Woodbridge’s McLaughlin wins title at Hopatcong Tournament
Sophomore Bryan McLaughlin won his second consecutive title at the Hopatcong Invitational, helping an undermanned Woodbridge High School team to a fifth-place finish.
The Barrons competed without sophomore Vinny Zecchino, who qualified for the Region V Tournament last season. He was sidelined with an injury.
Antol “Tony” Kocsis (132) finished second for Woodbridge, while teammates Jack Quinn (120), Joey Marty (126) and Elyas Azouzi (152) each finished third.
McLaughlin scored a 12-1 major decision over Parsippany’s Michael Illic to win the 160-pound crown.
“I think this year from last year is night and day,” Woodbridge coach Michael Carbone said of McLaughlin’s improvement. “He is wrestling well in all three phases. Last year there were spurts of that showing, but this year he is really putting it all together. He looks like a machine right now.”
Parsippany won the team title with 154 points. Woodbridge posted 53 points.
Team scores: 1. Parsippany 154, 2. Sparta 102.5, 3. Belvidere 89, 4. Passaic Valley 80, 5. Woodbridge 53, 6. Wayne Valley 41, 7. Pope John 33, 8. Hopatcong 32, 9. Livingston 30.
Finals
106: P.J. Gohn (Pope John) p. Kenny Kerwin (Passaic Valley) 1:42; 113: Kevin Jones (Parsippany) d. Joe Aumann (Hopatcong) 6-4; 120: Jimmy Smith (Belvidere) d. Domenic Rigoglioso (Wayne Valley) 3-1; 126: Dominic Koert (Pope John) d. Brandon Liebfred (Parsippany) 1-0; 132: Stephen Persaud (Parsippany) p. Antol Kocsis (Woodbridge) 1:20; 138: Zach Kovacs (Parsippany) md. James Lax (Livingston) 11-0; 145: Ian Burke (Sparta) forfeit over Tyler Tepe (Passaic Valley); 152: Rene Sousa (Belvidere) d. Steven Giambrone (Parsippany) 2-0; 160: Bryan McLaughlin (Woodbridge) md. Michael Illic (Parsippany) 12-1; 170: Kevin Merle (Belvidere) d. Aarin Feliz (Parsippany) 10-7; 182: Jala’a Darwish (Passaic Valley) d. Stephen Merle (Belvidere) 7-3; 195: Andrew Massefski (Parsippany) d. Chris Armagno (Passaic Valley) 5-2; 220: Gavin Lally (Sparta) md. Carlos Huaman (Parsippany) 11-2; 285: Robbie Gannat (Sparta) d. Casiana Franco (Passaic Valley) 6-4.
Third-place
106: Anthony Petrillo (Livingston) md. Sissy Blason (Sparta) 14-2; 113: Garrett Gerndt (Sparta) d. Nick Denora (Passaic Valley) 4-0; 120: Jack Quinn (Woodbridge) d. Grant Gerndt (Sparta) 9-4; 126: Joey Marty (Woodbridge) p. Javan Viola (Belvidere) 1:19; 132: Anthony Mastoeni (Hopatcong) p. Jimmy Vindici (Livingston) 1:03; 138: Anthony Castiglia (Wayne Valley) d. Franklin Cruz (Passaic Valley) 6-0; 145: Brandon Jones (Parsippany) p. Joey Iofreddo (Hopatcong) 3:59; 152: Elyas Azouzi (Woodbridge) p. William Koenig (Pope John) 4:16; 160: Walker Schmitzer (Sparta) p. David Harris (Belvidere) 3:49; 170: Al Falco (Sparta) p. Jake Wilkerson (Hopatcong) 2:36; 182:Connor Lore (Sparta) d. Mike Anderson (Pope John) 14-6; 195: Zak Tarekv (Wayne Valley) p. Ryan Stephen (Belvidere) 3:01; 220: Mike Chak (Passaic Valley) p. Adam Reedv (Livingston) 0:28; 285:Jake Vogal (Sparta)