Photos by Rich Morris/courtesy of SHP: Seton Hall Prep wrestlers battle their foes en route to winning ECT individual titles.
WEST ORANGE, NJ – The Seton Hall Prep wrestling team, having an outstanding season, continued by winning the Essex County Tournament team title on Thursday and Friday, Jan. 18-19, at Richard J. Codey Arena in West Orange.
The Pirates accumulated 239.5 points, over second-place West Essex (169.5 points) and third place Caldwell (150 points).
It was the Pirates’ third straight ECT team title; fourth out of the last five years and sixth overall, which ranks them third in Essex County behind Livingston, which has eight titles and Belleville, which has seven titles.
The Pirates also had five individual champions, giving them 54 since they started entering the tournament in 1983. Eleven wrestlers of the 14 entered scored points, which made it a real team effort. Larry Melchionda, Connor Decker, Maguire Pecci, Danny Young, and Niko Diakides won individual titles.
The following are SHP placewinners:
106-pound weight class: sophomore Larry Melchionda defeated Dominic Tafuri of Cedar Grove, 8-3, for the title.
113: freshman Conner Decker defeated Mark DeAngelis of Caldwell, 10-4, for the title.
120: sophomore Dean Musialowicz lost to James Benjamin of West Orange, 7-3, for fourth place.
132: senior Charlie Cunningham lost to Anthony Clarizio of Cedar Grove, 4-2, in sudden victory for second place.
138: senior Maguire Pecci defeated Devin Rocha of Columbia, 7-3, for the title
145: freshman Jack Wilt defeated Michael Charles of West Orange, 6-3, for fifth place.
152: sophomore Michael Massa pinned Antonio Zaccaria of West Essex, in 4:41 for third place.
160: senior Danny Young pinned Frank DeMaio of Nutley in 1:15 for the title. It was Young’s third first-period pin in the tournament.
170: sophomore Alex Garcia pinned Peter Kenny of West Essex in 2:56 for third place.
182: sophomore Zachary Merlino defeated Billy Fauerbach of Verona, 10-3, for fifth place.
285: junior Niko Diakides defeated Carl Napoleon of Irvington, 3-2, in the ultimate tiebreaker for the title.
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