks knocked off the No. 6 and No. 3 seeds to shake up the bracket and advance to the Region 7 semifinals on Friday night at Lenape High School. After a 6-2 decision over Gloucester City's Mason Johnson in the win-or-go-home round of 16, Jenks built a 7-0 lead and knocked off third-seeded Ismael Maldonado of Rancocas Valley, 7-2, in the quarterfinals.
Jenks was the lowest-seeded wrestler to advance to the semifinals at Region 7 and pulled the biggest upset by seed of any Shore Conference wrestler across Regions 5, 6, and 7 during Friday night's pre-quarterfinal and quarterfinal rounds.
Jenks saw time as a freshman and posted a 7-5 record at 113 pounds where fellow freshman Bobby Duffy was the starter and a region champion. The Colts' lower weights became even more potent this season with the arrival of freshmen hammers Killian Coluccio and Paul Kenny at 106 and 113, respectively, and with Duffy at 120. Jenks was able to settle into his role at 126 pounds and post a 15-4 record entering the NJSIAA District 27 Tournament where he finished third. His season was on the brink in the district third-place bout and again during Friday's opening round, but now he's one win away from becoming a region finalist and securing a coveted spot in the state tournament.
Jenks will wrestle Cinnaminson junior Dylan Vallone, the No. 2 seed who is 32-5 on the season. The top seed in the bracket is Shawnee junior Luke Sherlock (30-5).
Jenks was one of 10 CBA wrestlers to reach the semifinals along with Coluccio, Kenny, and Duffy at their aforementioned weights, junior AJ Falcone at 138, senior Alex Nini at 144, senior Nick Campagna at 157, sophomore Brendan Boyer at 165, freshman Brock Oizerowitz at 175, and junior Jacob Howland at heavyweight. Sophomore Will Sakoutis at 132 and senior Tyler Venet at 150 are in the wrestlebacks and will need two more victories to reach the third-place bout and qualify for the state tournament.
CBA and Southen are tied with a region-high 10 semifinalists each while Saint John Vianney is third with six semifinalists.
Lynch's time to shine
Toms River East junior James Lynch is in the midst of the most under-the-radar dominant season of any wrestler in the Shore Conference. He won't be unheralded much longer if he continues wrestling the way he did Friday night
Lynch barely broke a sweat in his only bout of the night as the top seed at 285 pounds, pinning Gloucester City's Jaden Thompson in just 37 seconds to advance to the region semifinals. Lynch is now 32-0 and the favorite to win his first region title when he takes the mat Saturday morning versus CBA junior Jacob Howland. The bottom half of the bracket features No. 2 seed Donovan Wilkinson (35-1) of Cinnaminson and No. 3 seed Hunter Matthews (30-3) of Rancocas Valley.
Lynch had a great sophomore season in going 30-6, finishing as a district and region runner-up, and advancing to the third round of wrestlebacks at the state tournament at 215 pounds. He has taken his game to another level as a junior with an undefeated record and a Shore Conference Tournament championship, and is now two wins away from winning his first region title.
Shore powers remain on a collision course
The top four seeds advanced to the semifinals in eight of the 14 weight classes and it was the No. 1, No. 2, No. 3, and No. 5 seeds advancing in three other weight classes. Two No. 7 seeds - Shawnee's Chris Ahrens at 150 and Lenape's Jackson Wheeler at 215 - pulled upsets over the No., 2 seeds in their respective weight classes. Zero No. 6 seeds made it through day one and CBA's Randy Jenks was the only wrestler seeded lower than seventh to reach the semifinals.
Standout semifinal matchups between Shore Conference wrestlers included Saint John Vianney's Jake Zaltsman vs. Southern's Scottie Sari at 138 and CBA's Alex Nini vs. Saint John Vianney's Desmond Lenaghan at 144.
There are multiple intriguing championship matchups that would be contested if the seeds hold in the semifinals. At 106, Coluccio and Southern's Anthony Mason could meet for the third time this season. Coluccio has won both matches by scores of 3-0 and 4-2. Mason outlasted Toms River East freshman Ricky DeLorenzo, 2-0 in tiebreaker, in the quarterfinals.
At 113 the potential matchup is with Saint John Vianney sophomore Matt Gould (8th in NJ at 106 last year) and CBA freshman world champion Paul Kenny; at 120 with Saint John Vianney junior two-time state champion and national No. 1 Anthony Knox vs. CBA's Bobby Duffy; at 132 with two-time state medalist Patrick O'Keefe of Saint John Vianney and Bryce Manera of Southern; at 138 between CBA's AJ Falcone and SJV's Jake Zaltsman; at 144 between CBA's Alex Nini and Southern's Wyatt Stout, both returning state medalists ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in NJ at 144; and at 157 between returning state champion Matt Henrich of Southern and CBA senior Nick Campagna.
Milestone victory
Saint John Vianney junior Anthony Knox recorded his 100th career victory with a 19-5 technical fall victory over Toms River South's Owern Beneciuk in the 120-pound quarterfinals.
A two-time NJSIAA state champion who is ranked No. 1 in the nation and committed to Cornell, Knox is now 100-1 for his career and undefeated against New Jersey wrestlers.
He is the 13th wrestler in program history to reach 100 career wins and is on pace to shatter the program record of 123 wins held by Anthony Castro.
More From Shore Sports Network
