The road to a district championship is often blocked with good competition, but it is always loaded with people who have lent a giant hand along the way.
So Montville’s Luke Manieri decided to spend a few minutes to thank as many of them as he could find.
The Mustangs 113-pounder won his weight at District 5, so after he got his hand raised, he found many of those helpers and either shook their hands or gave them a great big hug.
There were his teammates seated in the nearby bleachers at Morris Knolls. There was his mom, Jill, in one area of the bleachers and his dad, Rob, higher up.
“My dad has been a blessing for all four of my years at Montville,” he said.
And there were the Montville coaches, guys like head man Brian Kapral and assistants Billy Templeton, Rick DeBonta and Karl Monaco.
“We have the best coaching staff in the state,” Manieri said, “no doubt about it.”
Manieri majored Mount Olive’s Jack Bacigalupo, 12-1, to win the district. His passion this year is advancing further than he did last year, when he won District 8 at Montville when he majored Immaculata’s Daniel Cabarcas, 10-2. But he ran into Warren Hills’ talented Augie Szamreta in the region quarters and lost, 6-3.
In the wrestlebacks, Manieri majored Hackettstown’s Nicolas Carvajal in the first round, 19-11, but missed qualifying for the states by one bout when he lost in the wrestleback semifinals to Passaic Tech’s Muhammed Abuhadba, 13-2.
This time, Manieri hopes to place in the top four in Region 2, which will begin Friday night at Mount Olive. He earned a first-round bye into the quarterfinals.
Manieri knows the score: If he wins his quarterfinal and then his semifinal, he can punch his ticket to Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, the site of the state tournament. The top four placers get to A.C.
“His goal is to place,” Montville coach Brian Kapral said. “He really has stepped up and come through for us in some big matches this year. He’s always been high energy and super focused.”
Manieri is seeded second and will face the survivor between Paramus Catholic’s Alessandro Camargo and Hasbrouck Heights’ Kieran Maloney. Par Hills’ Logan Forgatch is the top seed. If Manieri should reach the finals and take on Forgatch, he will treat it like any other match.
“It doesn’t matter if they are No. 1 in the state,” he said. “I’ll wrestle my style and be aggressive.”
Region 2, 3 lookahead
Delbarton sent all 14 wrestlers to the state tournament last year, tying a state record previously held by Bergen Catholic (2023). Can the Green Wave pull it off again at Region 3, which will be held at West Orange?
One of Delbarton’s best is two-time defending state champion Cameron Sontz (120). Sontz is the favorite to win the weight in the regions and is the favorite to repeat in Atlantic City, but he’ll have his hands full in the region final.
Region 3 is a loaded weight at 120 with Sontz, Caldwell’s returning state third-place finisher Carmine Sipper, and returning state qualifiers Owen Leary (Ridge), Hacketstown’s Joe Rowinski, and North Bergen’s David Vazquez.
Another strong weight at Region 3 is at 132. Hanover Park’s Nick DiFrancescantonio drew the top seed and will have to fight off Delbarton’s Peter Terranova, who was fifth in the state last year, and DePaul’s Joseph Rizzuto, who was sixth.
DiFrancescantonio’s Hanover Park teammate, Joe Monticello (157) is the favorite to win the weight at the regions but he’ll have to get by Delbarton’s Trevor Jones, who was eighth in the state last year. The two met in the District 9 finals Saturday, with Monticello coming away with a 4-2 victory.
Region 2 has some stiff competition at several weights but none more than 126, 157 and heavyweight.
At 126, Bergen Catholic’s Matthew Mulligan is the No. 1 seed in a difficult class that includes Paramus Catholic’s second-seeded Joseph Pellicci, Mount Olive’s third-seeded Kristan Beres, and Clifton’s fourth-seeded Jarrett Rodriguez, among others.
The 157-pound weight, meanwhile, features such wrestlers as Bergen Catholic’s No. 1 seed Joey Canova, Paramus Catholic’s second-seeded Harry Asatrian, Mount Olive’s fourth-seeded Scott Coppola and Roxbury’s Charlie Bacinsky.
Heavyweight is loaded as well with the likes of Isiah Rodriguez of Paramus Catholic, the No. 1 seed, Gabe Jang of Leonia, and Jared Martini of Mount Olive.
