‘We’re not done’: They’re aiming for a state championship
ERMA — “We’re not done.”
That was the collective sentiment from Caper Tiger wrestlers Wednesday night after they won the South Jersey Group II title at home before a packed crowd.
Earning their second sectional championship in three years, the Lower Cape May Regional High School wrestlers put away Collingswood High School’s team 46-27 in just over an hour in a match that featured three Caper Tiger pins in 20 seconds or less.
The boys celebrated with the trophy, but their eyes remained focused on a season-long goal — the opportunity to wrestle for a state title Sunday at Rutgers University.
The Caper Tigers (21-3) are the top seed in the Group II state tournament and will host No. 4 seed Caldwell (16-5) Friday night in the semifinals. In the other bracket, No. 2 Rumson-Fair Haven (16-4) will face No. 3 Pascack Valley (21-4). The finals are 2:30 p.m. Sunday at Rutgers in New Brunswick.
Wednesday night’s match started out close, but the Caper Tigers slowly pulled away from the Panthers (29-4).
Collingswood’s Zachary Akers and LCMR’s Ashton Ray went the distance in the opener at 165 pounds, with Akers earning the narrow decision 9-8.
Next up was Caper Tiger Shane Morrell, taking on Caden Luby.
“I was the second match of the night at 175,” he said, “so I had to go out there and do the job.
“I wanted to pin, to attack, but it’s all right — I got the job done.”
He certainly did. Morrell won by technical fall, stacking up 15 points by the 2:50 mark without giving up any points to his opponent.
“Their Super Bowl,” he said of Collingswood in a sectional final, “for us was just another day in the office.”
“It feels great. We wanted it really bad last year but lost in criteria, so coming out here and winning felt great, and I know we’re going to go all the way to the state finals and we’re going to win,” Morrell said.
Last season, the sectional final against Middle Township ended up tied but the Caper Tigers’ rival was awarded the title after a series of tiebreakers, frustrating the defending South Jersey Group II champs.
LCMR’s David Douglas, at 190 pounds, looked like he was going to walk away with the fastest pin of the night, taking down Collingswood’s Julian Jones in 20 seconds.
Both teams started trading pins at that point, and while hard to believe, two of them would make Douglas’s pin look slow.
Panther Tim Rambo tightened up the match with his pin at 3:49 of Caden Britton in the 215-pound bout, closing the score to 11-9 in LCMR’s favor, but John Hearon quickly dispatched Panther Kwamerre Long in 1:44 in the 285-pound match.
“He was lighter than me so I just went out there and moved with a purpose,” Hearon said.
“I think we did pretty well as a team,” Hearon said, and winning the sectional title “feels amazing.”
“I think we have the capability to win a state championship,” he added.
Hearon put the Caper Tigers up 17-9, but Panther Robbie Penman pinned Abraham Caballero in the 106-pound match to make it 17-15. It would be the closest Collingswood would come.
At 113, Tristian Rosemeyer pinned his opponent, Kenny Olsen, in 42 seconds, the start of a run of five dominating wins for the Caper Tigers.
“It feels really good,” Rosemeyer said about being a South Jersey champion. “That’s what we were expecting to do and we got it done. I just got in and got out. I didn’t want to waste any time, get six (points) for the team.”
The transfer student from Williamstown said it has been “really great” wrestling with the LCMR team this season.
“I like the program a lot and we’re going to do bigger things,” Rosemeyer said. “We’re winning it all.”
Up next at 120 pounds, Caper Tiger Bryce Paley notched the fastest pin of the night — 9 seconds — of Panther James Jiles.
“It feels nice to win another sectional title in our home gym, especially by such a large point margin,” Paley said. “We won my freshman year and let it slip last year. It means a lot to me, the seniors, to everybody on the team.”
The junior, who wants to wrestle in college, said he and his teammates aren’t done.
“I want to win a state title with the team, and hopefully be on the state podium,” Paley said.
Teammate Ryan Morgan didn’t get a pin, but still ended his match early, earning a 22-3 technical fall over Panther Jake Eife in just under 4 minutes, putting LCMR up 34-15.
It took almost his entire match, but Caper Tiger freshman Eli Glover finally secured his pin with just more than 30 seconds to go in the third period in his 132-pound match against Chase Wright.
“I wrestled good, got the job done. The team needed six, I got six,” he said. His win put the Caper Tigers up 40-15 with four bouts to go and no chance for Collingswood to win.
“It was definitely an experience, wrestling in front of the home crowd for a South Jersey title,” Glover said.
He added it felt “very good” to be a South Jersey champion, “but the job’s not finished. We’ve got to get that state title.”
Chase Hansen put the icing on the cake with a 17-second pin of Julian Carty in the 138-pound bout.
“I wanted to get in and get out, you know, go home and eat some food. I’m hungry,” Hansen said. “We’ve got two more matches. Our end goal is to be state champ, so we’re going to keep working. The job’s not done yet.”
Still, he was happy for the sectional title.
“It feels amazing, coming back here in our home gym, definitely a different outcome from last year,” Hansen said. The team loss last season, he added, “motivated us a lot. You know, even before the match started, we felt that we were definitely going to win this one, and we’re confident going in the state tournament, so we’re definitely excited to wrestle and see what happens on Sunday.”
Down 46-15, the Panthers were able to win the final three matches.
At 144 pounds, Mason Musciano took a 7-4 decision over Dominick Marrero, Lino Bataloni, at 150, got a decision over Gabe Tosto 6-2, and in the final bout of the night, Avante Santos pinned Daniel Byrne at the 4:58 mark.
“The kids worked really, really hard for this, especially going nonstop from last year,” head coach Billy Damiana said. “With that being said, we’ve got to get ready for Friday night and let it fly.”
He said Paley’s 9-second pin “really ignited everybody. Having him and Tristian back to back is really huge for us, especially down low. We haven’t had anything like that ever.”
The coach said winning the title at home was important after the disappointment of last season.
“We felt like we let ourselves down. So the fact that we were able to finally pull it out at home, rather than doing it on the road, it was great for the kids,” he said.
Told his wrestlers were of the same mind on their ultimate goal, he agreed.
“We’re not done. When we beat West Deptford (for the 2024 sectional title), I felt like there was a lot more excitement because it was 40 years in the making,” he said. “This is our third sectional final in the last three years, and I think it’s just what the standard is now.
“The kids want to win a state championship,” Damiana said. “We’ve got to continue to work over these next three to four days and try to make that a reality.”
To get to Rutgers, the Caper Tigers have to beat Caldwell and they’ll have that chance Friday night in their home gym. Start time is 6 p.m.
– STORY and PHOTOS by DAVID NAHAN/Cape May Star and Wave, Ocean City Sentinel
