Seton Hall Prep wrestling team finishes in second at New Providence Pioneer Classic

WEST ORANGE – The Seton Hall Prep varsity wrestling team finished in second place in the Pioneer Classic at New Providence on Saturday, Jan. 9.

Entering 11 wrestlers, the Pirates had 178.5 points with eight medalists.

Sophomore Charlie Cunningham (126-pound weight class), junior Aidan Monteverdi (152), junior TJ Calas (160) and freshman Jonathan Alvarado (220) each finished in first place in their weight classes. Sophomore Maguire Pecci (113), senior Joe Pratola (120) and sophomore Danny Young (145) each finished in second place. Junior Jake Smith (132) finished in third place.

Monteverdi was named the tournament Outstanding Wreslter (152 to 285 pound classes), recording the most falls in fastest time (49 seconds). Alvarado had the fastest fall in 12 seconds.

In earlier action, the Pirates defeated Bloomfield in a wild match on Jan. 6 at “The Pit” at Bloomfield High School. SHP came back from a 36-10 deficit to tie the score 40-40. The Pirates won, 41-40, on dual-meet criteria H, which is most first points scored in each bout, 16-7.

The Pirates then defeated Irvington, 39-36, Friday, Jan. 8, at SHP after trailing 30-6. SHP improved its record to 7-3.

The following are top SHP individual records: Monteverdi, 15-1; Calas, 13-2; Cunningham, 13-2; Smith, 14-3; Pratola, 12-4; and Pecci, 11-4.