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  Overall Record: 6-23 Division Record: 0-4

 

2026 Season Recap
 
TEAM ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Record: 6-23 (0-4)
1 State Medalist
1 Region Champion / 1 Medalist
2 District Champions / 5 Medalists
2 Shore Conference Tournament Medalists
CJG4 Sectional Semifinalists
4th Place District 24
5th Place D-Division
19th Place Shore Conference Tournament
3rd Place Elizabeth Minuteman Invitational (3 Champs / 6 Top 5)
 
STATE QUALIFIERS
190: (Sr) Tornick Kajaia (5th Place)
 
MILESTONES & ACHIEVEMENTS
Tornick Kajaia
 - 138 Career Wins (#4 at Long Branch)
 - 45 Season Wins (New Program Record)
 
 
SHORECONFERENCEWRESTLING.com WRESTLER OF THE YEAR
(Sr) Tornick Kajaia - 190
 - Record: 45-3
 - Ranked #2 in Shore Conference
 - 5th Place NJSIAA Tournament
 - Region 6 Champion
 - District 24 Champion
 - 3rd Place Shore Conference Tournament
 - Elizabeth Minuteman Invitational Champion
 

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NJSIAA TOURNAMENT
Long Branch: 1 Medal Winner
5th: Tornick Kajaia
1st State medal for Kajaia; 37th State medal winner for Long Branch, and first since 2023 (Joey Giordano); 3rd most State medals in Monmouth County history, 7th in the Shore Conference; Kajaia will wrestle at TCNJ next season

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REGION 6 TOURNAMENT
Long Branch: 1 Champion / 1 Medal Winner
1st: Tornick Kajaia
WB1: Jordan Vieira (120) / Tristen Hepburn (138) / Nickolas Soria (Hwt)
PQ: Fredy Morales (215)
Kajaia is the Green Wave's first Region champion since Ryan Zimmerman won his second title in 2020. He is their first 4-time medal winner since Zimmerman as well.
Long Branch now has 40 champions total, the seventh most all-time in the Shore Conference.
LB has had at least one medal winner for four consecutive seasons.

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DISTRICT 24 TOURNAMENT
Long Branch: 4th Place / 2 Champions / 5 Medal Winners
1st: Tristen Hepburn (138) / Tornick Kajaia (190)
2nd: Fredy Morales (215)
3rd: Jordan Vieira (120) / Nickolas Soria (Hwt)

4th: Ryan Jeffery (106) / Diego Mota (157)
A pair of champs raises the Green Wave's total haul to 154, the 6th most in the Shore Conference, and the 3rd most in Monmouth County.
Kajaia became Long Branch's first multi-champ since Ryan Zimmerman won his 2nd title in 2020. It's the 4th medal for Kajaia.
Hepburn is LB's first underclassmen to win a title since Joseph Conlon & Jack Friedman won as sophomores in 2019.







CJG4 STATE SECTIONALS
QF: #7 Long Branch 31 - #2 Hightstown 30 (BOX SCORE)
SF: #3 Steinert 42 - #7 Long Branch 31 (BOX SCORE)


2/14: MANALAPAN TRI
Long Branch 48 - Manalapan 27 (BOX SCORE)
South Plainfield 50 - Long Branch 27 (BOX SCORE)


2/7: LONG BRANCH QUAD
Pt Boro 59 - Long Branch 10 (BOX SCORE)
Matawan 44 - Long Branch 23 (BOX SCORE)
Robbinsville 41 - Long Branch 27 (BOX SCORE)


2/4: D-DIVISION
#8 Colts Neck 72 - Long Branch 3 (BOX SCORE)
Colts Neck: D-Division Champions; 4th Divisional Title for Cougars
Long Branch: Nicklas Soria (17-9)



1/31: JP STEVENS QUAD
East Brunswick 45 - Long Branch 33 (BOX SCORE)
Bayonne 30 - Long Branch 29 (BOX SCORE)
Long Branch 69 - JP Stevens 5 (BOX SCORE)


1/30: NON-CONFERENCE
Paramus 32 - Long Branch 27 (BOX SCORE)
Long Branch: Kajaia (24-1); Soria (14-8); Jeffery (12-10); Vieira (19-7); Mota (14-7)


1/24: SHORE CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT
Long Branch - 19th Place

3rd: Tornick Kajaia (190)
5th: Jordan Vieira (1260)

Tornick Kajaia became the Green Wave's first 4-time SCT medal winner, placing 3rd in the stacked 190-pound bracket. Junior Jordan Vieira earned his first medal, taking 5th at 120, as the pair helped Long Branch finish inside the top 20, as they have in each previous SCT.


1/21: D-DIVISION
#11 TR East 45 - Long Branch 22 (BOX SCORE)
TRE: L Taylor, Lenaghan, Sickler, & McHugh pin; C Taylor techs
Long Branch: Mota & Soria pin; Celius majors



1/17: JACK WELCH DUALS
Cinnaminson 45 - Long Branch 25 (BOX SCORE)
Kingsway 57 - Long Branch 9 (BOX SCORE)
Middle Twp 37 - Long Branch 31 (BOX SCORE)
Long Branch 59 - Egg Harbor 12 (BOX SCORE)
Long Branch 41 - Moorestown 32 (BOX SCORE)


1/14: D-DIVISION
TR South 35 - Long Branch 29 (BOX SCORE)
TRS: Hwt - #6 Reed d #7 Soria; Beneciuk & Rankin pin
Long Branch: Celius & Hepburn pin; Kajaia techs



1/10: OCEAN TOWNSHIP TRI
#6 Jackson Twp 53 - Long Branch 13 (BOX SCORE)
Ocean Twp 55 - Long Branch 15 (BOX SCORE)


1/7: D-DIVISION
#9 Middletown South 38 - Long Branch 20 (BOX SCORE)
Midd South: Brett, O'Reilly, T Alweiss, Smolensky, Trezza, & Sprague with bonus wins
Long Branch: Kajaia wins by tech



1/3: ELIZABETH MINUTEMAN INVITATIONAL
Long Branch - 3rd Place
1st: Jordan Vieira (120) / Tristen Hepburn (138) / Tornick Kajaia (190)
3rd: Nickolas Soria (Hwt)
5th: Diego Mota (157) / Sam Brewer (175)


Jordan Vieira - Minuteman Invitational Outstanding Wrestler

12/30: WOODSTOWN QUAD
Woodstown 36 - Long Branch 35 (BOX SCORE)
Long Branch 36 - Northern Burlington 35 (BOX SCORE)
Audobon 42 - Long Branch 27 (BOX SCORE)
Long Branch: Tornick Kajaia career win #100


Tornick Kajaia - 100th Career Win


12/20: RIDGE QUAD
West Essex 39 - Long Branch 18 (BOX SCORE)
Ridge 54 - Long Branch 19 (BOX SCORE)
High Point 46 - Long Branch 21 (BOX SCORE)


12/17: NON-DIVISION
Brick Memorial 58 - Long Branch 14 (BOX SCORE)
Brick Mem: DiMatteo, J Mulligan, Napolitano, H Mulligan, & Delaplain win by pin
Long Branch: Kajaia pins; Vieira techs




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Long Branch High School
404 Indiana Avenue
Long Branch, NJ 07740
(732) 229-7300

Mascot: Green Wave / Colors: Green & White
Head Coach: Billy George (5th Season in 2026)
Assistants: Luke Balina / Lou De Angelis / Kevin Mammano / Nick Visicaro
Section: CJG4 / Division: D / District: 24 / Region: 6
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2026 Long Branch Wrestling
Head Coach: Billy George (5th Season in 2026 / 54-33)
Assistants: Luke Balina / Lou De Angelis / Kevin Mammano / Nick Visicaro
Section: CJG4 / Division: D / District: 24 / Region: 6


After a slow start to the season in 2025, the Green Wave won 11 of their final 13 duals on their way to the program's 7th Sectional title. With half of the starters from that group lost to graduation, the Wave's lineup will get a bit of a makeover as they head into the 2026 season.

Tornick Kajaia leads the charge for LB. The senior, who was a win away from a medal in AC last season, enters the season with 93 career wins, and will be the anchor up top. A pair of juniors return to help provide experience in the uppers along with Kornick. Nick Soria registered 16 wins as a sophomore at heavyweight last season, and showed the potential to be the next great heavyweight for the Wave. Diego Mota showed flashes getting time in the lineup behind last year's starting group. Several newcomers will look to make an impact in the open slots in the lineup, among the are freshman Luis Alves, who was a medal winner at Intermediate States last year.

The young lowerweights from last season are a year older and will be looking to build off the momentum they gained as the season progressed last season. Jordan Vieira was one really turned it up as the year moved on. He had some strong wins, and hung in with some of the bigger names, on his way to a solid finish with 24 wins, a 3rd place finish at Districts, and ending up one win away from a trip to Atlantic City. Sophomore Tristan Hepburn also showed a ton of promise, and could be a candidate for a breakout season for LB. Senior Dom Lugo and junior Justin Ramos are entering their third seasons in the varsity lineup, and can give coach Billy George a couple experienced pieces to break in some more of their young talent into the lineup around.

With the losses of seven starters to graduation, and the transfer of Javier Guzman (1st-D22 / 6th-R6) to RBC, there will be a lot of new faces in the lineup. Fortunately for the Green Wave, they had a solid cast on the depth chart behind that group that are looking to step right in to the "next man up" mantra. There's also good numbers from a promising freshmen group looking to make an impact. It wouldn't be surprising at all to see the Green Wave follow a script similar to last season where they might not get off to the fastest start, but become a championship-level team once things get rolling, as they did on their way to the CJG4 title last season.

Possible Lineup in 2026
Wgt Wrestler Record Post Season
106 (Fr) Ryan Jeffery
106 (So) Sudish Ramsanahi 0-4
106 (Fr) Jael Maldonado    
113 (Fr) Alejandro Garcia    
120 (Fr) Vence Viera
120 (Fr) Emmanuel Santana
126 (Jr) Jordan Vieira 24-11 D-3rd / R-5th
132 (So) Louis DeAngelis    
132 (Sr) Dom Lugo 4-19
132 (Jr) Justin Ramos 3-14
132 (Jr) Alex Ramsanahi 1-3  
132 (Jr) Abe Diaz 0-1  
138 (So) Tristan Hepburn 13-14
138 (Jr) Jason Denoia 1-0
138 (So) Ephraim Celius    
144 (So) German Gonzalez    
150 (So) Matteo Delipoli    
150 (Fr) Rhandril Tavares
150 (Jr) Mateus Lopes
157 (Jr) Diego Mota 4-9  
157 (Jr) David Olivera    
157 (Sr) Sam Brewer
157 (Jr) Josh Perez
175 (Fr) Louis Alves    
175 (So) Aiden Lopez    
190 (Sr) Tornick Kajaia 36-4 D-1st / R-2nd / NJ-WB4
190 (Fr) Leo Arcos    
215 (Jr) Fredy Morales    
215 (Sr) Marcos Menjivar    
Hwt (Jr) Nick Soria 16-13 D-4th

Graduated in 2025
Wgt Wrestler Record Post Season
126 Aiden McVey 12-14 D-4th
138 Matthew Munson 20-15 D-2nd / R-WB1
144 Pedro De Souza 17-10  
150 Nehemiah Lambert 4-6  
157 Devon Smith 30-12 D-3rd / R-3rd / NJ-WB2
165 Evan Tracey 15-17 D-4th
190 Tyler Taylor 26-4  
215 Jesus Marino-Quionones 9-9  

Head Coach
Billy George
3 - Group Titles
Last: Group 2 (2010)
7 - Sectional Titles
Last: CJG4 (2025)
14 - District Team Titles
Last: D23 (2020)
3 - SCT Titles
Last: (2010)
25 - Division Titles
Last: B-North (2023)
9 - State Champions
Last: Scott Festejo &
Nick Visicaro (2010)
37 - State Medalists
Last: Tornick Kajaia (2026)
40 - Region Champions
Last: Tornick Kajaia (2026)
154 - District Champions
Last: Tristen Hepburn &
Tornick Kajaia (2026)
1 - SCT Champion
Last: Peter Wersinger (2018)
17 - SCT Medalists
Last: Jordan Vieira & Tornick Kajaia (2026)
Season Wins Record - 45
Tornick Kajaia (2026)



100 Career Wins Club
Nick Visicaro 153
Ryan Zimmerman 147
Scott Festejo 141
Tornick Kajaia 138
Billy George 137
Sam Cole 126
Luke Skove 119
Jon Robertson 118
Jake George 115
Peter Wersinger 106
Andrew Skove 103
Jude Skove 101
Andrew Cornell 100
Nick George 100

 

100 Career Wins Club
(Includes Wins At Other Schools)
Omar Akel - MR 118
Chris Dean - SR 108


MR = Includes wins earned at Monmouth Regional

SR = Includes wins earned at Shore Regional