March 13, 2007 High School Blog
Winston keeps New Jersey mark intact; Bergen Catholic, Jackson each crown a pair
By Rob Sherrill, W.I.N. High School Editor
No wrestler in New Jersey has ever finished his career unbeaten.
Jackson Memorial High's Scott Winston (152) remained on track to become the state’s first, claiming his second state title to cap a 40-0 junior season.
Winston won’t join former Morristown Delbarton High standout Mike Grey as the state’s second four-time champion – a broken wrist late in the his freshman year saw to that – but a 7-3 decision over Belle Mead Hillsborough High senior Frank McLaughlin pushed his career record to 101-0.
Winston, who pinned his first three opponents, scored two of his three takedowns in the first period to take command of the final and was voted the meet’s Outstanding Wrestler. Both of McLaughlin’s losses this season came at the hands of Winston.
Senior Ken Carney added the 160-pound title for Jackson as the rugged Shore Conference once again dominated the state meet. Five of the meet’s 14 champions came from the conference and Region 6. The region also led the state’s eight regions by claiming 28 – one-fourth – of the state place-winners. The finals at 145 and 160 were Region 6 rematches.
But Molinaro’s historic accomplishment was quickly overshadowed by the events in the succeeding match at 145, in which teammate Luke Lanno was penalized twice for stalling on top in an ultimate tie-breaker loss to Oakhurst Ocean Township’s Nick Menditto, who won 3-2 despite not scoring a point on his own.
Leading 1-0, Lanno was penalized for stalling with four seconds remaining in regulation time, sending the match to overtime. He escaped in overtime to lead 2-1, then was penalized for stalling again with six seconds remaining as he tried to ride Menditto out a second time. In the ultimate tie-breaker, Menditto rode Lanno out for the win.
The finals crowd of 11,470 cheered Lanno as he received his medal on the podium and booed Menditto when his name was called.
Southern’s third finalist was Glen Carson (215), who lost 6-4 to Paulsboro High’s Alex Silvestro. Carson had upset Bridgewater-Raritan High;s Roy Dragon 7-6 in the ultimate tiebreaker in the semifinals.
Oradell Bergen Catholic High struck a blow for the northern end of the state with two champions of its own – freshman Frank Cagnina (103) and junior Joe Trause (125), who showed last year’s finals upset of three-time state placewinner John Trumbetti of Montvale St. Joseph High was no fluke as he won his second title. Trumbetti missed the meet due to injury.
Seniors Dan Kelly (112) of Frenchtown Delaware Valley High, Tyler Milonas (130) of Jefferson and Lehigh recruit Zack Rey (285) of Hopatcong High and junior Trevor Melde (135) of Delbarton joined Jackson by finishing their seasons unbeaten.
Kelly edged South Plainfield High junior Patrick Hunter 3-2 for his title, while Melde handled Virginia Tech recruit Nick Murray of Bound Brook High 11-2. In the quarterfinals, Murray had avenged a loss earlier in the season with a 9-6 victory over Dale Fava of Paterson Don Bosco Preparatory High.
Also making a strong bid for Outstanding Wrestler honors was Anthony Trongone (171) of Cherry Hill Camden Catholic High, who disposed of the state’s two big names back-to-back to claim his title. Trongone shut out previously-unbeaten Tom Spellman of Newton Kittatinny High 6-0 in the semifinals, when won the title 4-2 over Ocean Township’s Kyle Kiss. Absecon Holy Spirit High sophomore Mac Mancuso won at 189.
Another dramatic weight classes was 119, which saw Toms River North High senior Matt Oliver strike another blow for Region 6 with a 5-3 decision over Flemington Hunterdon Central High’s Pat Strizki. Oliver had beaten Delbarton’s Frank Perrelli 12-8 in the semifinals. Perrelli finished fifth and fellow senior Fred Santaite of Allendale Northern Highlands High, the 103-pound champion a year ago, failed to place.
The total attendance of 43,049 set a three-day record for the third consecutive year.
Zeerip, Bennett take center stage in Michigan
At The Palace at Auburn Hills – the site of the upcoming NCAA Championships – two of the nation’s top 160-pounders took a curtain call in the Michigan state tournament.
The big news came in the state’s smallest class, Division 4, where Michigan recruit Justin Zeerip of Hesperia High completed a 66-0 senior season with a dominating performance. Zeerip, who finished his high school career unbeaten at 260-0, needed just 60 seconds to pin his first two opponents, then added a technical fall and a second-period pin to become the state’s 17th four-time state champion.
In the biggest class, Division 1, junior Ben Bennett of Rockford High, whose only loss this season was to Lakewood (Ohio) St. Edward star Sean Nemec, posted a similarly dominating performance as he claimed his second title. Bennett posted two first-period pins and two technical falls.
Rockford, which rolled to its first dual-team state title this season, and Hartland High, the team it beat 37-20 in the finals, each crowned three champions. Sophomore Kyle Waldo won his second 103-pound title for Rockford and senior Jimmy Shutich (130) also won. Seniors Zach Jones (112) and Owen Wilkinson (135) and junior Jeremy Bommarito (145) won for Hartland, which had three champions for the second consecutive year.
Allegan High’s Cameron Simaz (189) and Goodrich High’s Mark Weber (125) won their third titles, but Simaz’s teammate, 215-pound Dan Craig, was dereailed in his bid to win a third title by Flint Kearsley High junior Travis Pettengill, who scored a takedown in overtime to win their final 5-3.
Highland Park High’s two upper-weight hammers, junior Marcel Dubose (215) and senior Jarod Trice (285), both repeated in Division 3.
It’s been fun…
The state tournament season is now over, and the only daily national high school wrestling blog comes to an end for the season as well. This week’s rankings will be our last until after the NHSCA National High School Wrestling Championships a few weeks down the road.
If you’ve read our 54 blog installments and nearly five months of weekly rankings since this season’s blog first hit W.I.N.’s Web site last Dec. 4, you’ve stayed informed as you would have nowhere else. At every level, that’s W.I.N.’s role in the wrestling community – a role we’ll continue to expand in the future.
Have a great off-season…and we’ll see you again next year!
By Rob Sherrill, W.I.N. High School Editor
No wrestler in New Jersey has ever finished his career unbeaten.
Jackson Memorial High's Scott Winston (152) remained on track to become the state’s first, claiming his second state title to cap a 40-0 junior season.
Winston won’t join former Morristown Delbarton High standout Mike Grey as the state’s second four-time champion – a broken wrist late in the his freshman year saw to that – but a 7-3 decision over Belle Mead Hillsborough High senior Frank McLaughlin pushed his career record to 101-0.
Winston, who pinned his first three opponents, scored two of his three takedowns in the first period to take command of the final and was voted the meet’s Outstanding Wrestler. Both of McLaughlin’s losses this season came at the hands of Winston.
Senior Ken Carney added the 160-pound title for Jackson as the rugged Shore Conference once again dominated the state meet. Five of the meet’s 14 champions came from the conference and Region 6. The region also led the state’s eight regions by claiming 28 – one-fourth – of the state place-winners. The finals at 145 and 160 were Region 6 rematches.
But Molinaro’s historic accomplishment was quickly overshadowed by the events in the succeeding match at 145, in which teammate Luke Lanno was penalized twice for stalling on top in an ultimate tie-breaker loss to Oakhurst Ocean Township’s Nick Menditto, who won 3-2 despite not scoring a point on his own.
Leading 1-0, Lanno was penalized for stalling with four seconds remaining in regulation time, sending the match to overtime. He escaped in overtime to lead 2-1, then was penalized for stalling again with six seconds remaining as he tried to ride Menditto out a second time. In the ultimate tie-breaker, Menditto rode Lanno out for the win.
The finals crowd of 11,470 cheered Lanno as he received his medal on the podium and booed Menditto when his name was called.
Southern’s third finalist was Glen Carson (215), who lost 6-4 to Paulsboro High’s Alex Silvestro. Carson had upset Bridgewater-Raritan High;s Roy Dragon 7-6 in the ultimate tiebreaker in the semifinals.
Oradell Bergen Catholic High struck a blow for the northern end of the state with two champions of its own – freshman Frank Cagnina (103) and junior Joe Trause (125), who showed last year’s finals upset of three-time state placewinner John Trumbetti of Montvale St. Joseph High was no fluke as he won his second title. Trumbetti missed the meet due to injury.
Seniors Dan Kelly (112) of Frenchtown Delaware Valley High, Tyler Milonas (130) of Jefferson and Lehigh recruit Zack Rey (285) of Hopatcong High and junior Trevor Melde (135) of Delbarton joined Jackson by finishing their seasons unbeaten.
Kelly edged South Plainfield High junior Patrick Hunter 3-2 for his title, while Melde handled Virginia Tech recruit Nick Murray of Bound Brook High 11-2. In the quarterfinals, Murray had avenged a loss earlier in the season with a 9-6 victory over Dale Fava of Paterson Don Bosco Preparatory High.
Also making a strong bid for Outstanding Wrestler honors was Anthony Trongone (171) of Cherry Hill Camden Catholic High, who disposed of the state’s two big names back-to-back to claim his title. Trongone shut out previously-unbeaten Tom Spellman of Newton Kittatinny High 6-0 in the semifinals, when won the title 4-2 over Ocean Township’s Kyle Kiss. Absecon Holy Spirit High sophomore Mac Mancuso won at 189.
Another dramatic weight classes was 119, which saw Toms River North High senior Matt Oliver strike another blow for Region 6 with a 5-3 decision over Flemington Hunterdon Central High’s Pat Strizki. Oliver had beaten Delbarton’s Frank Perrelli 12-8 in the semifinals. Perrelli finished fifth and fellow senior Fred Santaite of Allendale Northern Highlands High, the 103-pound champion a year ago, failed to place.
The total attendance of 43,049 set a three-day record for the third consecutive year.
Zeerip, Bennett take center stage in Michigan
At The Palace at Auburn Hills – the site of the upcoming NCAA Championships – two of the nation’s top 160-pounders took a curtain call in the Michigan state tournament.
The big news came in the state’s smallest class, Division 4, where Michigan recruit Justin Zeerip of Hesperia High completed a 66-0 senior season with a dominating performance. Zeerip, who finished his high school career unbeaten at 260-0, needed just 60 seconds to pin his first two opponents, then added a technical fall and a second-period pin to become the state’s 17th four-time state champion.
In the biggest class, Division 1, junior Ben Bennett of Rockford High, whose only loss this season was to Lakewood (Ohio) St. Edward star Sean Nemec, posted a similarly dominating performance as he claimed his second title. Bennett posted two first-period pins and two technical falls.
Rockford, which rolled to its first dual-team state title this season, and Hartland High, the team it beat 37-20 in the finals, each crowned three champions. Sophomore Kyle Waldo won his second 103-pound title for Rockford and senior Jimmy Shutich (130) also won. Seniors Zach Jones (112) and Owen Wilkinson (135) and junior Jeremy Bommarito (145) won for Hartland, which had three champions for the second consecutive year.
Allegan High’s Cameron Simaz (189) and Goodrich High’s Mark Weber (125) won their third titles, but Simaz’s teammate, 215-pound Dan Craig, was dereailed in his bid to win a third title by Flint Kearsley High junior Travis Pettengill, who scored a takedown in overtime to win their final 5-3.
Highland Park High’s two upper-weight hammers, junior Marcel Dubose (215) and senior Jarod Trice (285), both repeated in Division 3.
It’s been fun…
The state tournament season is now over, and the only daily national high school wrestling blog comes to an end for the season as well. This week’s rankings will be our last until after the NHSCA National High School Wrestling Championships a few weeks down the road.
If you’ve read our 54 blog installments and nearly five months of weekly rankings since this season’s blog first hit W.I.N.’s Web site last Dec. 4, you’ve stayed informed as you would have nowhere else. At every level, that’s W.I.N.’s role in the wrestling community – a role we’ll continue to expand in the future.
Have a great off-season…and we’ll see you again next year!