Mangini, Detsis, Jastrzebski, Lavoie win titles
By: Rudy Brandl
The Hillsborough High wrestling team clinched the District 18 team title early in the championship round Saturday afternoon and captured four individual crowns to add a little icing.
Freshman 112-pounder John Mangini maintained his perfect record with an 8-7 decision over Pingry standout Max Shanaman. Fellow top-seeded teammates Mike Detsis (140) and Pat Jastrzebski (160) later joined Mangini in the winner’s circle with easy wins by technical fall, while Phil Lavoie avenged two prior losses to win his first district title with a solid decision at 189.
The Raiders clinched their second team title in the last three years when Bound Brook 103-pounder Jose Abarca was beaten in the finals. HHS had nine wrestlers in the championship round, so the host squad had the team title almost mathematically assured after the consolation round.
Hillsborough will send 12 of its 13 district entries into next week’s Region 5 Tournament at Hunterdon Central. Joining the four individual champs will be runners-up Griff Campbell (125), Kevin Lynch (135), Joe Ambrose (145), John Newman (152) and Mark Amerman (215). Third-place winners Adam Kull (103), Tye Wagner (119) and Chris Monticchio (171) also extended their seasons with victories in the consolation finals.
All four HHS champs celebrated their first district title. The eight non-champs will wrestle in Tuesday night’s Region 5 preliminary round, while the four district winners will begin competing in Friday night’s quarterfinals.
For a full account of all the tournament action, see Thursday’s edition of the Hillsborough Beacon.