Wrestling: Joe Hofmann's NJSIAA Tournament predictions
State tournament preview
Returning champions (last year's weight in parenthesis): Ty Agaisse, Delbarton (106), Nick Suriano, Bergen Catholic (113), Anthony Cefolo, Hanover Park (120), Craig De a Cruz, Summit (126 for Bound Brook), Dave McFadden, DePaul (145).
Toughest weight class: All of the weights are strong at this time of year, but the 106 and 138-pound weights look particularly imposing.
At 106, St. Joseph's Jonathan Tropea is the highest-placing returning wrestler, having finished eighth in the state last year. But there is a load of talent here, including Delbarton's Pat Glory, Seneca's Joe Manchio, CBA's Richie Koehler, West Morris' Shane Metzler, Kingsway's Quinn Kinner, Howell's Kyle Slendorn, Emerson's Paco Robles, and Hanover Park's Gerard Angelo.
The 138-pound weight is loaded as well, especially in the upper portion of the bracket, so Mendham's Eric Friedman, eighth last year, has his work cut out for him with Don Bosco's Kyle Bierdumpfel, High Point's Jared Kobis, and Clifton's Mohammed Farhan. Other standouts include Camden Catholic's Mark McCormick, St. Peter's Prep's Connor Burkert, Jackson Liberty's Matt Russo, and Bound Brook's Mekhi Lewis standing in his way.
Did you know: Morris County has had three state champions in 1972 (Randolph's Jeff Surenian, Dover's Joe Camel, Roxbury's Mike Bennett), 2003 (Delbarton's Mike Grey and Antonio Mangione, Mendham's Steve Admacsik), and 2005 (Roxbury's Ryan Fikslin, Grey, and Jefferson's Dan Vallimont).
This could be a record-setting year. This has been an 'up' year for Morris County and I'm predicting three Morris wrestlers to win state championships.
Hanover Park's Anthony Cefolo (126) has developed his offense substantially over the last year thanks to working with coach James LaValle and gets the nod to win his third –
but he'll have his hands full with Bergen Catholic's Pete Lipari, and either North Hunterdon's Ryan Pomrinca or Holy Spirit's Pat D'Arcy should Cefolo reach the finals.
Delbarton teammates Pat Glory (106) and Joe Tavoso (152) have had terrific seasons and get the call to win state championships in their respective weights. Glory is in a monster weight and has his work cut out, but he was on a roll and on the verge of beating Tropea at the Beast of the East before time ran out in December before losing, 10-9. If Glory beats Tropea, he wins the weight, and it says here that he will.
Tavoso's toughest hurdle early on could be the quarters against Southern's Matt Wilhelm. Tavoso caught fire in Boardwalk Hall last year and I say he does it again – all the way to the top of the podium
The Green Wave will have three others step up high on the medal stand come Sunday afternoon, if not stand at the top of the podium outright.
Ty Agaisse, the 106-pound state champion last year, will reach the finals again but will fall short against Bergen Catholic's Nick Suriano, who has won twice in two tries and figures to be the next four-timer in New Jersey.
Delbarton's Nick Farro (132) and Travis Vasquez (145) will most certainly place in the top four, if not higher. .
Farro, as predicted in this space last week, beat Craig De La Cruz in the Region 3 finals on his feet, but he'll run into trouble in the semifinals against Clearview's Michael Van Brill. And if Farro can get past that hurdle, I saw it's Monroe's Sal Profaci – not De La Cruz – who would await Farro. It would be a tall order for Farro to pull all of that off, although he has wrestled brilliantly since moving up to 132.
Vasquez, meanwhile, has a brutal road to get to the finals. He could get Brick Memorial's Alex Donovan in the quarters and, if he wins, possibly draw High Point's Jason Gaccione in the semifinals. And in the finals, St. Peter's Prep's Ryan Burkert, who handed Vasquez his lone loss this year, would probably await. That would be quite a weekend for Vasquez if he could navigate that road.
Other Morris wrestlers predicted to place include: Gerard Angelo (Hanover Park) and Shane Metzler (West Morris) at 106, Garrett O'Shea (Morris Knolls) at 113, Lou Raimo (Hanover Park) and Dylan Luciano (West Morris) at 120, and A.J. Vindici (Randolph) at 126 in the lower weights.
In the middle weights, look for Austin Nash (Hanover Park) at 132, Eric Friedman (Mendham) at 138, Christian Bassolino (Hanover Park) at 145, and Craig Roumes (Roxbury) at 160 to place in the top eight.
Andrew Massefski (Parsippany), in his first venture down to Atlantic City, will make this a memorable one and place in the top eight.
State Tournament Picks
106-Pat Glory, Delbarton.
113-Alec Kelly, St. Peter's Prep
120-Nick Suriano, Bergen Catholic.
126-Anthony Cefolo, Hanover Park.
132-Michael Van Brill, Clearview.
138-Mohammed Farhan, Clifton.
145-Ryan Burkert, St. Peter's Prep.
152-Joe Tavoso, Delbarton.
160-Dave McFadden, DePaul.
170-Brett Donner, Wall.
182-C.J. LaFragola, St. Joe's-Hammonton.
195-Tyree Sutton, Keansburg.
220-Christian Collucci, St. Peter's Prep.
285-Zack Chakonis, Don Bosco.