By Bob Nuse, Sports Editor
It has been a tough season for the West Windsor-Plainsboro High North wrestling team., The Knights lost their first 17 matches of the season before finally posting a win over Burlington City just before the start of districts. Even with the losses, the team never stopped working hard and one of their own was rewarded for that hard work by advancing to the Region 5 tournament at got underway on Wednesday., With a 4-0 win over Jack Lyons of Pingry, WW-P North’s Jacob Mitchell finished third at 145 pounds in the District 19 tournament. He is the first Knight to advance to regions since Vinnie Porreca., “It is really exciting,” Mitchell said after advancing. “I have to thank my coaches, all three of them have pushed me in the practice room. Our team has a lot of young kids, so it is good for them to push me and it makes me better. We’re pretty much all freshmen and sophomore. I am one of three juniors and we have one senior. So we have a lot of inexperience., “But the team has improved and that shows in the hard work we put in as a team. We were able to get a win against Burlington City. It was our first win in two years and was really exciting for everyone to see what comes from hard work.”, Mitchell lost a tough, 5-2, decision to Ryan Naiduk of Edison in the semifinals., “I had a good first match,” Mitchell said. “I was up 6-0 going into the third period and pinned the guy. It was a good way to start. I had a tough semi against a strong kid from Edison. But I kept my head high because I had beaten kid who I was wrestling for third once earlier this season and I knew if I stayed aggressive I could win.”, The win put Mitchell in the regions and gave him another step forward in his improvement as a wrestler., “It will be a new experience,” he said. “I know going in I will be wrestling a lot of great wrestlers. I plan on going out and having fun. Everything is extra from here and it will be exciting.”, Mitchell fell in his opening round Region 5 match to fourth-seeded Kevin Ciresa of Hunterdon Central., While Mitchell was the only North wrestler to advance through the district tournament, Montgomery, Princeton and WW-P South each sent multiple wrestlers on after strong performances. Princeton finished with a pair of District 19 champions as Alec Bobchin won at 126 pounds (13-2 over Alec Myers of Old Bridge) and James Verbeyst won at 160 (10-1 over Corey Knoth of Sayreville). The Little Tigers’ Daniel Monahan was third at 120 pounds., “It felt really good, especially knowing how hard we have all worked the previous weeks coming into districts,” Bobchin said of the title. “It helps me to have the best practice partner and coaching in the area. Because of that I knew I could get it done.”, Bobchin, who was named the Most Outstanding Wrestler at the district meet, was the No. 5 seed, but still came away with the title., “We were surprised with it but we knew going I would win and that seeding doesn’t matter,” Bobchin said. “You have to beat the best to be the best. I had the first seed in the semis and it was tough match that I won, 3-1. I felt like I was controlling the pace. And then in finals I won,13-2., “I have been working hard ever since last year when I had that tough match in regions. I haven’t stopped thinking about making it to Atlantic City. As a whole, everyone on our team wrestled great. It was one of the best district tournaments ever for Princeton.”, Bobchin and Verbeyst received byes in the opening round of the Region 5 tournament. Monahan opened the tournament with a 7-0 win over Andrew Lacey of Middletown North. He will face top-seeded Mark Schliefer of East Brunswick in the second round., WW-P South’s Steven O’Campo came away with the District 17 title at 152 pounds with a 7-6 win over Shea Obado of Spotswood. Brandon Murray was second at 106 pounds, Sean Thompson was second at 138 pounds, and Joe Salerno was third at 132 pounds to all advance to the region tournament., “I felt like I was ready for the tournament,” O’Campo said. “In practice all week I knew I had a good chance. I felt like I would get to the finals and I had an idea who I would wrestle and had my mind on that match. He beat me early in the season but I knew the first time I didn’t wrestle my match and let him dictate the pace. I had to wrestle my match.”, O’Campo felt prepared and was thrilled to have three other Pirates moving on to regions., “Sean is my workout partner and we beat each other up in practice because we practice so hard,” O’Campo said. “We work hard in the room and I am thankful for him as workout partner., “I came in and knew I would make some noise this year. I wrestled a lot in the offseason so I knew I was ready.”, O’Campo now hopes to take the next step forward in his journey this season., “I think I have a huge chance to qualify for states,” he said. “I have gotten a lot of texts from people congratulating me. My old coaches are telling me how they will be rooting for me to do well.”, O’Campo had an opening-round bye at the Region 5 tournament. Murray dropped his opening match to Manville’s Jonathan Ahorrio, 6-4. Salerno fell in the opening round to Joey Zargo of South River, 11-4. Thompson picked up a win via pin over Marcus Petite of Piscataway and advanced to face fourth-seeded Bryce Hall of Hunterdon Central., At the District 18 tournament, Montgomery’s Dylan D’Amore won the 285 pound title with a 5-2 win over Jeremy Sistrunk of Bound Brook. Matthew Lisanti was second at 120 pounds, Emmanuel Perera was third at 126, Kyle Marrapodi was third at 160, James Smith was third at 182, and Nico Ipeker was third at 220 to all advance to regions., D’Amore earned an opening-round by at the Region 5 tournament. Lisanti earned a 7-4 win over Alan Lipovetski of Marlboro in the opening round to advance to face second-seeded Hunter Graf of Hunterdon Central. Perera lost to Alexis Soriano of Perth Amboy, 13-2. Marrapodi fell to Nicholas Weikel of Monroe, 5-3. Smith fell to Chancellor Cooper of Old Bridge, 2-1, in an overtime tie-breaker. Ipeker topped Seamus Wood of Holmdel, 4-0, to advance to face Ethan Wolf of Raritan.
