Jackson Memorial High School’s Alec Huxford (facing camera) tangles with Freehold Township’s Nick DePierro during a semifinal bout at the NJSIAA District 21 wrestling tournament at Manalapan High School on Feb. 19. Huxford won this match and went on to win the district title at 103 pounds. ERIC SUCAR staff Time, focus and dedication are the ingredients that coach Doug Withstandley said went into keeping the Jackson Memorial High School wrestling team on top throughout a challenging season .
Withstandley said his Jaguars had “by far our toughest schedule” in 2010-11, yet here they were again as team champions of the NJSIAA District 21 tournament and showing no signs of relinquishing their hold on the district anytime soon.
Despite missing two would-be champions in brothers Doug Hamann and Brian Hamann, both of whom were out with injuries, the Jaguars rolled up 220.5 team points to beat Howell High School (154 points) in the district tournament hosted by Manalapan High School on Feb. 18-19.
Howell’s Cole Cameron (top) tries to control St. John Vianney’s Nick Cioffi during their 135-pound semifinal bout in the District 21 tournament on Feb. 19. Cioffi delivered one of the big surprises of the tournament when he pinned Cameron, who was the No. 1 seed at 135 pounds. Jackson Memorial’s Joe Bartolini defeated Cioffi in the 135-pound final. ERIC SUCAR staff The first-, second- and third-place finishers in each weight class will advance to this week’s regional tournament as they continue to pursue their goal of a state crown. The district tournament marked the final team event of the season.
The Jaguars from Jackson Township crowned six district champions: Alec Huxford (103), Mike Shupin (119), Spencer Young (125), Joe Bartolini (135), Dallas Winston (189) and Joe Nolan (heavyweight).
Randy Royle (140) and Rob Hennings (160) scored second-place finishes in their weight classes for the Jaguars.
“The district [team] championship always means something to Jackson Memorial kids,” said Withstandley, who was voted by his peers as the District 21 Coach of the Year. “It’s a little different scoring. Individual success counts to the overall team score. The kids really enjoy it.”
The proof is in the results. This was the Jaguars’ 25th district tournament title, their second straight and 13th in the last 14 years.
What has kept Jackson Memorial on top all these years has not been its many legendary state champions, but wrestlers like Shupin, a senior, who had never won a district title before the weekend.
“This was the most important thing I wanted to win this year,” Shupin said after he beat Marlboro’sAnthonyAnzalone, 7-1, in the finals. “I wanted to finally get my name on the [Jackson Memorial] district champions board. Wrestling for Jackson Memorial has been a privilege. It’s an honor to be on the team.”
Shupin honored his team by being named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Wrestler.
“I thought he was dominant throughout the tournament,” Withstandley said. “He did not give up an offensive point.”
Shupin was a district runner-up last season and believes he timed his best wrestling for when it counted most — last week’s state team championships (where Jackson Memorial won the Group IV state title) and the district tourney. “Everything has been falling into place the last two weeks,” Shupin said.
He said his goal is to qualify for the state tournament in Atlantic City. The first-, second and third-place finishers in each weight class at this week’s region tournament will advance to Atlantic City.
By advancing 10 wrestlers to the final round of the district tournament, the Jaguars had all but sealed the team title before the finals were held.
Huxford started the championship parade by defeating Howell’s Jimmy Slendorn, 9-2, in their 103-pound final. Huxford, a sophomore, is 26-8.
Young came through with a tough 4-3 decision over St. John Vianney’s top-seeded Robert Cigna. The Jaguars’ sophomore used two takedowns to foil the Lancers’ senior, who had 32 wins and was trying to win his first district title. Young, who was the No. 2 seed, has 25 wins this season.
Bartolini (17-5) pinned St. John Vianney’s Nick Cioffi at 3:46 in the 135-pound final. Cioffi pulled off one of the big surprises of the district tournament when he pinned Howell’s top-seeded Cole Cameron in the semifinals.
Winston and Nolan became two-time district winners with their triumphs.
Winston, a junior, improved to 34-2 this season, and pinned all of his opponents. In the 189-pound final, Colts Neck’s Frank Lefkowitz was his final victim in 1:54.
Nolan also pinned his way through the tournament. The Jaguar senior improved to 31-5 and took out Matawan Regional’s second seedAndre Hodge at 1:50 in the heavyweight championship bout.
Howell produced two district champions, Mike Shaughnessy (140) and Zach Bohm (152). Both wrestlers won their first district crown.
Shaughnessy gained a large measure of revenge in his 140-pound final by defeating Royle. Just the week before in the Central Jersey Group IV team tournament championship match, Royle came back from a 5-1 deficit to hand Shaughnessy his first loss at 140 pounds this year, 9-6. The result did not sit well with Shaughnessy. “I wanted him badly,” Shaughnessy said. The district final played out differently than Shaughnessy expected, with Royle wrestling more aggressively than he did the week before. Each grappler countered the other’s takedown attempts as the first period ended in a 0-0 tie. An escape and a takedown by Shaughnessy in the second period put him in control, 3-0.
Royle scored a point on an escape before the second period ended.
Royle escaped from the defensive position in the third period to cut Shaughnessy’s lead to 3-2, but Shaughnessy put it away with a takedown to extend his lead to 5-2.
“After that [second] takedown, I said, ‘I’m holding this lead,’ ” Shaughnessy said.
He did just that and won his first district title with a 5-3 decision. With a 33-2 record this year, more than 100 career wins and now a district title, Shaughnessy has left his mark at Howell.
Bohm, a junior, is in the process of leaving his mark on the Rebels’ program as well. He improved his record to 33-4 by defeating Matawan Regional’s Chris Hartigan, 9-0, in the 152-pound final.
In the team standings, only five points separated third place from sixth place. Marlboro (96) edged Matawan Regional (93), Colts Neck (92) and St. John Vianney (91) for third-place team honors.
The Mustangs had two champions: Vinnie Leone (130) and Mitch Seigel (215).
Seigel has been driven over the last year by his failure at the 2010 Region VI tournament as much as he was by his second-place finish at the 2010 District 21 tournament. At the region tournament he lost in overtime to Freehold’s Josh Davis in the third-place consolation match and fell short of earning a trip to the state tournament.
“That [OT loss] hit something in me,” Seigel said. “I didn’t want that to happen again. My coaches told me I had to make a commitment. In the offseason I lifted weights, and I wrestled in the summer for the first time.”
Seigel’s commitment to wrestling could help him earn that trip to the state tournament in Atlantic City. He marched through the District 21 tournament by pinning all three of his opponents, including Matawan Regional’s Francis Palumbo in :58 in the finals.
“I was very pleased by the way I wrestled,” he said. “This is step one.”
Seigel is 32-2 for Marlboro this season.
Leone became a two-time district champion when he defeated Jackson Liberty’s Brandon Kosheff, 6-5, in the 130-pound final. Leone won the district title as a sophomore and lost it last year.
His first district championship was more special, Leone said, because it was the first, but this championship was the result of hard work.
“After last year [fourth place], I wrestled nonstop to get better,” he said.
He entered this year’s tournament as a more confident wrestler.
“I definitely thought I was going to win,” he said.
Leone improved to 30-3 for the season.
Leone and Seigel have both surpassed 100 career wins and have secured their places in Marlboro wrestling history. They would like to add more to their résumés this week and next.
Matawan Regional had one district champion — Glenn Cross (24-7). The Huskies’ sophomore was the top seed at 171 pounds and he outlasted Marlboro’s Zachary Goldrosen, 12-9, in the finals.
Colts Neck had a showing in fifth place. Alex Brown gave the Cougars a champion when he defeated Howell’s Ben Esposito, 7-1, in the 112-pound final. The senior, who was the top seed in his weight class, improved to 31-5 this season.
For improving St. John Vianney, sophomore Anthony Ferraro was the Lancers’ lone champion. Ferraro was 27-5 heading into the tournament but was seeded third at 160 pounds. That seeding did not bother him.
“I like it better that way,” he said. “I was the underdog.”
Ferraro pinned Howell’s No. 2 seed Cody Kirk in the semifinals and held off Hennings in the final, 11-7, to win his first district title.
St. John Vianney, which qualified for the state team tournament this season, is an
NJSIAA District 21Wrestling Tournament at Manalapan High School Feb. 18&19
| Team standings | ||
| 1 | Jackson Memorial | 220.5 |
| 2. | Howell | 154 |
| 3 | Marlboro | 96 |
| 4 | Matawan | 93 |
| 5 | Colts Neck | 92 |
| 6 | St. John Vianney | 91 |
| 7 | Jackson Liberty | 69 |
| 8 | Manalapan | 59 |
| 9 | Freehold | 56 |
| 10 | Freehold Township | 33 |
| 11 | Holmdel | 21 |
Individual finals 103 Alec Huxford (JM) dec. Jimmy Slendorn (HOW) 9-2 112 Alex Brown (CN) dec. Ben Esposito (HOW) 7-1 119 Mike Shupin (JM) dec. Anthony Anzalone (MAR) 7-1 125 Spencer Young (JM) dec. Rob Cigna (SJV) 4-3 130 Vinnie Leone (MAR) dec. Brandon Kosheff (JL) 6-5 135 Joe Bartolini (JM) pinned Nick Cioffi (SJV) 3:46 140 Mike Shaughnessy (HOW) dec. Randy Royle (JM) 5-3 145 Chris Zak (JL) dec. Ashanti Maurice (HOW) 9-2 152 Zach Bohm (HOW) major dec. Chris Hartigan (MAT) 9-0 160 Anthony Ferraro (SJV) dec. Rob Hennings (JM) 11-7 171 Glenn Cross (MAT) dec Zach Goldrosen (MAR) 12-9 189 Dallas Winston (JM) pinned Frank Lefkowitz (CN) 1:54 215 Mitch Seigel (MAR) pinned Francis Palumbo (MAT) :58 Hwt Joe Nolan (JM) pinned Andre Hodge (MAT) 1:50
up-and-coming program that could be looking to challenge Howell and Jackson Memorial in the future.
Jackson Township’s newest high school, Jackson Liberty, is trying to build something in the large shadow cast by Jackson Memorial. Senior Chris Zak raised the bar for the Lions’ wrestling program when he became his school’s first two-time district champion.
“It feels pretty good to be the first to do it [win two district titles],” Zak said after defeating Howell’s Ashanti Maurice, 9-2, in the 145-pound final. “I want to set new goals for the young wrestlers to go for.”
Despite carrying a 25-2 mark, Zak was the No. 2 seed behind Maurice because he had lost to Maurice the week before in a dual meet, 8-6. Zak learned from his mistakes and was prepared for the rematch in the district finals.
Both wrestlers have a similar style, Zak said. They both like to use their upper bodies more, and Zak said Maurice, a sophomore, is very strong. To counter that, Zak said, he “moved around more [and] was more agile.”
His strategy produced a dominating 9-2 victory and a second District 21 title.
Like any senior who was wrestling over the weekend, Zak was motivated by the knowledge that a loss would bring an end to his scholastic career.
“I go out and wrestle every match as if it is my last match,” he said.
Among the wrestlers Chris Zak raised the bar for was his brother, Nick Zak, a Jackson Liberty sophomore.
Nick Zak was upset by Hennings in the 160-pound semifinals as the top seed, but he came back to win his third-place consolation bout to earn a spot in this week’s Region VI tournament to be held at the Poland Spring Arena in Toms River.