- Shore Conference Wrestling
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TEAMS
- Asbury Park
- Barnegat
- Brick Memorial
- Brick Twp
- CBA
- Central
- Colts Neck
- Donovan Catholic
- Freehold Boro
- Freehold Twp
- Holmdel
- Howell
- Jackson Liberty
- Jackson Memorial
- Keansburg
- Keyport
- Lacey
- Lakewood
- Long Branch
- Manalapan
- Manasquan
- Manchester
- Marlboro
- Matawan
- Middletown North
- Middletown South
- Monmouth Regional
- Neptune
- Ocean Township
- Pinelands
- Point Beach
- Point Boro
- Raritan
- Red Bank Catholic
- Red Bank Regional
- Rumson
- St John Vianney
- St Rose
- Shore Regional
- Southern
- Toms River East
- Toms River North
- Toms River South
- Wall
- SC HISTORY
- NJ HISTORY
- 2024
- LINKS
Overall: 4-9 / Shore Conference: 4-5 / B-South: 4-3
2024 Record: 4-9
Non-Public B Qualifiers
3rd Place District 23
5th Place Shore Conference Tournament
4th Place B-South
ShoreConferenceWrestling.com Wrestler of the Year
(Sr) Kurt Wehner - 120
Record: 33-4
2nd Place State Tournament / Region 6 Champion / District 23 Champion
Shore Conference Tournament Champion
Mustang Classic Champion
Only Multi-Time State Medal Winner, Only 3x-Region Champion, & Only 3x-District Champion in Program History
2024 Season
NJSIAA STATE TOURNAMENT
(2 Medal Winners)
2nd: Kurt Wehner (120)
8th: Sawyer Ostroff (126)
WB2: Sam Rock (Hwt)
Kurt Wehner capped his career with his third State Medal, becoming the first Donovan Catholic wrestler to make it to the State Finals, placing 2nd at 120. He closes his run with the Griffins as their only multi-time State Medalist.
Fellow senior Sawyer Ostroff also finished his career with a State Medal, placing 8th at 126. It marks the first time the Griffins have had two State Medalist in the same season.
REGION 6 TOURNAMENT
Donovan Catholic (2 Champs / 9 Medal Winners)
1st: Kurt Wehner (120) / Sawyer Ostroff (126)
2nd: Sam Rock (Hwt)
5th: Riley Gutierrez (138)
WB1: Joseoh Vezzosi (106) / Brody Kountouris (157)
PQ: Hank Mulligan (113) / Michael Colon (175) / 190: Diondre Foendoe (190)
Donovan Catholic's only multi-time Region Champion added his third 1st-place medal when Kurt Wehner used three 1st-period pins to 3-peat at the Regions. It is the fourth Region medal in all for Wehner.
Fellow senior Sawyer Ostroff won his first Region Title, and third Region medal, giving the Griffins multiple champs for the first time in program history, and raising their all-time total to seven champs.
DISTRICT 23 TOURNAMENT
Donovan Catholic (3rd Place / 4 Champs / 9 Medal Winners)
1st: Joseph Vezzosi (106) / Kurt Wehner (120) / Sawyer Ostroff (126) / Sam Rock (Hwt)
2nd: Riley Gutierrez (138) / Diondre Foendoe (190)
3rd: Hank Mulligan (113) / Brody Kountouris (157) / Michael Colon (175)
Kurt Wehner became Donovan's first 3-time District Champion, Joseph Vezzosi came from the #8 seed to win the 106-pound title, Sam Rock became the program's first heavyweight District Champ since 1985, and Sawyer Ostroff returned from injury to give the Griffins a new school record four District Champions.
NON-PUBLIC GROUP B TOURNAMENT
QF: RBC 57 - Donovan Catholic 7 (BOX SCORE)
1/30: B-SOUTH
Lacey 37 - Donovan Catholic 27 (BOX SCORE)
Lacey: Gauthier (21-6); Schuler (20-8); Flynn (20-8); Davis (20-7); Mott (16-9)
Donovan: Hwt - #4 Rock d. #5 Sager, 4-0; Wehner (21-3); Gutierrez (15-6); Colon (11-4)
1/27: ST PETER'S PREP TRI
#3 St John Vianney 58 - Donovan Catholic 12 (BOX SCORE)
St Peter's Prep 66 - Donovan Catholic 12 (BOX SCORE)
1/24: B-SOUTH
Donovan Catholic 54 - Pinelands 27 (BOX SCORE)
Donovan: Colon, Foendoe, Wehner, Gutierrez, & DeCaro win by fall
Pinelands: Hwt - Glass p. #4 Rock; Wainen, & Hart win by pin
1/17: B-SOUTH
Jackson Liberty 35 - Donovan Catholic 29 (BOX SCORE)
Liberty: Urso (18-4); Niewiadomy (16-6); McCann (14-6); Ayyash (14-7); Agban (12-7)
Donovan: Wehner (18-2); Ostroff (9-3); Rock (11-2); Colon (9-2)
1/13: ST JOSEPH METUCHEN QUAD
Delsea 67 - Donovan Catholic 12 (BOX SCORE)
St Joe's (Metuchen) 51 - Donovan Catholic 12 (BOX SCORE)
Seton Hall Prep 69 - Donovan Catholic 9 (BOX SCORE)
1/10: B-SOUTH
Donovan Catholic 52 - Manchester 24 (BOX SCORE)
Donovan: Colon, Foendoe, Mulligan, Bova, Russo, & Gutierrez win by fall
Manchester: Espinal & Anderson win by pin
1/6: SHORE CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT
Donovan Catholic - 5th Place
4 Medal Winners
1st: Kurt Wehner (120)
2nd: Sawyer Ostroff (126) / Sam Rock (Hwt)
6th: Riley Gutierrez (138)
Despite having only four entrants in the tournament, the Griffins managed to finish in 5th-place as a team, the highest finish in the program's history. Three Griffins made it to the finals, and senior Kurt Wehner made history by becoming Donovan's first ever SCT Champion.
1/3: B-SOUTH
Pt Boro 41 - Donovan Catholic 23 (BOX SCORE)
Pt Boro: Hynes, Matta, & Weiland win by fall; Clayton techs
Donovan: Wehner d. Burgio, 3-0; Russo pins; Ostroff techs
12/27: MUSTANG CLASSIC at Brick Memorial
Donovan Catholic - 12th Place
1st: Kurt Wehner (120)
2nd: Sam Rock (Hwt)
12/18: B-SOUTH
Donovan Catholic 64 - Barnegat 12 (BOX SCORE)
Donovan: Bova, Mulligan, Russo, Gutierrez, Kountouris, Colon, Foendoe, & Rock win by pin
Barnegat: Hickey & Concepcion win by decision
12/16: BEAST OF THE EAST
12/16: ROBIN LEFF TOURNAMENT at Southern
Top 5 Finishers
4th: Brody Kountouris (157)
12/14: B-SOUTH
Donovan Catholic 70 - Lakewood 6 (BOX SCORE)
Donovan: Pins: Vezzosi, Bova, Mulligan, Wehner, Ostroff, Russo, Gutierrez, Colon & Rock
Lakewood: Perez wins by forfeit
2024 Donovan Catholic Wrestling
Head Coach: Lex Knapp (3rd Season / Career: 21-26)
B-South / NPB / District 23 / Region 6
Where They Open: 12/14 at Lakewood
Opening Tournament: 12/16 - Beast of the East
While the 10-15 mark from 2023 might not look like much, Donovan Catholic's schedule was loaded with public and non-public powers that had the team well-prepped for the postseason. A large chunk of last year's well-tested team return, and the Griffins have their eyes on big things in 2024.
Four starters return in the range from 113-126 giving head coach Lex Knapp some flexibility for the dual matchups. Seniors Kurt Wehner and Sawyer Ostroff give the Griffins two hammers down low. Wehner, who enters the season with 70 career wins, won his 2nd District title last season, was the Region 7 champion, and placed 5th in the State, his 2nd career State medal. Ostroff has won 49 matches over the last two seasons, made his 2nd trip to AC last year, and was 3rd at the Shore Conference Tournament. They are joined by returning starters sophomore Hank Mulligan and junior Lucas Bova, providing the Griffins with a nice veteran core to break in some high potential freshmen into the lineup, including Joseph Vezzosi and Anthony Russo, who were both Intermdiate State qualifiers last year.
Juniors Riley Gutierrez and Brody Kountouris lead the charge in the middle of the lineup. Gutierrez has wo 41 matches in his first two seasons and is 2-time Distritc medal winner. He wrestled up at 165 last season, and could be an absolute force down at 138 this season. Kountouris is also a 2-time District medal winner, and was a 20-bout winner in 2022.
Up at heavyweight, senior Sam Rock is coming off of a 24-win season in which he advanced to Atlantic City after taking 4th at the Region 7 Tournament. He should be one of the top heavies in the Shore Conference this season, and could be a podium contender come March.
Donovan returns some strong veteran talent that are going to rack up the victories. If the young guys that were in the lineup last season take the next step forward, and the promising freshmen can make the contributions they're capable of, this could be as good a team as the program has had. The schedule is again quite daunting, with duals against St John Vianney, Brick Memorial, Delsea, St Peter's Prep, St Joseph's, etc. as well as tournaments like the Beast of the East and the Mustang Classic, so this is a team that is going to be tested early and often.
Possible Lineup
Wgt | Wrestler | 2023 | Notes |
106 | (Fr) Joseph Vezzosi | ||
113 | (So) Hank Mulligan | 7-18 | |
113 | (Jr) Lucas Bova | 7-14 | |
120 | (Sr) Kurt Wehner | 36-6 (D-1st / R-1st / NJ-5th) | 70 career wins / 2x-State Medalist / 2x-District Champ |
120 | (Jr) John Moore | 0-6 | |
126 | (Sr) Sawyer Ostroff | 27-8 (D-3rd / R-3rd / NJ-WB3) | 50 career wins / 2x-State Qualifier |
126 | (Fr) Jason Mrocka | ||
132 | (Fr) Anthony Russo | ||
138 | (Jr) Riley Gutierrez | 21-11 (D-2nd / R-PQ) | 2x-District medalist |
144/150 | (Sr) Anthony DeCaro | 2-15 | |
157 | (Jr) Brody Kountouris | 14-15 (D-3rd / R-PQ) | 2x-District medalist |
165 | (So) Brian Garcia | ||
175 | (So) Michael Colon | 7-17 | |
190 | (Fr) Diondre Foendoe | ||
215 | (So) Connor Burns | 2-22 | |
Hwt | (Sr) Sam Rock | 24-12 (D-2nd / R-4th / NJ-WB1) |
711 Hooper Ave
Toms River, NJ 08753
(732) 349-8801
(Ocean County)
~ SCHOOL WEBSITE ~
Mascot
Griffins
Colors
Royal Blue & White
Head Coach
Lex Knapp
(3rd Season in 2024)
Assistants
Mark Grey
Devin Geohegan
Danny Moore (Volunteer)
Cristiaan Dailey (Volunteer)
Section
Non-Public B
Division
B-South
District
23
Region
6
5 - State Medalist
Last: Kurt Wehner & Sawyer Ostroff - 2024
7 - Region Champions
Last: Kurt Wehner & Sawyer Ostroff - 2024
23 - District Champions
Last: Kurt Wehner, Sawyer Ostroff, Joseph Vezzosi, & Sam Rock - 2024
1 - SCT Champion
Kurt Wehner in 2024
9 - SCT Medalists
Last: 4 in 2024
Career Wins Record - 115
Cristiaan Dailey
(2015-2018)
Season Wins - 40
Cristiaan Dailey
(2018)
100 Career Wins Club
Cristiaan Dailey - 115
Salvatore DiSalvo - 104
Kurt Wehner - 103*
*Includes wins from TR East