SPORTS

Wrestling: South Plainfield wins District 14 title

Harry Frezza
@thefrez56
Woodbrige's Bryan McLaughlin (left) and Cranford's Vince Concina wrestle at 170 pounds during the District 14 finals on Saturday at Woodbridge.

WOODBRIDGE - Different district alignment, but a very familiar outcome. But not as easy as some of the other many district team titles the South Plainfield High School wrestling team has collected.

South Plainfield, which won 32 straight District 12 titles, won its 33rd in the new District 14 on Saturday afternoon at Woodbridge High School. The Tigers, who won a 10th state team title last Sunday, capturing a Group III crown, added yet another district title. The Greater Middlesex Conference champions finished with 235 points and four champions. Cranford, the North 2 Group V team champ, had 208 points and four champions. Woodbridge was third, Middlesex fourth and Governor Livingston fifth.

READ: NORTH HUNTERDON WRESTLING EARNS 6 GOLD MEDALS, DISTRICT 15 TITLE

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South Plainfield went 8-2 in district individual finals last year, coasting past second-place Governor Livingston by 81 points. The Tigers went 4-5 in finals this year.

Junior 120-pounder Joe Heilmann, a district champ the last two seasons at 106, won his third title by technical fall. Senior 126-pounder Jake Giordano added a second title as he won by major. The Tigers’ 220-pound sophomore Zach DelVecchio repeated as champ at the same weight with a sudden death overtime win and Luke Niemeyer won by fall in the 195 final.

Woodbrige's Marquan Payne wrestles Cranford's Brian McGovern at 160 pounds during the District 14 finals on Feb. 21, 2017 at Woodbridge.

"We needed every one of those third and second places and champions," coach Bill Pavlak said. "We did what we’ve done all year. Get the bonus points and not allow them."

North Plainfield freshman 106-pounder Xavier Pena, the Somerset County champ, rallied from a 6-0 deficit to pin South Plainfield’s Thomas Fiero in 5:19. Governor Livingston senior 182-pounder Turner Haddad, runner-up at old District 12 the last two seasons, won his first district title with a 5-4 decision.

Woodbridge senior 170-pounder Bryan McLaughlin won his third district title after winning the past two years at old District 19. He also won his third Greater Middlesex Conference title last month. McLaughlin was fourth in the state last year at 160.

McLaughlin and Cranford’s Tom DiGiovanni shared the Outstanding Wrestler award.

TEAM SCORES: 1. South Plainfield 235, 2. Cranford 208, Woodbridge 150, 4. Middlesex 101, 5. Governor Livingston 88 1/2; 6. Brearley 45, 7. Bayonne 40, 8. North Plainfield 38, 9. J.P. Stevens 22.

FINALS

152: Charley Buckley (Brearley/Dayton) d. Jack Quinn (Woodbridge) 5-1; 160: Marquan Payne (Woodbridge) d. Brian McGovern (Cranford) 5-4; 170: Bryan McLaughlin (Woodbridge) d. Vince Concina (Cranford) 7-1; 182: Turner Haddad (Governor Livingston)  d. Zachary Cottrell (Woodbridge) 5-4; 195: Luke Niemeyer (South Plainfield) p. Dylan Budnik (Cranford) 3:25; 220: Zachary DelVecchio (South Plainfield) d. Vincent Zecchino (Woodbridge) 2-1 (OT); 285: Alex Esposito (Cranford) d. Alexander Lagrippo (Woodbridge) 3-1; 106: Xavier Pena (North Plainfield) p. Thomas Fiero (South Plainfield) 5:19; 113: Anthony Capece (Cranford) d. Alex Amato (South Plainfield) 8-3; 120: Joe Heilmann (South Plainfield): tf. Troy O’Connor (Middlesex) 17-1; 126: Jared Giordano (South Plainfield) md. Conor Halpin (Cranford) 13-4; 132: Chris Scorese (Cranford) md. Jacob Painton (South Plainfield) 9-0; 138: Tom DiGiovanni (Cranford) d. Joe Sacco (South Plainfield) 3-0; 145: Jeff Johnson (Middlesex) d. Kyle Bythell (South Plainfield) 10-0.