Plenty of Knights, Bombers in Region V mix
Quarterfinals set for tomorrow night at Hunterdon Central
BY DOUG McKENZIE
Staff Writer

JEFFGRANIT staff Sayreville's Mike DeLuca (l) and Old Bridge's Brenton Mack are among a large contingent of local wrestlers who have advanced to tomorrow night's quarterfinal round of the Region V tournament at Hunterdon Central.

To no one's surprise, the Old Bridge Knights cruised to the District 20 team title on Saturday, winning four individual titles and advancing 12 wrestlers to this week's Region V tournament at Hunterdon Central.

The Knights scored 238 team points, well ahead of second-place Sayreville (180.5) and third-place Monroe (106).

Conor Hayes got things started for the Knights with his 103-pound championship, where he beat Monroe's Sam Emburgia, 9-4. Then, as they have all year, the Knights dominated the upper weights, with Eddie Ebewo beating South Brunswick's Malcolm McQueen, 20-7, for the 171-pound title; Chris Orzechowski remaining undefeated on the year by taking the 189 title, beating East Brunswick's Sergio Garcia, 3-2; and Travis Gerdon topping Jake Nale for the 215-pound title, 14-10.

All of the first-place finishers from Saturday received first-round byes in the Region V tournament and will be back in action tomorrow night.

Hayes, the fourth seed at 103, will take on Montgomery's Erik Biago, the fifth seed, tomorrow night, while Ebewo, the top seed at 171, will face eighth-seeded James SantaMaria of Somerville. Orzechowski got the second seed at 189, and will take on Metuchen's Marek Szwast, the seventh seed, while Gerdon, seeded second as well, gets Bound Brook's Steve Lawrence.

The second- and third-place finishers had to win on Tuesday night to advance to the weekend's action.

Old Bridge had plenty of grapplers in action on Tuesday, after securing a handful of top-three finishes at the District 20 tournament.

After Matt Valentino fell in the 119-pound final, 13-2, to North Brunswick's Billy Belfi, John Giusti gave the Knights another second-place finish, losing to Sayreville's Eric Tsang, 8-3, in the 125 final.

Mike Conway also reached the finals before falling, dropping his 140-pound final to South Brunswick's Ryan Smith, 16-1, while Brenton Mack fell in the 145-pound final, 21-5, to Sayreville's Scott Poore.

Chris Suozzo was yet another Knight to reach a final before falling, dropping his 160-pound final to Sayreville's Michael Knight, 8-0, while Troy DeCuester gave the Knights a sixth second-place showing, falling to Spotswood's Drew Mackay at the 5:29 mark of their heavyweight final.

As a result, on Tuesday, Old Bridge was well represented at the Region V first round.

Valentino beat Bernards' Justin Schaufler, 5-2, at 119, while Giusti finally got past J.F. Kennedy's Pete Buttita, 8-4, after losing to the Mustang grappler three times during the season.

Conway was pinned by Woodbridge's Will Buchan at the 2:59 mark of their bout Tuesday, while Mack pinned Ewing's James Matlock in 4:28 to advance.

Suozzo also advanced with a pin of Highland Park's Gabe Pagliere in 1:23 at 160, while DeCuester saw his season come to an end with a 3-0 loss to North Hunterdon's Colin Curzi.

With eight wrestlers still alive in Region V action, the Knights will hope to have plenty to cheer about over the weekend.

Also in action tomorrow night for Old Bridge, Valentino is the fourth seed at 119, and will take on fifth-seeded Brian Levandowski of North Hunterdon tomorrow night, with Giusti, the eighth seed at 125, getting top-seeded Kris Sigafoos of Delaware Valley. At 145, Mack is the fifth seed, and will take on JFK's Anthony Howard, the fourth seed.

Suozzo got the sixth seed at 160, and will face Woodbridge's Craig Batista, the third seed. Batista was the District 19 champ.

Sayreville had a strong District 20 tournament (as expected), with five individual champions, and a total of eight wrestlers advancing to the Region V tournament. Their five individual titles were the most of any team, but Sayreville was not able to match Old Bridge's overall depth.

Eric Tsang got things going for the Bombers with his 8-3 win over Giusti in the 125-pound final. Ramon Santiago was the second Bomber to claim a title, beating West Windsor-Plainsboro North's Jeff Rotella, 12-7, in the 130-pound final. Scott Poore took home the 145-pound title with his 21-5 technical fall win over Old Bridge's Mack on Saturday.

At 152, Mike DeLuco major decisioned West Windsor's Dan Freyer, 16-5, to claim the title. That left Michael Knight to secure the final individual title for the Knights, and he did just that, beating Old Bridge's Suozzo, 8-0, to claim the title.

John Boulton also reached the finals for Sayreville, but fell to 130-pound champion David Saley of Monroe, 4-3, while Pat Ronan (112) and Robert Borzelleri (heavyweight) won their third-place matches to advance to Tuesday's Region V openers. All three went on to lose their bouts on Tuesday in Region V action, ending their season. Boulton lost to Notre Dame's Chris Leva, 12-6; Ronan fell to Jairo Bernal in 1:37; and Borzellari lost to Edison's Dan Walker, 10-2.

Looking ahead to tomorrow night's action, Tsang got the third seed at 125 and will take on sixth-seeded Gabe Gleason of Bound Brook. Stantiago, the third seed at 135, will face North Hunterdon's Kevin Catullo, the sixth seed.

Poore also got a third seed and will face North Hunterdon's Bill Loftus in a 145-pound quarterfinal, while DeLuco is seeded sixth in a loaded 152-pound bracket, drawing third-seeded Kevin Alparon of Hunterdon Central in the quarterfinals. Knight, the second seed at 160, faces Voorhees' Brian Erdek.

The Monroe Falcons, one of the more improved teams in the Greater Middlesex Conference this year, sent four wrestlers to the finals, and came away with one individual title.

Saley made his top seeding stand up with his win at 130, while freshman Emburgia reached the finals at 103, where he became one of only two top seeds to lose, as second-seeded Hayes of Old Bridge captured the 9-4 win. Emburgia came back strong on Tuesday, though, beating Edison's Anthony Peterson, 14-6, to advance to Friday's second round, where as the eighth seed, he will take on Hunterdon Central's Brian Bistis, the top seed.

Junior Brenden Hodel was the second seed at 112, and he, too, reached the finals before losing to the top seed, South River's Adam Mongelli, 10-2. Hodel, however, did not advance out of Tuesday's first round, getting pinned by North Hunterdon's Tony Fusco in 1:37.

Saley's quarterfinal matchup pits him against Woodbridge Matt Buchan, the top seed. Saley received the eighth seed in the bracket.

For South River's Mongelli (29-1), it was his second straight District crown, and he now sets his sights on a Region V crown. He enters tomorrow night's action as the fifth seed, where he'll take on North Hunterdon's Tony Fusco.

Junior Jake Nale was the final Falcon to reach the finals, where he dropped a 14-10 decision to Old Bridge's Gerdon. Nale bounced back on Tuesday night, however, beating Perth Amboy's Erik O'Buck, 5-3, to advance to tomorrow night's action, where he'll take on Voorhees' Travis Hoffman. Nale is the fourth seed in the bracket.

East Brunswick finished fifth in the team standings with 79 points, and sent four grapplers to Hunterdon Central on Tuesday.

Garcia reached the 189 finals before losing a tough bout to Orzechowski, 3-2, and then major decisioned Bernards' Matthew Birmingham, 10-2, on Tuesday night in Region V action. Meanwhile, District third-place finishers Matthew Ackerman (119), Nick Paribello (125) and Todd Maryott (140) were also back in action Tuesday night, with Ackerman falling to Bridgewater-Raritan's Andrew Conkin in 3:49, Paribello losing to North Hunterdon's Jamie Mandaglio, 11-5, and Todd Maryott losing to North Hunterdon's Matt Sanquini, 12-5.

For Garcia, next up is a matchup with North Hunterdon's Russ Korbul, the third seed, tomorrow night. Garcia is the sixth seed.

Another District champ who is hoping to make noise at Hunterdon Central this weekend is Spotswood's Drew Mackay, who beat Old Bridge's DeCuester with a pin in 5:29 in the District final on Saturday.

Mackay is the top seed at heavyweight, and will take on North Hunterdon's Colin Curzi tomorrow night.

Tomorrow night is the Region V quarterfinals, with the start of the wrestle-backs Saturday, followed by the semifinals and finals.

The state championships are March 2-4.