Bossie also earns spot in states
By: Kyle Moylan Sports Editor
Winning titles and making school history can be very addictive.
Just ask Robbinsville High’s Brandon DiDonato.
On Feb. 21, DiDonato’s win in the title match at 285 pounds also secured Robbinsville High its first District 25 Tournament team title. This past Saturday at host Moorestown High, DiDonato defeated Cherokee’s Mike Rinaldi, 9-1, in the title match at 285 pounds to become Robbinsville’s first Region VII champion.
“It’s nice,” DiDonato said. “It’s very nice. I’m kind of speechless. It didn’t hit me at first. Maybe an hour later it hit me. ‘Wow! I’m the region champ.’
“I was confident going into the final because I was determined not to lose. I really wanted to win that region championship. I did expect a tougher match. I was surprised I won 9-1.”
DiDonato expected a tight match because he lost to Rinaldi 5-3 earlier in the season. But, in truth, DiDonato didn’t have any tough matches in the Region VII Tournament. DiDonato won a 7-1 decision over Camden Catholic’s Mike Leonetti in the quarterfinals. DiDonato pinned Trenton’s Kenneth Stansbury at 1:20 of their semifinal match.
DiDonato will be joined in the state finals in Atlantic City by David Bossie (103 pounds), a second-place finisher in Region VII. Bossie was defeated in the title match by Matt Sausman of Camden Catholic, 13-2.
“For David to get second place is pretty impressive,” Robbinsville High Coach Rich Gildner said. “The kid that beat him (Sausman) has been ranked in the top five in the state all year.”
Bossie (103) opened action on Friday night with a 9-4 win over Cherry Hill East’s Tom Appleman in the Region VII quarterfinals. Bossie also was victorious in the semifinals, earning a 3-1 win over Haddon Township’s Brian Nelson.
“Hopefully we can now have a medal winner down in Atlantic City (this weekend in the state finals),” Gildner said. “That would be great.”
As a region champion, DiDonato gets a bye into the final 16. Bossie needs a win to keep his season going and reach the final 16.
Robbinsville had four other wrestlers active in Region VII, with Jared Icenhower and Jordon Hankins both placing in a tie for fifth place. The top three wrestlers in each weight class earned the right to wrestle in Atlantic City this weekend.
Icenhower (112) was defeated in the quarterfinals on Friday by Haddonfield’s Kyle Klaus, 6-2. Icenhower fought back to defeat New Egypt’s Andrew Milligan, 8-6, in the wrestlebacks. Icenhower then finished in a tie for fifth place as he was defeated by Delran’s Dan Pak, 5-0, in the second round of the wrestlebacks.
Hankins (145) was defeated in the quarterfinals by Benjamin Fanjoy, 6-4. Hankins fought back to defeat Bishop Eustace’s T.J. Shea, 5-3, in the first round of the wrestlebacks. Hankins was then pinned in the second round of the wrestlebacks by Eastern’s Dave Newcomer and finished in a tie for fifth place.
“If you finish in that fifth/sixth slot, you’re one of the top 50 wrestlers in the state in your weight class,” Gildner said. “That’s pretty good. We also had Andrew Harvilla make the region quarterfinals.”
Harvilla (160) was pinned by Haddon Township’s Tyler Cunningham in the quarterfinals. Harvilla was then eliminated by a 10-2 loss to Northern Burlington’s Jeff Townsend in the first round of the wrestlebacks.
The second- and third-place finishers from the districts needed to win on Feb. 24 in order to advance into the Region VII quarterfinals.
Harvilla (160) responded to the challenge with a 10-2 win over Lenape’s Andrew Beauchemin.
The season came to an end for Jeffrey Bruno (119), who lost by a 15-0 technical fall to Haddon Township’s Ron Hoover on Feb. 24.
“It’s been very exciting,” Gildner said. “The past two weeks you see all the hard work we’ve put in pay off for us. We got a district win as a team, six kids into the regions and we’re taking two kids to the states. Not a lot of teams have success like that. It’s pretty exciting to be a young program and getting to that level.”
While it is exciting, it’s hard to say it’s completely surprising. Robbinsville has a great Rec wrestling program, which has been putting their guys against the state’s best for years with a lot of success.
“If you look at the state, most of the successful high school teams have great feeder programs,” Gildner said. “We definitely have one in Robbinsville. Things are set up for us pretty good.”
And DiDonato then comes along and finishes the job.

