Justin Feil

By: centraljersey.com
The Bordentown Regional High School wrestling team came up just short of its ultimate goal, but the Scotties are thrilled to advance a large contingent to the Region VII tournament.
The Scotties finished second in the District 26 tournament on Saturday. Their 140 1/2 points easily eclipsed third-place Moorestown’s 120 and trailed only champion Delran’s 156. "I think we did real well," said Joe Sprague, head coach of the Scotties for the last nine seasons. "We were only a few points behind winning the title. This is the most people we’ve had go since I’ve been associated with the program. It was great."
The top three district finishers automatically qualify for the Region VII tournament that was scheduled to begin Wednesday at Robbinsville with second- and third-place finishers from across the districts going head-to-head to advance to Friday. The district champions receive byes to Friday.
The Scotties had a pair of champions that were guaranteed a spot in Friday’s quarterfinal matches. Robert DiPierro captured the 103-pound title with a 6-0 decision over Jake Manelis of Eastern. Though DiPierro is only a freshman, and his record is a deceiving 14-17, his win didn’t come as a shock to Bordentown.
"He’s been wrestling a lot of 112 this year; he’s been wrestling bigger kids," Sprague said. "A lot of his losses are at that weight class. He was actually the No. 1 seed. It wasn’t a surprise. He’s a real talented wrestler, and he’s only a freshman."
DiPierro had wrestled only twice this season at 103, and won both matches. He was perfect in the district with a 3-0 win over Conor Callahan of Moorestown in the semifinals before his win over Manelis. He’d also beaten Callahan late in the regular season.
Khalid Shakir earned the other district title for the Scotties. His 5-1 decision over Codie Spatz of Burlington Township helped him improve to 29-2 and win the 152-pound district championship to culminate a steady progression through the last several district meets.
"It’s the first time that Khalid has won the district championship," Sprague said. "He was second last year. He was third the year before. He beat a really good kid in the finals. That was good for him."
Shakir was dominant in his first two district matches. He pinned Eric Bocox of Burlington City in 30 seconds, then needed just 2:49 to pin Eastern’s Tory Irvin in the semifinals before taking care of Spatz in the finals.
Chris Nitschmann continued his stellar junior year by placing second at 130 pounds after spending much of the season at 125. Nitschmann opened the tournament with a pin of Karl Leinheiser in 3:18, shut out Walter Fox of Moorestown in the semifinals, and then earned an 8-1 decision over Dan Pak of Delran to improve to 25-7 this season.
"Chris took fourth the last two years," Sprague said. "His goal all year was to place higher. He wrestled well Friday to get to Saturday. The kid he wrestled from Delran is really tough. We were pleased with the way he wrestled in the tournament."
Nitschmann is looking forward to his first region tournament, as is Shawn Gavin, a senior who is 24-7 while wrestling mainly at 140, with some 135 matches mixed in. He was runner-up at 140 at the district tournament Saturday. He opened with a 15-0 technical fall over Cinnaminson’s Leando Chambers, then moved into the finals with an 8-0 major decision over Burlington City’s Ajala Modraza. He fell to Delran’s Travis McDowell in the finals.
"He’s another one who took fourth last year," Sprague said. "His goal all year was to place. He wrestled well. They’re both excited to go to region, and maybe get out. Shawn’s a senior. He’s been working hard in the offseason to get through."
Another senior, Matt Bauer, placed second at 215 pounds to return to regions. Bauer opened with a pin in 54 seconds of Jason Edmonds, continued with a 3-1 win over Willingboro’s Brandon Bennett and then lost to Mauro Correnti of Holy Cross. Bauer is 23-3 overall, with two losses coming to Correnti.
"It’s the second time he lost to this kid in the finals," Sprague said. "He’s really focused on getting a win next week when it matters in the regions. He’s a senior. He’s tough. He took second last year. He’s one of our returning district place winners."
Justin McTamney finished third at 119. After opening his first district meet with a pin in 5:06 of Willingboro’s Cameron Johnson, he lost to Burlington Township’s Kevin Devoy in the semifinals. McTamney bounced back in the consolation final to pin John Inglis of Moorestown. He improved to 24-8. "He’s a freshman," Sprague said. "For another freshman to make it to the regions is huge. He’s a really talented freshman. He’s wrestling well right now. We’re hoping to get him through Tuesday into Friday night."
Rounding out the seven region qualifiers is Grant Corretjer, who placed third at 189 pounds. Corretjer had lost eight of his last nine bouts coming into districts. He beat Valentine Asalu of Westhampton Tech, lost a narrow one-point decision to Delran’s Rich Roidavalho and then edged Cinnaminson’s Michael Shay, 2-0, in the final.
"Grant, he’s been up and down," Sprague said. "He wasn’t having a strong finish. It was a nice surprise to get him through districts. He was able to win 2-0 in the third-place match to go on."
Shakir and DiPierro have the best chance to advance to Atlantic City for the Tournament of Champions because they will need fewer matches to do so after earning byes beyond Tuesday. To advance to the TOC, a wrestler must place in the top three at regions.
"All of our kids have a chance to go to Saturday," Sprague said. "We’re in a situation where we have to win. The kids just have to go out and do it."
It’s already been a pretty special season for the Scotties, who went 26-6 in dual meets. They hope to continue to add to their good name when they face the region’s best.
"We set goals at the beginning of every year," Sprague said. "One of our goals was to have a district championship and have seven kids place. It was something we knew we could do. We’ve had a great year and accomplished a lot of our goals. It’s just another one we were able to accomplish."