It was carnage for area wrestlers at last weekend’s NJSIAA Region VI Wrestling Tournament.
Several of the Freehold Regional District’s best saw their goal of advancing to the state championships in Atlantic City dashed in what was surely one of the most talented regions in the state.
Wrestlers like District 21 championships Justin Morello and Tom Tuminelli of Howell and Freehold Borough’s Ben Ostner aren’t going, and neither is someone like Corey Biscaha of Jackson, who was a returning champion. That tells you how stacked each and every weight class was at the Ritacco Center in Toms River.
But five area wrestlers did survive and they will be competing this weekend. No one was crowned a champion, with Freehold Township’s Gene Accardi (103) and Howell’s Joey Langel (112) the only finalists.
The 103 region final was a replay of the District 21 championship match between Jackson’s Derrick Russell and Accardi. This time the Patriot went the distance, losing by a decision, 6-2.
Langel lost 7-2 to Toms River East’s Vinnie DellaFave. Langel did have the pleasure of reversing the District 21 final in his semifinal match when he beat Jackson’s Kyle Kinchen, 5-2. Kinchen had beaten Langel in the District final, 4-3.
Langel also got to the Region VI final last year, losing to DellaFave.
Howell’s Cody Fobes (125), Marlboro’s Charlie Frankle (103) and the Pats’ Mitch Berger (119) each punched their tickets to A.C. by winning their consolation matches and finishing third. The Top 3 finishers at the eight different regions throughout the state qualified for the state championships.
Frankel won a squeaker, 1-0, over Toms River North Taylor Kau in his third-place match.
Berger won a rematch with Jackson’s Rob Swan, proving his District triumph wasn’t a fluke, beating Swan again, 9-4.
Fobes, scored a 17-2 technical fall win over Wall’s Ryan Wilson at 4:57.
Freehold’s Ostner (171) and Marlboro’s Ahmed Fayed (heavyweight) lost their third-place consolation matches and finished fourth.
The NJSIAA Wrestling Tournament runs from Friday through Sunday. The last time a Freehold District wrestler won a state title was 1992 when Manalapan’s Indra Sulijoadikusumo was first at 103. Last year, Marlboro’s Nick Parisi was runner-up at 189, and Howell’s Bill Woodward (152) was sixth.
– Tim Morris