First team district title since 1982; Hansen wins 4th straight, sets S.J. record
GLASSBORO — The Caper Tigers have to make a lot more room on the banner in the gym for district wrestling champions.
At Saturday’s District 32 championships, seven wrestlers on the Lower Cape May Regional High School team earned district titles and two others lost close decisions in the finals.
The Caper Tiger boys also won their first overall district championship since 1982 with team points, beating Red Bank Catholic, 231-225.5, and senior Chase Hansen captured his fourth consecutive individual title.
Hansen was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Wrestler and set a record for the most wins by a South Jersey wrestler. Heading into districts, Hansen had 169 wins. He earned two more by spending less than two minutes on the mat combined in the semifinals and finals.
As the No. 1 seed at 138 pounds, he pinned No. 4 John Wisniewski of Pitman in 42 seconds in the semifinals and No. 2 Lucas Gandy of Clearview in the finals in a time of 1:09.
The other District 32 champions are:
– Tristian Rosemeyer, 113 pounds.
– Eli Glover, 132
– Gabe Tosto, 150
– Shane Morrell, 175
– David Douglas, 190
– John Hearon, 285
Here’s how the other Caper Tigers earned their titles:
Tristian Rosemeyer, 113
After a bye in the quarterfinal, Rosemeyer earned a major decision over Red Bank Catholic junior Joseph Gallagher Jr., the No. 4 seed, 19-8 then pinned the No. 2 seed, Corey Hoffman of Deptford, in 4:31 for the district title.
Eli Glover, 132
Glover, the top seed, won all three of his matches by technical fall to win his District 32 title at 132 pounds.
In the opening round, he won 19-4 in just 1:04 over No. 8 Nyla West of Penns Grove, and by the same score, in 1:19, over No. 4 Dylan Adams of Clayton in the semifinals. It took more time in the finals, 5:05, beating No. 2 Antonio Chila of Paulsboro.
Gabe Tosto, 150
Tosto, the No. 2 seed, pinned his way to the finals, putting No. 7 William Hyatt of Clearview on his back in 1:42 in the quarterfinals and then No. 3 Steven Benckert of Clayton in 59 seconds in the semifinals.
Tosto won the district crown with a 5-1 decision over No. 1 seed Anthony Russo of Red Bank Catholic.
Shane Morrell, 175
No. 1 seed Shane Morrell topped No. 5 Matt Cmielewski of Red Bank Catholic by a 10-1 major decision in the semifinals and in the finals won 10-4 over No. 2 seed Julian Malatesta of Clearview.
David Douglas, 190
Douglas didn’t waste a lot of time of the mat. As the No. 1 seed, he pinned No. 4 John Griffith of Deptford in 2:26 in the semifinals and the No. 2 Brian Garcia of Red Bank Catholic in 54 seconds for the district crown.
John Hearon, 285
Hearon, seeded No. 2, defeated top seed Abdullah Jenkins in the finals by a 1-0 decision.
He made it to the finals with two pins in under a minute, taking down No. 7 Malik Reddick of Penns Grove in 57 seconds in the quarterfinals and No. 3 Daniel Maguire of Deptford in 37 seconds.
Other Caper Tigers
Bryce Paley, at 120 pounds, earned a technical fall, 17-2, in 3:50 over No. 4 Grady Datz of Pitman. The No. 1 seed faced Red Bank Catholic’s Joseph “Mako” Vezzosi in the finals, but lost by ultimate tie-breaker, 3-2.
Daniel Byrne was the top seed at 157 pounds and won his semifinal by pin in 1:02 over No. 4 Odess Myers of Deptford, then lost a close battle in the finals, an 8-6 decision, to Clearview’s Elijah Beatty.
Billy Whitney was the No. 5 seed at 144 pounds and beat No. 4 seed Joseph Goetaski of Salem by pin in the quarterfinals in 2:18 before falling to No. 1 seed Luke Ramos of Red Bank Catholic 11-5 in the semifinals.
Whitney won his consolation match with a pin in 3:10 over Logan Shipman of Paulboro, earning him third place and a trip to the Region 8 tournament.
The top three places at Districts punch their tickets to Region 8.
At 215, Caden Britton, the No. 8 seed, won his opening bout with a pin in 1:50 over No. 9 Dayne McDermott of Deptford, but lost in the quarterfinals to Clearview’s Aaron Veytsman.
Ashton Ray, at 165, lost by pin to Josias Torres of Paulsboro in the quarterfinals.
Next up, the Region 8 competition.
By DAVID NAHAN/Cape May Star and Wave
