By BRIAN TORTELLA
Correspondent
@tortreports on Instagram
PISCATAWAY — Sal Marchese left last year’s state final with a bad taste in his mouth, feeling the agony of not being able to deliver for his team.
This time around, he’s feeling much better.
The Delsea Regional High senior delivered the match-clinching pin at 215 pounds as the Crusaders rolled to a 51-22 victory over Brick Memorial to capture their fifth straight Group 3 state title at Rutgers University’s Jersey Mike’s Arena on Sunday.
“We wrestled the same team last year. I bumped up to heavyweight and wrestled a tough kid. I didn’t get it done and I was just distraught. I couldn’t even celebrate with my team afterward,” the Drexel University commit said. “I was tearing up and it sucked, but to come back and get it done against the same team is sweet revenge, and it feels good.
“If I’m being honest, I had no clue I was clinching the match. But yeah, that feels good to get it done. I try to be a leader for these guys. I’m a senior, four-year starter. I just try to lead by example when I come out here and let my skills do the talking.”
The Crusaders let their skills do all the talking, capturing wins in 10 of 14 bouts. Delsea recorded five pins, three technical falls and two decisions.
“This is just business as usual coming in here. We expect to win. It feels like tradition. We definitely put more emphasis (on this match), but everything that we did during the season leads up to this right here,” said senior 132-pounder Greyson Pettit, who started the match with a second-period pin. “If we’re not here next year, we did something wrong. I feel like if we’re not here, something went wrong.”
Not much went wrong for the Crusaders. They jumped out to a 43-5 lead before surrendering three of their last five bouts, but by that time the outcome was all but sealed.
It was the first state title under the reign of first-year coach Kurt DeWoody, who took over for Tom Maxwell after Maxwell served as head coach for one season following the departure of longtime coach Greg Sawyer. Maxwell has since moved back into an assistant role.
“I was happy that Sal was the one to clinch it. He left here with a bad taste in his mouth last year. He was able to seal it for the team. He’s a tremendous team captain,” DeWoody said. “The kids wrestled really well. They accepted every challenge we put in front of them, and it paid off today.
“I’m so thankful that I have a fantastic coaching staff. We have four previous head coaches that have won state titles in the practice room. Guys that I wrestled with and guys that I coach with. That’s one of the best staffs in the state and I’m thankful that they rallied behind the team.”
DeWoody and his Crusaders now turn their attention to the individual state tournament. Delsea will host District 31 on Saturday, where wrestlers will compete for a trip to Region 8 at Williamstown the following week for a chance to book a ticket to the prestigious Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall for the individual state championships in Atlantic City in early March.
“Our season is far from over. This is just our first goal, and our second goal is to put kids on the podium in Atlantic City,” DeWoody assured. “I can be sure the focus is still on when we get back in the (practice) room.”
Delsea vs. Brick Memorial full results:
132: Greyson Pettit (Delsea) PIN Henry Mulligan (Brick Memorial) 3:01 138: Amari Vann (Delsea) PIN Christopher Delaplain (Brick Memorial) 4:48 144: Anthony Depaul (Delsea) 21-2 TF. Logan Cromen (Brick Memorial) 150: Lucas Sei (Brick Memorial) 18-2 TF. Jordan Polillo (Delsea) 157: Lucas Coesfeld (Delsea) 13-8 D. Jack Marotta (Brick Memorial) 165: Jamison Devlin (Delsea) 17-1 TF. Brody Marotta (Brick Memorial) 175: Cameron Pote (Delsea) PIN Joshua Dasilva (Brick Memorial) 1:16 190: Greg Sawyer (Delsea) PIN Parker Murphy (Brick Memorial) 2:46 215: Salvatore Marchese (Delsea) PIN Brewer Cosgrove (Brick Memorial) 0:44 (Match clinched) 285: Steven Gobraiel (Brick Memorial) PIN Christopher Diaz (Delsea) 2:17 106: Adam Froehlich (Delsea) 8-4 D. Jack Mulligan (Brick Memorial) 113: Michael Napolitano (Brick Memorial) 15-0 TF. Christopher Powell (Delsea) 120: Paul DiMatteo (Brick Memorial) PIN Reid Lightfoot (Delsea) 1:22 126: Dante DePaul 20-1 TF. Brody Scott (Brick Memorial)
Group 2 state final:
Lower Cape May saw its best season in program history come to an end with a heart-breaking 35-33 loss to Rumson-Fair Haven in the Group 2 state final.
The top-seeded Caper Tigers were favored entering the match, but couldn’t get much going after losing the coin toss. After winning the first two bouts and jumping out to an 11-0 lead, Rumson-Fair Haven won six straight bouts from 144 to 190 pounds to build a 30-11 lead that was just too much to overcome.
Lower Cape May stayed alive, winning five of the last six bouts from 215 to 126, but was unable to pick up bonus points in necessary areas.
“We lost the coin toss and we didn’t get any matchup that we wanted. They got all the matchups that they wanted. We didn’t save bonus points in areas and we didn’t get bonus points in areas,” Caper Tigers coach Billy Damiana said. “For example, we thought we were going to get six at heavyweight and we didn’t, that’s the match and we lose by two. That’s just one example. There’s multiple examples throughout the lineup.
“Things didn’t go our way today. It’s just the reality of the beast.”
The Caper Tigers were still able to cruise to the sectional crown and will now hope to have several wrestlers reach the podium individually in Atlantic City.
Senior and Rider University commit Chase Hansen will be chasing his first state title after finishing seventh, third, and fourth during his first three years.
“Chase is chasing a lot of history now. He’s 168-6. He’s going after the state wins record. Hopefully he can get that and cap it off with a state championship,” Damiana said. “He has a lot of tests ahead of him. He’s going to have to wrestle great over the next three weeks and we’ll see what happens.”
Lower Cape May vs. Rumson-Fair Haven full results:
132: Ryan Morgan (Lower Cape May) 22-5 TF. Teddy Schirick (Rumson-Fair Haven) 138: Chase Hansen (Lower Cape May) PIN Jordan Duque (Rumson-Fair Haven) 0:09 144: Joaquin Duque (Rumson-Fair Haven) 20-4 TF. Eli Glover (Lower Cape May) 150: Hunter Curley (Rumson-Fair Haven Regional) 12-5 D. Andrew Brant (Lower Cape May) 157: Sonny Amato (Rumson-Fair Haven) PIN Gabe Tosto (Lower Cape May) 0:43 165: Wyatt Fry (Rumson-Fair Haven) PIN Daniel Byrne (Lower Cape May) 0:44 175: Ryder Izzo (Rumson-Fair Haven) PIN Ashton Ray (Lower Cape May Reg) 0:13 190: Luke Dougherty (Rumson-Fair Haven) 15-5 MD. Shane Morrell (Lower Cape May) 215: David Douglass (Lower Cape May) PIN Luke Passalaqua (Rumson-Fair Haven ) 0:17 285: John Hearon (Lower Cape May) 5-0 D. Ben Gredell (Rumson-Fair Haven) 106: Luke Eberhard (Rumson-Fair Haven) 15-0 TF. Abraham Caballero (Lower Cape May) 113: Tristan Rosemeyer (Lower Cape May) PIN Austin Connone (Rumson-Fair Haven Regional) 0:43 120: Bryce Paley (Lower Cape May) 7-4 TB. Eamon Fry (Rumson-Fair Haven) 126: Nolan Mormello (Lower Cape May) 8-0 MD. Henry Marshall (Rumson-Fair Haven)
