Overall Record: 7-6 / F-Division: 2-0
1/22: F-DIVISION
Manalapan 44 - Brick Twp 23 (BOX SCORE)
Manalapan: Bennett, Hardy, & Repetti win by pin; Farrell & Grant tech; Vargas majors
Brick Twp: L D'Elia & Gordillo pin; Olimov & Leonard major
1/21: NON-DIVISION
#8 Howell 62 - Manalapan 11 (BOX SCORE)
Howell: Johnston, Maghan, Casella, Ortega, Going, & O'Rourke pin; Stapleton techs; Normandia, Purrelli, & Del Prete major
Manalapan: Pasquince wins by fall; Grant techs
1/18: BARNEGAT QUAD
Manalapan 47 - Barnegat 26 (BOX SCORE)
Manalapan 61 - Monmouth 12 (BOX SCORE)
Manalapan 47 - Pinelands 24 (BOX SCORE)
Manalapan: Grant, Pasquince, Tibbitt, & Bennett go 3-0
1/16: NON-DIVISION
Wall 46 - Manalapan 30 (BOX SCORE)
Wall: Quinn (16-3); Marsella (15-3); DiStefano (15-6); Mahoney (12-7)
Manalapan: Grant (13-2); Tibbitt (11-4); DiGregorio (10-6)
1/15: NON-DIVISION
Manalapan 58 - Freehold Twp (BOX SCORE)
Manalapan: 11th consecutive win over Patriots; Pasquince & Hill pin; DiGregorio, Giudice, & Vargas tech
Free Twp: Tendencia & White win by pin
1/11: COLTS NECK QUAD
Colts Neck 55 - Manalapan 14 (BOX SCORE)
Middle Twp 51 - Manalapan 27 (BOX SCORE)
Manalapan 53 - Manchester 24 (BOX SCORE)
1/8: F-DIVISION
Manalapan 39 - Freehold Boro 38 (BOX SCORE)
Manalapan: Braves win on criteria B; Farrell, Grant, DiGregorio, Pasquince, & Vargas win by pin
Free Boro: Sweeney, S Murphy, Bartuck, J Murphy, Ramirez, & Nieto win by fall
1/4: JACKSON LIBERTY TRI
Brick Memorial 54 - Manalapan 19 (BOX SCORE)
Jackson Liberty 45 - Manalapan 22 (BOX SCORE)
Manalapan: Pasquince wins twice by major
12/28: WALTER WOODS TOURNAMENT
Manalapan - 2nd Place
1st: Gage Grant (138)
2nd: Donny Tibbitt (175)
3rd: Jack Hardy (103) / Michael Farrell (113) / Kevin Pasquince (150)
12/21: RON MAZZOLA MEMORIAL
Manalapan - 17th Place
2025 Manalapan Braves
Head Coach: James Somma (2nd Season / 12-17)
Assistants: Paul Santomarco / AJ Sortino / Maureen Kirchoff / Reggie Hodge-Grant / Jordan Adelson
2024 Record: 12-17
For the 2nd consecutive season, the Braves enter the year after saying goodbye to a very talented senior class. This season, six District medal winners were lost to graduation, one year following the departure of five senior District medalists. A mix of returning upperclassmen that have gotten some experience in behind those senior classes, and some promising newcomers, comprise this year's team looking to get the program back to its winning ways after a rare sub .500 season.
Junior Gage Grant is the returning wins leader from a season ago, with 25 victories, including a 1st-place finish at the Walter Woods Tournament, and 2nd-place finish at the TC NJ Pride Tournament. He's part of a group in the lower half of the lineup that should be a pretty even mix of upperclassmen and the frosh/sophs. Among those freshmen and sophomores are returning starter Aiden Spezio and Chase Zardavets, who got 11 varsity matches to his credit last season. Potential freshmen in the lineup could include a pair down at 106/113 consisting of Jack Hardy and Michael Farrell. Hardy placed 8th at last year's Intermediate School State Tournament, while Farrell finished just one win short of a medal at the tourney.
The Braves should be a bit more experienced up top. Junior Donnie Tibbitt is the lone returning District medal winner from last season, as he placed 2nd in District 24 at 175. Seniors Matt Giudice and Reggie Bennett are returning starters and fellow senior Joe Hughes and juniors Kevin Pasquince and Will Vargas will look to capitalize off the varsity action they saw last season. Keep an eye on Bennett who had a few nice wins at heavyweight last season.
An A-North mainstay, with the new divisional formats the Braves move into the F-Division where they will compete with Freehold Boro, Keansburg, Brick Twp, and TR South. They have about a month's worth of season before they face any of their divisional foes which will be beneficial as the new starters get adjusted into the varsity lineup, as the Braves take a run at divisional championship #13.
Wgt | Wrestler | Record | Post Season |
106/113 | (Fr) Michael Farrell | ||
106/113 | (Fr) Jack Hardy | ||
120 | (So) Aiden Spezio | 12-20 | |
126 | (Jr) Chris Lane | ||
132 | (Sr) Mike Burns | 1-12 | |
132 | (Sr) Zavier Nichols | ||
138 | (Jr) Gage Grant | 25-13 | D-4th |
144 | (Sr) Kyle DiGregorio | 0-11 | |
144 | (So) Chase Zardavets | 2-9 | |
150/157 | (Sr) Matt Giudice | 11-15 | |
150/157 | (Jr) Kevin Pasquince | 6-5 | |
165 | (Jr) Will Vargas | 0-3 | |
175 | (Jr) Donnie Tibbitt | 19-18 | D-2nd / R-PQ |
175 | (Sr) Joe Hughes | 2-9 | |
190 | (Jr) Simon Guziewicz | ||
190 | (Fr) Anthony Purino | ||
215 | (Jr) Aidan Hilt | ||
Hwt | (Sr) Reggie Bennett | 8-11 |
Manalapan High School
20 Church Lane
Englishtown, NJ 07726
(732) 792-7200
@brave_wrestling
Program Esablished
1973
Mascot
Braves
Colors
Scarlet, Navy, & White
Head Coach
James Somma
(2nd Season in 2025)
Assistants
Paul Santomarco
AJ Sortino
Maureen Kirchoff
Reggie Hodge-Grant
Jordan Adelson
Section
-
Division
F-Division
District
21
Region
6
4 - Sectional Titles
Last: CJG5 in 2020
10 - District Team Titles
Last: D18 in 2023
3 - SCT Titles
Last: 2003
9 - Divisional Titles
Last: A-North in 2003
4 - State Champions
Last: Indra Sulijoadikisumo in 1992
25 - State Medalists
Last: Gavin Claro in 2021
26 - Region Champions
Last: John Appice in 2013
116 - District Champions
Last: Vinny Kain & Constantine Kilaras - 2024
2 - SCT Champions
Last: Matt Benedetti in 2020
8 - SCT Medalists
Last: Andrew Mucciolo - 2024
Career Wins Record - 146
Matt Benedetti
(2017-2020)
Season Wins Record - 43
Alex Baran
(2019)
Matt Benedetti
(2020)
100 Career Wins Club |
Matt Benedetti | 146 |
Alex Baran | 123 |
John Appice | 120 |
Paul Santomarco | 118 |
Mike Aronson | 105 |
Andrew Mucciolo | 103 |
Mike Gaeta | 102 |
Nick Manochio | 101 |
Joe Santomarco | 100 |