State Wrestling: A recap from the first day of action for local competitors

ATLANTIC CITY – Nothing fancy, just relentless. Mauling opponents. That’s how Tyler Sagi describes his style on the mat. True, but he’s also a thinking man’s wrestler and Thursday he employed some potent psychology in advancing to the NJSIAA state tournament quarterfinals.

The Old Bridge senior was one of eight wrestlers from the MyCentralJersey area to reach Friday’s quarterfinals with two wins at Boardwalk Hall.

Not all is lost for the 52 other area wrestlers who lost during either Thursday’s preliminary or prequarterfinal rounds – all are still alive to finish in the top eight and earn a medal.

The double-elimination tournament continues with Friday’s consolation matches at 9 a.m. followed by the quarterfinals around noon and the semifinals around 6 p.m. after a mid-day break with two additional consolation rounds.

While there were a handful of upsets in the first round, the local underdogs couldn’t pull any stunners in the second round despite some exciting matches with a flurry of eight bouts going on at once.

Reaching the quarterfinals from the Greater Middlesex Conference were Sagi (157), his Old Bridge teammate Logan Roman (113) and St. Joseph’s Giovanni Alejandrio (138).

Hunterdon County had four quarterfinalists in North Hunterdon’s top-seeded Logan Roman (106), Alex Uryniak (190) and Brendan Raley (215), along with Delaware Valley’s Garett Tettemer (165). Returning state placewinner Michael Murphy (165) also punched his ticket to the quarters.

Here is a recap of Thursday’s action.

Sagi sees familiar opponent

The eighth-seeded Sagi advanced with a pin in 1:26 and then met Middletown South’s ninth-seeded David Hussey for the second week in a row. Sagi beat him 5-1 in last Saturday’s Region 5 final.

Sagi developed a game plan for the rematch after observing some things in the previous meeting

“With Hussey, it’s a little different,” Sagi said. “I feel like whenever I start really moving, he kind of just backs away and kind of stays away. He’s not real comfortable there. So I tried to get him where he’s comfortable and then attack under that.”

Sagi's lure worked and he opened a lead nd scored a takedown in the third period to seal the 7-3 win.

He’ll meet top-seeded Zach Ballante of Paramus Catholic, who advanced with wins of 18-3 and 5-3.

Roman avoids upsets

The 113-pound class provided plenty of drama as top-seeded Kaden Naame (St. Augustine Prep School) was upset in the prequarterfinals, as did the fourth, fifth and eighth seeds.

Roman, seeded sixth, looked sharp with a pin in 5:55 and a 17-2 technical fall in 6:00. He’ll meet third-seeded Robert Duffy of Christian Brothers Academy in the quarterfinal.

Alejandro leads St. Joseph

The third-seeded Gio Alejandro pinned in 5:32 and won 5-1. He’ll meet 11th-seeded Wayne Rold of Camden Catholic next. The St. Joes senior is coming off a close 4-2 loss in the Region 5 final. That lit a fire heading into the state tournament.

“It really boosted me to get these matches back and make it to the final,” he said. “It really fired me up. It’s not good, but I needed it. … I just got to come in tomorrow and just dominate every single kid I wrestle for all six minutes of the match. Just come in and don’t stop trying to score. That’s where I used to mess up a lot, so my goal is literally just to go out there and wrestle. Not focus on what he does, just focus on scoring.”

Freshman Morgan Schwarz, the No. 20 seed at 126, upset 13th-seeded Noah Kochman (Bergen Catholic) 5-1 in the first round. Undefeated fourth-seed Luke Stanich (Roxbury) pinned him in the prequarterfinals.

Also advancing to the prequarterfinals with a preliminary win were Evan Mendez (150) – who suffered a cut and black eye in his prequarterfinal match – Brian Christie (190) and Jake Tull (190). Tyler Whitford (144) and Vincent Genna (157) are also still alive after opening losses.

“The young guys wrestled hard and they came into top seeds and they wrestled tough,” St. Joseph coach Mike Carbone said. “That’s all you’re going to ask. They wrestled tough. I do like the wrestleback path. If they can clear their head and wrestle tough tomorrow, it’s going to be a long tournament which means they can place. If they stay in their own heads, they’re not going to place. The goal right now is to win your first match tomorrow and take it from there. You start looking ahead you’re not going to win."

North Hunterdon veterans prevail

The North Hunterdon trio of Logan Wadle (106), Alex Uryniak (190) and Brendan Raley (215) have been staples at the state tournament the past few years and all have medals. Once again, they advanced to the prequarterfinals.

Wadle has placed second and third in the state, but he’s not resting on his winning medals.

“I don’t really look at it as I’ve been here before,” he said. “I look at it as just another match. I’ve been in the same situation many times, but every match is no different than any other ones. I just try to score points and wrestle and have fun.”

Wadle won by a fall in 1:11 and a 6-2 win. He’ll meet ninth-seeded Johnathon McGinty (St Joseph Montvale) in the quarterfinals.

The fifth-seeded Uryniak won by pin in 1:05 and 11-2 win. He’ll face fourth-seeded Xavier Williams (Paramus Catholic) in the quarters.

After opening with a 9-1 win, Raley gave the Lions fans some drama with a 3-2 victory over Robert Canterino (Christian Brothers Academy). Raley scored a takedown with about 20 seconds left for the 3-1 and then cut his opponent loose in the final 10 seconds.

The eighth-seeded Raley was picking his spots, looking for the score when it was tied 1-1 in the third period.

“I was just focusing on getting that one takedown, wearing him out a little bit at the very end,” he said. “Just trying to get one good one instead of taking a bunch of not so good shots. So kind of being methodical on how I’m choosing my shots.” 

He’ll meet Clifton’s top-seeded Joseph Abill with his winning mindset.

“For me, staying focused throughout all the matches,” he said, “trying to wrestle all them the same no matter what – that’s big.”

Region 4 final rematch

Ready for Round 2?

Last week, Westfield’s Michael Murphy edged Delaware Valley’s Garrett Tettemer 5-3 in the region 165-pound final. Now, they’ll see each other in the state quarterfinals. Murphy advanced by a fall in 2:38 and an 8-0 major decision. Tettemer won by pins in 2:4 and 27 seconds.

First round highlights

Hillsborough’s Joey Witcoski (190) earned his 100th career win with a 3-2 victory in the first round and briefly posed with a banner afterward. Not a bad photo op in AC. He dropped his second match via a late takedown in a 5-3 loss to Absegami’s George Rhodes.

The area had two other upsets to shake up the bracket. At 126, 22nd-seeded Matt Roche (Delaware Valley Regional) decisioned 11th-seeded Jake Zaltsman (Saint John Vianney) 3-0.

At 157, Voorhees’ 20th-seeded Logan Wiecoreck edged 13th-seeded Jack Thompson of Point Pleasant Boro 3-2.

Close losses

There were tight ones in the prequarterfinals. They include St. Thomas Aquinas’ Landon Kearns (150) falling 2-1 UTB; South Plainfield’s Nicholas Campagna losing 10-9 at 150 and Watchung Hills’ Hunter Seubert getting pinned at 5:55 in a tight match that was the last bout of the evening.

All have a good shot of advancing in the consolations.

This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: State Wrestling: A recap from the first day of action for locals