Joe Hofmann
Roxbury got off to a good start by placing second in the Dover Christmas Tournament Saturday.
The Gaels scored 120 ½ team points. West Orange won it with 148.
Arthur Johnson (Clark) was third with 104 ½ points, followed by Union (101), Columbia (90 ½), Wayne Hills (88 ½), Lenape Valley (82 ½), and West Milford (71).
“I think the kids wrestled really well,” Roxbury coach D.J. Roman said. “We are still adjusting to the new point system and the short preseason but other than that I think we wrestled well on our feet and got bonus points when we needed them. I’m excited to start the dual season after what I saw this weekend.”
The two headliners for Roxbury were Jaedon Montalvo (106) and Nick Kemmerer (165), both of whom won their weights.
Montalvo came out of the sixth seed and tecked Lenape Valley’s Hunter Coppolella in the finals, 16-1 (1:06). Montalvo beat West Orange’s Alex Jena in the semifinals, 9-8, and pinned third-seeded Juan Torres in the quarters in 3:28.
“Montalvo wrestled very hard in his first high school experience,” Roman said. “He’s been part of the Roxbury wrestling program for many years now and we are all excited to see how his career plays out.”
Kemmerer, meanwhile, stuck Johnson’s Raymond Guenther in the finals in 1:02. He pinned West Orange’s Marcus Guerrero in the quarters in 2:23 and tecked Talhi Akdogan, 15-0 (4:00) in the semifinals.
“Kemmerer is only in his third year of wrestling but you could never tell by how he wrestles,” Roman said. “He fell in love with the sport and committed himself to it in the offseason. The sky is the limit to what he can achieve this year.”
Lenape was led by 150-pound Gage Graziano, who came out of the fourth seed to win his weight, which might have been the toughest weight. He pinned Roxbury’s Charlie Bacinsky in 3:49 in the finals after flattening Columbia’s top-seeded August Katz in the semis in 56 seconds. He stuck Dover’s Patrick Downs in 56 seconds to win the quarterfinals.
Two years ago, Bacinsky was fifth at Region 2 but was injured for most of last year. Katz, meanwhile, was fifth at Region 3 last year.
In other words, Graziano is making a bid for Atlantic City.
“Gage won in my opinion the best weight at the tournament,” Lenape coach Anthony Grogan said. “He put in a good amount of work this off season getting in a bunch of matches and in the weight room. I personally think he can be a region third or fourth if he stays focused and keeps working hard. The way he wrestles he could surprise people that don’t know who he is.”
Morris-Sussex Preseason Top 10 Teams
1. Delbarton – While most teams would love to have three state qualifiers returning, the Green Wave have three state champions back in Cam Stonz (113), Ryan DeGeorge (132), and two-timer Alessio Perentin (165). Meanwhile, others back in the fold include returning state runnerup Jayden James (150), returning seventh-placer Chase Quenault (138), and returning state qualifiers P.J. Terranova (106), Trevor Jones (157), C.J. Betz (175), and Elbrus Majagah (215). How deep are the Green Wave? Gabe Logan (150) is a state contender who was injured in practice and is out for the year.
2. Mount Olive – Once again, Sean Smyth’s Marauders have a schedule which is jam-packed with top-notch competition, beginning with the stacked Robin Leff Tournament at Southern Regional this Saturday. Anthony Piemonte (126) placed third, Stephen Hayek (175) was fourth, Matteo Eagleson (132) and Kritian Beres (106) and Tyler Cumming (190) were sixth, and Justin Bullock (150), Scott Coppolo (165), and Jared Martini (215) finished eighth.
3. Pope John – No doubt the Lions will be heard from in Atlantic City with the likes of state contenders Carson Walsh (138), Jake Holly (113-120), Dalton Weber (126-132) and St. Joe-Montvale transfer Donny Almeyda (144). If the Lions can get some improvements from other weight classes, they are a team to watch in Parochial B.
4. High Point – As usual, the Wildcats will be one of the balanced teams around with very few weak weights. Rookie coach Billy Smith’s team returns nine double-digit winners from last year, including standouts Nick Clayton (157), Gavin Mericle (285), and Jayden Ruplall (165). In case you missed it, 26-year head coach John Gardner will be coaching the Wildcats girl wrestlers.
5. Hanover Park – The Hornets will be in the thick of things in Group I with the likes of Princeton commit and returning state finalist Vicenzo LaValle (190), three-time state qualifier Santino Danise (132, transferred back from Don Bosco), two-time state qualifier Nick DiFrancescantonio (126), and returning state qualifier Nando Ott (165).
6. Kittatinny – Ethan Dalling (165) is the headliner, but the Cougars will head into John Gill’s 45th season with such strong wrestlers as Aiden McClain (165), Callum Trilling (120), and Blake Giangrasso (144).
7. West Morris – Chris Marold’s Wolfpack have a solid nucleus to build around with Brody Neill (113), Tommy Borgia (285) and Mark Montoure (120). At a school that has had its share of standouts over the years, Neill was able to pull off a first last year, when he was the first freshman Wolfpack wrestler to ever place in the states (seventh). Jacob Harrison (126) and John Garcia (157) are up-and-coming wrestlers to watch out for.
8. Montville – Brian Kapral’s Mustangs are counting on their balanced lineup that includes Don Kraemer (190), Rylan Jones (132), Sean Elsmore (215), Luke Manieri (113), Michael Frank (120).
9. Morris Hills – Josh Levin (126) and Brody Frank (132) form a
standout pair of lower weights for Brian Bollette’s Scarlet Knights. Talented region
qualifier Ayden Gomez is out for the season following a shoulder injury suffered during football season. Dom Lombardi (106) and Frank Dimarzio (175) were bright spots at the Robin Leff Tournament for the Scarlet Knights.
10. Parsippany Hills – The Vikings were struggling as a program but Chris Wells has them going in the right direction and that trend should continue with the likes of returning state qualifiers Logan Forgatch (106-113), James McGinty (113-120), and Mario Fornini (144).
Top 20
Here is the New Jersey Sports Writers Preseason Top 20. The poll is conducted by dedicated pros who know their stuff.
My only fault is: With 12 of the Top 20 being Catholic schools, why don’t they have a Top 10 state-wide poll for Catholic schools and a Top 10 poll for publics? A program like Mount Olive, which gets its kids solely from Mount Olive, is buried at No. 14. To me, they are ranked fifth in New Jersey among the public schools, which sounds a whole lot more impressive than being buried behind schools that get their kids from all over creation.
- Delbarton
- St. Joe’s-Montvale
- St. Peter’s Prep
- St. John Vianney
- Camden Catholic
- CBA
- Southern
- Don Bosco
- Delsea
- Phillipsburg
- Rumson
- Bergen Catholic
- Paramus Catholic
- Mount Olive
- Ridge
- Seton Hall Prep
- St. Augustine
- St. Joe’s-Metuchen
- Caldwell
- Washington Twp.
