Jackson, Howell, Manalapan to vie for District 21 title
Cunliffe, Gaeta among defending champions this weekend in Manalapan
Loaded. That’s the only way to describe this weekend’s New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association District 21 Wrestling Tournament at Manalapan High School.
The 10-team tournament has three of the best teams in the state in defending champion Jackson, Howell and Manalapan. It also has some of the finest individual talent in the state led by two-time defending champion Zac Cunliffe of Howell, who finished third in the state last year and has lost just one match in the last two years.
In addition to Cunliffe, the other returning champions include Manalapan’s Dan Hilt (112), a state place-winner in 2001, and his teammate Mike Gaeta (135), who is going for his third district title, like Cunliffe.
Howell, which lost by just six points to Jackson last year, has Matt Ingrassia (152) and Scott Kirk (160) returning as champions along with Cunliffe.
Jackson has 2001 champions Kyle Shelby (160), Jeremy Edwards (171) and John Loff (215) returning. The other returning champion is Marlboro’s Brett Bzura (119).
A strong case can be made for either Jackson, Howell or Manalapan winning the team championship this weekend.
Jackson’s 2001 state champion and four-time District winner Doug Withstandley will be missed; however, Scott Goodale’s Jaguars have done a remarkable job reloading in 2001-02 with a young team. They haven’t missed a beat en route to capturing the Shore Conference A South and qualifying for the state playoffs. They also reached the Shore Conference Tournament final and went 16-4.
Besides Shelby, Edwards and Loff, the Jaguars have gotten big seasons from Jeff Pascarella (103), who was third in the District last year, Jay Koonts (119), Giro Borgia (130) and Adam Berking (135). The Jags are so supremely balanced that their wrestlers have winning records at every weight class. That balance is a key in a tournament as competitive as District 21.
The Jaguars are seeking a fifth straight championship this weekend and can feel the pressure being applied by Howell and Manalapan.
John Gagliano’s Rebels went 18-3 and won their third straight A North title. They reached the SCT semifinals for the first time in more than a decade and again made the state playoffs. At the playoffs, Manalapan extracted a bit of revenge for a regular season defeat at the hands of Howell, which cost the Braves the Division title, beating the Rebels in the first round.
Key for Howell, like Jackson, has been its balance. There are no holes in its lineup. The Rebels have defending champions Zac Cunliffe (119), Ingrassia (160) and Kirk (171) to start their bid. But they also have Rod Cunliffe (125), Reilly (103), Jay Ucci (112), Dan Sabba (135), Eric Nomikos (140), Joe Fortunato (160), Brian Farrington (189) and John Yard (215), who are contenders.
Manalapan will be relying on its formidable middleweights led by Gaeta (135), plus Hilt and Nick Manachio (103) down low.
Manalapan’s steady middle weights are Sean Burns (130), Gaeta, Joe Anastasio (140), and Brendan Provow (145), a 2001 District runner-up last year who is anxious to get the gold this year.
In beating Howell at the Central Jersey Group IV Tournament, 34-25, the Braves received big wins from Chris Rock (189) and Evan Sliwoski (215), who reversed losses when they jumped up a weight class in the regular season match with the Rebels. Their performances against Howell bode well for Manalapan, which will need a big effort top to bottom to match the balance of Jackson and Howell.
Last year’s district coach of the year, Jeremy Braverman, has Marlboro on the way up. The Mustangs backed up their 2001 10-win season with another winning campaign, 11-7. It was one of the school’s finest seasons. In addition to having a returning champion in Bzura (119), the Mustangs have legitimate contenders in Brett Frimer (103), Randy Frankel (135), Jerry Sperling (152) and Evan Weinter (heavyweight).
The young Colts Neck program made huge strides this year going 10-4 in dual meets. The Cougars do have contenders in Matt Parisi (152), Jesse Stoop (160), Chris Stoop (171) and Matt Crowe (hwt.).
Freehold Borough will be looking for Gary Marangella, 19-1 on the season at 171, Chris Iorio (135), Cuevas (145) and Greg Dukes (215) to carry their banner. Freehold Township, which usually has a champion each year, will be looking to Pete Reilly (112), who is their best hope this year. Jeff Nero (130) and Jim Anderson also bear watching. Matawan’s 160-pounder Tom Dounelis is undefeated (19-0) and looking strong. He was a runner-up here last year and is anxious to finish the job this weekend.
St. John Vianney, Holmdel, was runner-up at the South Jersey Parochial A state sectional and went 14-4 in dual meets. The Lancers have one of the district’s favorites in the undefeated Anthony Castro (21-0) at 125. He recently beat Rod Cunliffe in a dual meet and will probably have to go through the Rebel one more time to secure the District title. He was runner-up to Cunliffe’s brother Zac at 112 last year.
Brian Michaelowski, 19-1, would like to erase the memories of last February when he was upset in the quarterfinals on Friday night. He wrestles at 140 and has been a pinning machine this year with all of his wins coming via a fall.
The District 21 tournament gets under way on Friday night at 6 with the preliminaries. They will be followed at 7 by the quarterfinals.