District 20 Tournament
at Middletown North High School
 

DISTRICT 20 TRACK WRESTLING PAGE

 

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TEAM CHAMPION: Raritan

 

2023 Medal Winners

106
1st: Brady Klinsky (Middletown North)
2nd: Nicholas Sheldrick (Raritan)
3rd: Joseph Veniskey (Middletown South)
4th: Arthur Torrone (RBC)

113
1st: Richard Gomez (Matawan)
2nd: Kevin Ruland (Red Bank) 
3rd: Aidan Daivs (Raritan)
4th: Anthony Astorino (Middletown North)

120
1st: Lawrence Liss (Matawan)
2nd: Noah Michaels (RBC)
3rd: Jacob Portman (Middletown North)
4th: Dom Sena (Red Bank)

126
1st: Jack Zaleski (Middletown South)
2nd: Ryan Mansueto (Raritan)
3rd: Alexander Liss (Matawan)
4th: Anthony DeGaetano (RBC)

132
1st: Alex Delaurier (Raritan)
2nd: Dominic Terracciano (Keansburg)
3rd: Justin Fearon (Middletown North)
4th: Michael Milke (RBC)

138
1st: Zach Reilley (Raritan)
2nd: Colin Oden (Middletown North)
3rd: Robert Connelley (RBC)
4th: Ryan Willi (Middletown South)

144
1st: Braden Kmak (Raritan)
2nd: Alec Holland (Middletown South)
3rd: Marco Conroy (RBC)
4th: Ian Mendez (Keansburg)

150
1st: Colin Palumbo (Matawan)
2nd: Michael Simoniello (Middltown South)
3rd: Logan Acevedo (Raritan)
4th: Gavin Lisko (Red Bank)

157
1st: David Hussey (Middletown South)
2nd: Matt Castelli (Middletown North)
3rd: Jonathan Cohen (Red Bank)
4th: VJ Muscillo (RBC)

165
1st: Frank Romeo (RBC)
2nd: Robert Mulligan (Raritan)
3rd: Kyle Smith (Middletown South)
4th: Daniel Benbrook (Middletown North)

175
1st: Sabino Portella (RBC)
2nd: Tyler Palumbo (Red Bank)
3rd: Lance Santos (Matawan)
4th: Christian Cueto (Middletown North)

190
1st: Michael Palmieri (RBC)
2nd: Kieran Falzon (Raritan(
3rd: Christopher Taddeo (Middletown South)
4th: Matt Metrick (Keyport)

215
1st: Lucas Ainbinder (Middletown North)
2nd: Evan Eckerstrom (Red Bank)
3rd: Jonathan Gazerwitz (Raritan)
4th: Seif Wahby (Matawan)

Hwt
1st: Lorenzo Portella (RBC)
2nd: Thomas Whyte (Middletown South)
3rd: Michael Menture (Keansburg)
4th: Riyan Bhutto (Raritan)

 

 

 

Projected Start Times
Start time: 9:00am
Semis: 12:00pm
Finals: 2:00pm

 

Shore Stuff

 

Keansburg has not had a District medal winner since Liam Riecks finished in 2nd place at 220 in 2019. The last Titan to win a District Title was in 2017 when Paul Liseno, who went on to win 2 more District Titles and a State medal for St John Vianney, won at heavyweight. Coincidentally, the highest seeded Titan this year is Dom Terracciano (#2 at 132), a junior who finished 5th at Regions last season while attending St John Vianney. Keansburg also has a trio of 3-seeds in Shawn Retta (157), Darren Deangelo (215), and Michael Menture (Hwt). If the seeds hold, the Titans would have multiple medal winners for the first time since 2017, when Liseno, Riecks, and David Clayton reached the podium.
 

 

The Red Raiders likely aren't going to end the Shore's 4th longest District Title drought, but they will take their shot at getting their first District medal since Shane Zimmerman placed 3rd at 182 in 2020. Their best shot looks to be at 190, where senior Matt Metrick earned the 3rd seed.

 

 

Two Huskies received #1 seeds with Lawrence Liss, a returning champion and a state qualifier, getting the top seed at 120, and Colin Palumbo, a 3rd place finisher at Districts last year, getting #1 at 150. Ricky Gomez, a State qualifier in 2021 and a 6th place finisher in the Region in 2022, is the #2 seed at 113 and will be aiming to give the Huskies their 2nd 3-time medal winner in three years. Also seeded in the top 3 was Lance Santos (#3 at 175), while Alexander Liss (126) and Seif Wahby (215) were seeded 4th.

 

 

The Lions' 150 District Champions trails only Howell for the all-time lead in Monmouth County. The Lions have had multiple champions in 6 of the 8 seasons in their current champion streak, and have had a Klinsky win a championship in each of their last 5 Districts. They are currently tied for 2nd most District Team Titles for a Monmouth County school at 14 with Howell and Long Branch, trailing only Ocean Township's 18. They picked up a pair of top seeds in this year's tournament with Brady Klinsky, a defending champion and a State qualifier, getting the #1 at 106, while Lucas Ainbinder is the #1 at 215. North also received #2 seeds for Colin Oden (138) and Matt Castelli (157), while Jacob Portman (120), Nicholas Wall (126), and Justin Fearon (132) were seeded 3rd.

 

 

South buzz-sawed its way to the Team Title last season, advancing 13 of its 14 entrants, and claiming 7 individual titles, which matched a program high. Only 3 of those medal winners are back, led by #1 seeds Jack Zaleski (126), a 3-time State medalist, and 3-time State qualifier David Hussey (157), who would both likely be trying to become 4-timers if it weren't for there being no Districts in 2021. Heavyweight Thomas Whyte was seeded 2nd, while Alex Holland (144) and Kyle Smith (165) were seeded 3rd.

 

 

The CJG2 champion Rockets currently have the longest active streak of seasons with a District Champion among all Monmouth County programs. They've had multiple champs in 16 of those 20 seasons which has helped push them up to the 5th most all-time in Monmouth County, and 8th in the Shore Conference on the District Champion list. Led by a District-high four #1 seeds, Alex Delaurier (132), Zach Reilley (138), Braden Kmak (144), and Kieran Falzon (190), the Rockets will make a bid for their 10th District Team Title. Raritan has three more wrestlers seeded in medal position, with Nicholas Sheldrick (106), Ryan Mansueto (126), and Bobby Mulligan (165) all seeded 2nd, but expect a couple more to break through here.
 

 

With Sabino (175) and Lorenzo (Hwt) Portella's District Title wins last season, RBC had multiple champs for the first time since 1989. Both Sabino and Lorenzo are looking to become the Caseys' first 2-time champs since Mike Schower went back to back at 215 in 2000 & 2001. Both the Portellas, as well as Frank Romeo (165), received #1 seeds, Noah Michaels (120), Marco Conroy (144), and Michael Palmieri (190) were seeded 2nd, and Robert Muscio was seeded 3rd at 150.
 

 

Phil Stolfa, who graduated as the program's all-time wins leader, ended a 9-year title drought for the Bucs last season. The Bucs will now look to make it two years in a row with a champion for the first time since Brandon Scott went back to back in 2002 & 2003. Top contenders for the Bucs look to be top-seeded Kevin Ruland at 113, as well as #2 seeds Gavin Lisko (150), Tyler Palumbo (175), and Evan Eckerstrom (215). 

 

Weight To Watch

120: The top 5 seeds here are all 20+ match winners, while the 6th seed is a 16-win freshman (Michael Burke of Keansburg). #1 Lawrence Liss is a returning champion for Matawan, and a state qualifier last season. #2 RBC's Noah Michaels placed 3rd last season, and defeated #3 Jacob Portman (Midd North), 4-0, back in December. #4 Dom Sena of Red Bank finished 4th at Districts last year, while the 5th-seeded Matt Erven of Raritan defeated Sena in last year's 3rd place match at 113.

Team Title Prediction

This one could potentially turn out to be one of the better multiple team races if a thing or two break here or there. Middletown North, Raritan, Red Bank, and RBC all have 7 Top 3 seeds, but Raritan has the edge with a tournament best four #1 seeds. A big upset along the way could really shake things up, but I think Raritan takes this by having some of their guys seeded outside the Top 4 picking up some big wins to give them the edge.

Champions Prediction

106: Klinsky (Midd North)
113: Ruland (Red Bank)
120: Liss (Matawan)
126: Zaleski (Midd South)
132: Delaurier (Raritan)
138: Reilley (Raritan)
144: Kmak (Raritan)
150: Palumbo (Matawan)
157: Hussey (Midd South)
165: Romeo (RBC)
175: S Portella (RBC)
190: Falzon (Raritan)
215: Ainbinder (Midd North)
Hwt: L Portella (RBC)

 

Advancement History