Seton Hall Prep wrestling advances 6 to state individual championships in Atlantic City

WEST ORANGE, NJ — The Seton Hall Prep wrestling team boasted six wrestlers who finished in the top four of their weight class at the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association’s Region 3 tournament at West Orange High School on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 25 and 26.

The six wrestlers qualified for the NJSIAA’s state individual championships at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, Thursday to Saturday, March 3 to 5. This ties a school record, which was achieved in 2019. SHP head coach Lou Mascola commented, “The success this weekend is a direct result of constant improvement and working hard in the room every day. They represented themselves, Seton Hall Prep, their families, coaches and our program very well.”

In the 106-pound weight class. sophomore Logan Brzozowski took second place. Brzozowski posted an 18-3 technical fall win over Adam Ramadan, of Kearny, in the quarterfinal round on Friday. He decisioned Chase Quenault, of Delbarton School, by a 3-1 score in the semifinals on Saturday. In the final, he lost by an 11-2 major decision to Aidan Carmody, of Livingston.

In the 113-pound weight class, senior Joseph Sciarrone took second place. After pinning Evan Cabrera, of North Bergen, in 1:23 in the quarterfinal round, Sciarrone won by a 5-0 decision over Kevin Riedinger, of Warren Hills in the semifinal round. In the final, he lost to Daniel Jones, of Delbarton, by a 9-5 decision.

Sophomore Carlo Vanvolkenburgh took fourth place in the 120-pound weight class. After a 14-0 major decision win over Beckett Cheddar, of Madison in the first round, Vanvolkenburgh lost by pin to Nicolas Balella, of Hackettstown, in 5:17 in the quarterfinal round. Vanvolkenburgh decisioned Todd Walsh, of Whippany Park, by a 5-3 score in the wrestleback quarterfinal round and pinned Josh Lee, of Warren Hills, in 1:40 in the wrestleback semifinals. In the third/fourth-place medal bout, Vanvolkenburgh lost by a 10-8 decision to Balella.

Sophomore Brandon Bauer took fourth place in the 138-pound weight class. Bauer posted a 17-0 technical fall win over Derek Mingmongkol, of Columbia, in the first round, before losing to Alessio Perentin, of Delbarton, by a 10-2 major decision score in the quarterfinals. Bauer decisioned Phenol Morlan, of Livingston, by a 6-2 score in the wrestleback quarterfinals and pinned Malachi Shepard, of West Morris Central, in 5:41 in the wrestleback semifinals. In the third/fourth-place bout, he lost to Joe Innamorato, of Phillipsburg, by a 10-7 score.

In the 157-pound weight class, junior Stephen O’Neil Jr. took fourth place. After pinning Jesse Wilfong, of Randolph, in 1:10 in the quarterfinals, O’Neil lost by a 9-5 decision to Sean Haas, of Caldwell, in the semifinals. O’Neil won by a 10-2 major decision over Michael Drazek, of Warren Hills, in the wrestleback semifinals before getting pinned by Hunter Cleaver, of Phillipsburg, in 1:40 in the third/fourth-place bout.

Sophomore Jack Tierney took fourth place in the 285-pound heavyweight division. Tierney posted a 4-1 decision win over Anthony Rios, of Hanover Park, in the first round and decisioned Dylan Formisano, of Secaucus, by a 3-1 score in the quarterfinals. Tierney was pinned by John Wargo, of Phillipsburg, in 52 seconds in the semifinals. After posting a 2-1 tiebreaker win over Mark Ratel, of Cedar Grove in the wrestleback semifinals, Tierney was pinned by Tyler McCatharn, of Warren Hills, in 1:14 in the third/fourth-place bout.

Freshman Nicholas Orejola and junior Chase Carroll also competed in the regionals for SHP.

Orejola took sixth place in the 144-pound weight class. He decisioned JJ Herninko, of Rutherford, in the quarterfinals by a 9-3 score and lost by injury default to Cross Wasilewski, of Delbarton, in the semifinals. After forfeiting in the consolation semifinals to Ian Flanagan, of Caldwell, Orejola forfeited in the fifth/sixth-place bout to Herninko. Carroll lost in the first round to Lorenzo Caamano, of Caldwell, by a 9-0 score in the 132-pound weight class.

Photo Courtesy of Rich Morris/SHP

  Seton Hall Prep wrestling