GALLOWAY TOWNSHIP — The road to the wrestling state championships in Atlantic City began over the weekend with the NJSIAA District 29 tournament.
The top wrestlers from 10 high schools gathered Feb. 22 at Absegami High School to decide who would advance to regions and then the state tournament.
District 29 newcomer Camden Catholic High School made an instant impact in every weight class, winning eight of the 14.
Lower Cape May Regional High School’s Chase Hansen was awarded with the district’s most outstanding wrestler award after the junior picked up his third straight district title. At 138 pounds, he remains undefeated with an impressive 37-0 record this year.
As top seed in his weight class, Hansen needed only two wins to capture the district title. He dispatched Ocean City High School’s Luke Finnegan with a 37-second pin in the semifinals before ending Camden Catholic’s win streak in the finals. Hansen brought E.J. Bonnette down to the mat early and never let him back up, pinning him in 1:50.
“I believe the season has gone pretty well so far and I’ve been really dominant in most of my matches,” Hansen said. “I’ve had a couple close ones, but I think it’s a good feeling to have because that is how my state matches are going to go. They are going to be close against good competition and I am going to be ready.”
One of the most frequent matchups between two schools was LCMR versus Ocean City High School. Wrestlers from the schools met nine times throughout the tournament, with Ocean City winning five of the head-to-head matchups.
Tommy Grimley took home the 165-pound title for Ocean City and improved his season record to 34-1. He beat Lower’s Shane Morrell in the semifinals before taking down Camden Catholic’s Terry Terch in the finals.
“Going up against a good team like that, you know your opponent is going to be worthy. I went out there and was able to get the job done on the first step to Boardwalk Hall,” Grimley said about his match versus Terch in the finals. “This was probably the best district tournament that I’ve had with three wins and three pins.”
The senior took Terch to the ground twice in the first period and stayed aggressive throughout. Halfway through the second period, Grimley drove Terch into the mat one final time before pinning him in 2:48.
“Camden Catholic got changed to our district this year and were basically running the tournament at every weight class,” Grimley said. “It felt really good to go out there and finally give them a loss, along with getting the win of course.”
Some Ocean City wrestlers also ran into familiar faces from Mainland Regional High School and had their day cut short by their longtime rival.
Mainland wrestlers went 2-1 over Ocean City in the tournament, including a big win by senior Chris Mazur over Wyatt Tolson in the semifinals of the 132-pound class. Mazur flipped a switch in the second period and pinned Tolson in 2:49 for a spot in the finals, and more importantly punched his ticket to the regional tournament the following week.
Mainland’s Vincent Hoag was knocked down to the 175-pound third-place match with Ocean City’s Clarence Smith. Hoag recorded one of the fastest matches of the day with a 16-second pin to get on the podium and continue his season.
Wyatt Tolson and brother Graham Tolson won their third-place matches at 132 and 126, respectively, and qualified for regionals.
Ocean City will send six wrestlers onto the next round after four reached the final round and automatically qualified.
Senior Clifford Dirkes, at 285, picked up his 100th career win in his penultimate match of the day. The win brought his season record to 30-0 entering the final round against Middle Township’s Maurice Matthews.
The two wrestled patiently through the first three periods and were tied at 1-1 entering sudden death. Ten seconds into the round, Matthews got ahold of Dirkes’ leg and scored a takedown for a sudden victory.
Raiders Jace Watson (157) and Jacob Chapman (215) also finished in second place and will join Dirkes and the others next week.
Along with Hansen, Lower had eight wrestlers reach the podium, including five wins in high-stakes consolation matches.
Lower picked up back-to-back podium spots with Dominick Marrero’s dominant 144-pound consolation match win along with Daniel Byrne’s third-place win via technical fall at 150. Shane Morrel, at 165, reached the podium in similar fashion with a pin in 1:52 for third.
The Caper Tigers kept picking up medals with Jake Robson’s major decision in the 215-pound consolation match. Bryce Paley reached the final round of the 120-pound bracket against Camden Catholic’s Chase Martino and took it to sudden death. A very defensive match turned into a scramble as both wrestlers hit the mat in the final round before Martino got ahold of Paley for the sudden victory.
Lower’s David Douglas added another medal to his team’s count with a second-place finish in the 175-pound bracket.
In the final Ocean City versus Lower match of the day, Raider David Schultz and Caper Tiger Dennis Serra fought to another tie after three periods.
The 190-pound bout was a slow-paced chess match until the final round when Serra got a takedown in less than 5 seconds and won via sudden victory to cap a successful day for himself and his teammates.
“The best feeling today was watching my teammates do a really good job with a lot of people going to the region tournament, so I am excited for them,” Hansen said.
All wrestlers who earned a top-three placement advanced to the regional tournament at Williamstown High School on Feb. 28 and Mar. 1. The top four place winners in every weight class will advance to the state championship, with Hansen and Grimley getting a head start as district champs.
Grimley showed no lack of confidence heading into the next round.
“This year I am going to the region tournament with a mindset that I am going to win the tournament,” he said. “I think if that is what I believe and that I believe in myself I’ll be able to go into Williamstown and get the job done.”
By WILLIAM TRUITT/For the Star and Wave
