Opening night area wrestling highlights from Region 4 and Region 5
admin_news
The first night of the region tournaments is in the books.
Next up is Saturday’s semifinals, consolation rounds and the placement matches, in which the top four finishers in each weight class throughout the eight regions qualify for the state tournament at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City on March 12-14.,
First, here are highlights from Friday’s pre-quarterfinal and quarterfinal rounds from Region 4 and Region 5 featuring wrestlers from Hunterdon, Middlesex, Somerset and parts of Union counties.
Upsets
There weren’t too many Cinderellas but Delaware Valley’s Luke Cyphert reached the Region 5 semifinals as the No. 12 seed at 215. The senior pinned fifth-seeded Evan Canica (Manville) in 5:19 in the pre-quarterfinal and pinned No. 4 Jason Peters (Franklin) in the quarters. He’ll face Old Bridge’s top-seeded Zachary Florio in the semifinals.
Middletown North’s Nico Cordova also advanced to the semifinals as the No. 12 seed at 165. He meets No. 1 Morgan Schwarz (St. Joseph Metuchen) in the semifinal. They were the only double-digit seeds in both regions to reach the semifinals.
At 190, Manville freshman Matty Gorbatuk is on a nice run. The No. 6 seed opened with a pin and then cranked out an 18-2 tech fall over Middletown South’s third-seeded Max Alweiss. Gorbatuk meets Rumson-Fair Haven’s No. 2-seeded Luke Dougherty in the semifinals.
In Region 4, two South Plainfield wrestlers surpassed their seeds. Sixth-seeded Justin Culver reached the semis at 138 and will face No. 2 seed Jack Abramson (Pingry). Culver beat third-seeded Ryder Connors (Cranford) 8-1 in the quarterfinal.
The Tigers’ 10th-seeded Anthony LaBella pinned seventh-seeded Aiden Fiorini (Linden) in the pre-quarterfinals and then lost to second-seeded Jake Appello in the quarters but has a consolation match Saturday.
Watchung Hills’ No. 10 seed Dante Glynos also advanced at 126 with a pin against the No. 7 seed before losing in the quarterfinals. won
Notable quarterfinal wins
The postseason is always a good time for redemption. Delaware Valley’s Sebastian Dobak decisioned East Brunswick’s Shawn Riley 4-2 in the 150 quarterfinals. The EB sophomore had upset the returning state qualifier 2-1 in the district semifinals. The fifth-seeded Dobak meets top-seed and returning state medalist Sonny Amato (Rumson-Fair Haven) in the semifinals.
Del Val’s fifth-seeded Michael Hasson beat Matawan returning state qualifier Alexander Liss 8-6 to advance to the semifinals against top-seeded Fernando Avellan (Edison).
Pre-quarterfinal highlights
At 150, Woodbridge’s Lukas Valentin met St. Joseph’s Mason Atkins in a rematch of the District 18 semifinal. Atkins won that one 13-10. Friday, Valentin prevailed 6-5.
At 165, it was Round 3 between Spotswood’s Joseph Stanaway and Highland Park’s Jacob Quiros Porras. The two split matches in the Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament. Friday, Stanaway won the rubber match with a fall in 3:15.
At 126, there was plenty of drama. East Brunswick’s Dominick Lezark topped Sayreville’s Jorge Zapata 21-19 to advance. Delaware Valley’s Tanner Donaruma won 11-8 in sudden victory over Maxwell Foley (Raritan).
Old Bridge’s Alex Kay made the most of his opportunity at 175. The junior finished fourth in District 19 but advanced when district champ Ryder Izzo (Rumson-Fair Haven) withdrew. Kay got the 12th seed and he stunned fifth-seeded Ethan Barker by pinning the Hopewell Valley wrestler in 3:58. Kay lost to Delaware Valley’s Olivier Paul in the quarterfinals but has a shot to medal in the consolation round – and that’s all you can ask for in the postseason.
This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: NJ Wrestling Area highlights from opening night of Region 4 and Region 5
