South Plainfield wrestling team advances to Group III final with win over Voorhees
Greg Tufaro
The South Plainfield High School wrestling team advanced to the NJSIAA Group III championship with a 50-26 victory over Voorhees in today’s state semifinal.
The Tigers, who are vying for their third straight group title and 11th overall, will meet Delsea for the crown later today at RWJBarnabus Health Arena beginning at 7 p.m. Probable matchups with individual records by weight class for the state final can be found at the conclusion of this story.
Sports writer Greg Tufaro and photographer Pete Ackerman will have complete coverage with a full story and photo gallery as soon as possible following the conclusion of tonight’s state Group III championship. Please check Tufaro’s twitter feed for a link to that coverage later today.
Delsea advanced with a 48-25 victory over Pascack Valley in the other state Group III semifinal.
Against Voorhees, a highly anticipated battle of undefeated wrestlers at 220 pounds did not come to fruition as South Plainfield head coach Bill Pavlak opted to forfeit to Lewis Fernandes (29-0), who was expecting to wrestle Zach DelVecchio (31-0) in the final bout of the state semifinal.
The meeting between DelVecchio, who InterMat ranks 12th in the nation at 220 pounds, will have to wait until the Region IV tournament, should Fernendes decide not to compete in the postseason at heavyweight, where he is ranked No. 1 in the state according to Wrestling Full Circle.
“Normally at these things you start forfeiting at the end,” Pavlak said, referring to how many coaches handle the end of a lopsided state semifinal dual meet. “It’s not an individual tournament. I’m here to keep my guys healthy and ready to go in the next round. If I lose Zach in a match he didn’t need to wrestle, (South Plainfield) will be looking for a new coach. All I’m worried about is South Plainfield winning and staying healthy. I’m not worrying about supplying matches for other teams. I have a lot of respect for (Voorhees mentor) Eric Hall. He’s a great coach, but I’ve got to worry about my group.”
READ: South Plainfield wrestling title run through Voorhees and likely state rival Delsea
South Plainfield’s lopsided victory over Voorhees featured a marquee matchup at 195 pounds in which Voorhees’ Scott Fernandez scored a 5-2 decision over Luke Niemeyer. Both wrestlers are now 29-3.
At the start of the dual meet, Sam Huff (285) and Colby Koshinski (113) sandwiched pins around a fall from South Plainfield’s Anthony White (106) to help Voorhees build a short-lived 12-6 lead after three bouts.
The Tigers won the next seven bouts, scoring bonus in each including pins from Joe Heilmann (126), Thomas Fierro (132), Joe Sacco (145), Mike Marrero (145) and Marc Giordano (160) before Matt Brandner stopped the bleeding for Voorhees with a technical fall at 170 pounds.
“We definitely went after it and got our bonus points, but I just told them, it’s going to have to be a better performance against Delsea,” Pavlak said minutes after his team scored bonus points in all of the nine bouts it won against Voorhees.
South Plainfield defeated Delsea to win its last two state championships, handing previously undefeated Delsea its only loss of the year in the 2016 state final and rolling to a 38-23 win over Delsea in last year’s Group III championship. In 2015, Delsea knocked South Plainfield out of the tournament in the state semifinals.
South Plainfield, ranked No. 14 in the New Jersey Wrestling Writers Association statewide Top 20, improved its record to 19-7 with the win over Voorhees, which fell to 22-9.
The Tigers losses include setbacks to two out-of-state opponents at the Virginia Duals and five defeats to teams the NJWWA ranks among the Top 12 in the state. South Plainfield’s schedule – including a one-point loss to No. 6 Emerson and a three-point loss to No. 12 Southern – clearly prepared it for the postseason.
SOUTH PLAINFIELD 50, VOORHEES 26
285: Sam Huff (Voorhees) pinned Julian Medina :23.
106: Anthony White (South Plainfield) pinned Josh Rich :44
113: Colby Koshinski (Voorhees) pinned Frank Mannino 5:43
120: David Loniewski (South Plainfield) major decision over Aidan Taylor 12-1
126: Joe Heilmann (South Plainfield) pinned Kyle Bryan :19
132: Thomas Fierro (South Plainfield) pinned Hunter Rinehart 2:45
138: Alex Amato (South Plainfield) major decision over Joe Swiston 12-4
145: Joe Sacco (South Plainfield) pinned Garrett Loescher :16
152: Mike Marrero (South Plainfield) pinned Ben Hemberger 3:42
160: Marc Giordano (South Plainfield) pinned Brad Kalinchak :43
170: Matt Brandner (Voorhees) technical fall over Joe Nardacci 15-0 (4:49)
182: Brenden Hedden (South Plainfield) pinned Charlie Eberle 1:19
195: Scott Fernandes (Voorhees) decisioned Luke Niemeyer vs.5-2
220: Lewis Fernandes (Voorhees) won by forfeit
POSSIBLE MATCHUPS FOR THE GROUP III FINAL
(South Plainfield wrestlers listed first)
106: Anthony White (30-1) vs. Asa Walton (23-8)
113: Frank Mannino (3-22) vs. Chris Recinto (18-13)
120: David Loniewski (15-3) vs. CJ Mazzarelli (1-4)
126: Joe Heilmann (32-0) vs. Justin Dougherty (8-16)
132: Thomas Fierro (22-7) vs. John Patterson (17-8)
138: Alex Amato (18-12) vs. Jon Stokes (7-13)
145: Joe Sacco (27-5) vs. Tim Spatola (25-7)
152: Mike Marrero (18-12) vs. Phillip Pierson (10-12)
160: Marc Giordano (19-13) vs. Nick Bennett (25-6)
170: Thomas Renna (1-0) or Joe Nardacci (10-11) vs. Mason Maxwell (23-7)
182: Brenden Hedden (20-11) vs. Bill Janzer (20-0)
195: Luke Niemeyer (29-2) vs. Tommy Maxwell (28-5)
220: Julian Medina (15-7) or Zach DelVecchio (31-0) vs. Matthew Kratzer (7-7)
285: Zach DelVecchio (31-0) or Julian Medina (15-7) vs. Phillip Green (17-14)
The winner advances to the state Group III final against the victor of the other semifinal between Pascack Valley and Delsea.