South Plainfield, Piscataway win titles and other GMC wrestling highlights from Saturday's districts

The South Plainfield High School wrestling team extended its state record district championship streak to 34 with a dominating performance in the District 14 Tournament on Saturday, while Piscataway edged Bound Brook for the District 18 crown.

South Plainfield rolled to the team title, amassing 256 points while crowning nine individual champions and advancing a total of 11 wrestlers to the regions.

READ: Convenient link for results from Districts 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19 and 20

READ: Complete list of every single Region 4 qualifier by weight class

READ: Complete list of every single Region 5 qualifier by weight class

READ: Complete list of region qualifiers from the GMC by weight class

“Having 11 guys get through is a good day at the districts,” South Plainfield head coach Bill Pavlak said. “Over the last three weeks (of the dual meet season) we wrestled well and it continued into the district tournament.”

South Plainfield swept Outstanding Wrestler (Joe Heilmann at 126), Assistant Coach of the Year (Steve Johnston) and Coach of the Year (Bill Pavlak) honors at District 14.

A total of 89 wrestlers from the Greater Middlesex Conference advanced to the regions.

Four of those grapplers, inlcuding Perth Amboy's Luis Colon, Old Bridge's Jake Wiatroski and Colonia's John Poznanski, were named Outstanding Wrestlers in their respective districts.

The top three finishers in each weight class from the state’s 32 district tournaments kept alive their seasons.

Wrestlers from the league will be assigned to compete in one of two regions – Region V at Hunterdon Central or Region IV at Union. The region tournament will be contested Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.

The top four finishers in each weight class from the state’s eight regions will advance to the NJSIAA Individual Wrestling Championships, which will be contested March 1-3 at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City.

Piscataway advanced nine wrestlers including district champions Marcus Petite (145), Michael Petite (160) and Nick Recine (170). Teammate Joseph Hatcher placed second at District 18, dropping a 13-1 major decision to undefeated Joe Casey of Bound Brook, an incumbent state placewinner and Rider University signee.

Monroe placed second in District 20 to Raritan, a team to which it lost 30-28 during the regular season and which ended the year ranked No. 12 in the state according to the New Jersey Wrestling Writers Association. Raritan amassed 247.5 team points. Monroe finished with 157.

Monroe advanced eight wrestlers to the regions including district champions Joseph Fiordaliso (106), Michael Bilando (120), Justin Hopman (170) and Kaylon Bradley (195).

Fiordaliso turned in one of the biggest wins among GMC wrestlers on district Saturday, scoring a 10-8 decision over Perth Amoy’s Joseph Pacheco, the reigning league tournament 113-pound champion who owns a 31-3 record.

At District 16, Colonia advanced six wrestlers to the regions including Luke Pero, who became the school’s career wins leader, and Poznanski, who won the 160-pound title with a 10-6 decision over Bridgewater-Raritan’s Mike Winchock in the final.

Pero broke the school record, which current J.F. Kennedy head coach Nick Cilento held, with a technical fall over Newark Academy’s Alexander Dion (17-1, 4:50) in the quarterfinals. The victory was the 109th of Pero’s career. Pero advanced to the district final, where he dropped a 9-2 decision to Watchung Hills’ Jake Stasil, a reigning Somerst County Tournament champion who owns a 32-1 record.

With J.F. Kennedy competing at District 16 – where brothers Aaron Coleman (first at 138) and Ian Coleman (second at 126) advanced – Cilento was in attendance and got to see Pero break his school mark.

In the marquee bout of the District 14 finals, Middlesex-Dunellen’s Jeff Johnson scored a 3-1 decision over South Plainfield’s Joe Sacco in a rematch of their conference tournament final meeting, which Johnson also won.

Another key District 14 championship battle took place at 220 pounds, where South Plainfield’s Zach DelVecchio, who InterMat ranks No. 11 in the country, scored a 3-1 decision over Woodbridge’s Nick Nyers. Nyers opted to wrestle at heavyweight in the GMCT, where he won a title, and obviously did not meet the undefeated DelVecchio, who is a three-time GMCT champion at 220 pounds.

J.P. Stevens heavyweight Spencer Johnson won a District 14 title with a 3-2 decision over Middlesex-Dunellen’s Alex Bollin in the final. Bollin's teammate Ken Beck won a title at 113 pounds.

Sayreville head coach Marcus Ivy was named Coach of the Year at District 19, where Trevor Mastorio was the Bombers’ lone champ, winning the 145-pound title. The reigning White Division champion Bombers advanced four wrestlers to the regions.

At District 19, Old Bridge advanced six wrestlers to the regions including 120-pound champion Wiatroski, who was named Outstanding Wrestler. After avenging a regular-season loss to Edison’s Michael O’Brien with a 4-2 overtime decision in the semifinals, Old Bridge’s Mike Botte fell in the 126-pound final to Delaware Valley standout AJ DeRosa, who has won more than 60 bouts over the past two seasons.

Perth Amboy’s Colon won the 182-pound title and was named Outstanding Wrestler at District 20, where teammate James Rodriguez, a reigning GMCT champion, dropped a 3-1 decision to Raritan’s Russell Benson in the 132-pound final.

New Brunswick heavyweight Ramiro Osuna, one of four Zebras to advance, won the District 20 title, while South Brunswick, which advanced six of its wrestlers to the regions, claimed an individual championship at 126 pounds, where Jonathan Lamprecht decisioned Monroe’s Corey Fernandez 3-1.

At District 18, North Brunswick’s Kenny Abode (182) and East Brunswick’s Mitch Polito (120) won their respective weight classes.

At District 15, Carteret advanced four wrestlers onto the regions including district champions Demetrius Ruiz (170) and Frank Coghan (220).

The District 17 tournament featured Spotswood and South River, who shared the Blue Division title with Middlesex-Dunellen. The Rams advanced four wrestlers and the Chargers advanced three wrestlers to the regions.