SJ Sports: HS Wrestling

Now that the team competition is over, it’s time for the individuals to take center stage the next two weeks in high school wrestling. The quarterfinals of the Regional tournament begin on Friday after the pre-quarterfinals were held on Tuesday.

There should be a number of interesting matchups. Region 7 competition will be held at Eastern High and Region 8 will be at Absegami.

The top three finishers from each weight class will advance to the state tournament. Now for all wrestlers, there will be few easy matches.

Of particular interest is Region 8, which is among the best in the state every year. Absegami, Paulsboro, Delsea, Kingsway and Washington Township are among the South Jersey powers that represent Region 8.

Just look at the defending state champions who are alive in the region. There is Delsea’s Don Fisch, who was the 130-pound state champ last year and is now wrestling at 135. Absegami’s Jeff Black won the 189-pound title last year and is again favored at that weight. Teammate Ryan Bridge captured the 125-pound state crown and is now competing at 130. Kingsway’s Brandon Becker captured the state championship at 145 last season and is wrestling at the same weight this season

All four defending state champions from Region 8 are enjoying banner senior seasons.

Fisch enters the weekend 30-0. Bridge is 29-1 and Black is 32-0. Becker is 29-1.

Among the anticipated matchups is at 189 where Black’s top challenger is expected to be Zach Garren of Paulsboro, who is 28-3 and lost to Black 9-6 earlier this season.

Fisch isn’t expected to be challenged at 135, but Bridge could meet a tough competitor in Jarred Mercado of Pitman at 130. Mercado is 26-1. Becker is a prohibitive favorite at 145.

While Region 7 isn’t usually considered on par with Region 8, it is still provides formidable competition.

In fact there are two defending state champions in Region 7, Ivan Wiggins of Sterling and Adam Cooney of Holy Cross. Both have made a big leap in weight classes. Wiggins was the state champion at 112 last year and has moved up to 130 pounds, where he is 21-0. Cooney was a state champion at 215 and has bumped up to heavyweight, where he is 28-2.

There is incredible pressure on a state champion to repeat so the effort of the five defending champs from South Jersey will be watched closely.

In addition, there are a number of other wrestlers who came close to a state title a year ago and will be major contenders this season. From Region 8, Absegami’s Ryan Goodman was runnerup at 152 and is now 31-1 at 171.

Washington Township senior Dave Tomasette has finished third in the state in each of the previous two years. Now the senior is 27-0 and once again a major threat at 112 pounds.

Some of the other wrestlers to watch include Paulsboro’s David Smith, who is 31-0 at 103; Delsea’s Jason Bilinski (29-1 at 152), Paulsboro’s Isaac Redman (23-0 at 215) and Lenape’s Zeb Davis (29-0 at 189).

Last year South Jersey won a record nine of 14 state titles. The numbers could be close to the same this year mainly due to a talented senior class.

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Author: Marc Narducci