District 24 Tournament
at Pt Pleasant Boro

DISTRICT 24 TRACK WRESTLING PAGE

 

DISTRICT PAGES
17  /  18  /  19  /  20  /  21  /  22  /  23  /  24  /  25  /  26  /  27  

 

Team Champion: Colts Neck

TOP 4 FINISHERS

106
1st: Ethan Michaels (Colts Neck)
2nd: Josiah Sweeney (Freehold Boro)
3rd: Jaxon Zalepka (Freehold Twp)
4th: WilliamHuchko (Jackson Liberty)

113
1st: Joey DeAngelo (Pt Boro)
2nd: Anthony Urso (Jackson Liberty)
3rd: Xavier Moy (Burlington Twp)
4th: Sam Sheridan (Freehold Boro)

Teams
Burlington Twp
Colts Neck
Freehold Boro
Freehold Twp
Jackson Liberty
Manalapan
Monmouth Reg
New Egypt
Pt Boro

Shore Stuff

 

Top 4 Seeds
1st: Ethan Michaels (106) / Mykhailo Shvets (144) / Tyler Russ (150) / Amir Shakhnavazov (215)
2nd: Matt Anderson (138)
3rd: Nicholas Fischer (157) / Brody Kaplan (165) / Dean Natale (175)
4th: Michael Borao (126) / Matt Liggio (Hwt)

The Cougars have had 29 District Champions in their history, more than half of them have come during their current streak of 6 seasons with at least one District Champion. They look to add to those numbers behind a District high 4 #1 seeds.

Ethan Michaels, Tyler Russ, and Amir Shakhnavazov were finalists in last year's District 24 Tournament. Shakhnavazov is a 2-time runner-up, and was a win away from Atlantic City last season. In addition to Russ's 2nd-place finish last season, he finished 3rd in 2022, and punched a ticket to AC after finishing 4th at Regions. Michaels, who was 6th in the Region last season, was the Cougars' highest placer at this year's Shore Conference Tournament, taking 2nd at 106. 

The Cougars's 4th #1 seed is senior Mykhailo Shvets, who holds a pinfall victory over #2 Anthony Mucciolo of Manalapan.

 

 

Top 4 Seeds
1st: Carter Stokes (Hwt)
2nd: Josiah Sweeney (106)
3rd: Sam Sheridan (113)

The Colonials enter this year's tournament coming off one of their better District stretches in the program's history. They've crowned multiple champions for the last 3 tournaments, the first time they've done that since 1962-1964. They've also finished in the Top 3 as a team in each of the last 2 seasons.

Carter Stokes is the Colonials' lone top-seed. The senior, who split time at 215 & heavyweight, was tied for the team lead in wins, and was a 5th-place finisher at 215 in this year's Shore Conference Tournament. 

Josiah Sweeney and Sam Sheridan also received Top 3 seeds. Sweeney, the #2 seed at 106, was 3rd-place at 106 last year. Sheridan, the #3 seed at 113, is a 2-time medal winner, and was 6th at Regions last year.
 

 

Top 4 Seeds
1st: Ryan Dubnik (132)
3rd: Tyler Muranelli (144)
4th: Jack McCormick (138) / Peter Gosza (175)

Injury has really wreaked havoc on the 2nd half of Ryan Dubnik's high school career. The senior missed just about all of his junior year after suffering an injury on opening weekend. Prior to that, he was a District Champion in his sophomore year, and punched a ticket to Atlantic City after taking 2nd at Regions. He looks to be the Patriots' best shot at continuing their streak of 9 seasons with a District Champion, the longest streak in the program's history.

 

 

Top 4 Seeds
1st: Tucker Pazinko (126) / Ksawery Niewiadomy (190)
2nd: Anthony Urso (113) / Armani McCann (120) / Jordan Ayyash (157) / Mark Agban (215) / Brett Benecke (Hwt)
3rd: William Huchko (106) / Peter LaBianca (138)
 

The Lions have never won a District Team Title, but have a very good shot at winning their first this season with 9 wrestlers seeded in the money, tied for the most with Pt Boro.

Tucker Pazinko and Ksawery Niewiadomy earned top-seeds for Liberty. Pazinko, the top-seed at 126, was a runner-up last season and advanced to Atlantic City after finishing 3rd at Regions. He split a pair of bouts this season against #2 seed Frankie Burgio of Pt Boro. Niewiadomy has been a huge boost to the top of the lineup for the Lions. The senior, who moved into Jackson from Poland, recorded 24 victories this year, with 21 of those wins coming with bonus. He wrestled the #2 seeded Constantine Kilaras of Manalapan in the Shore Conference Tournament, winning by fall in the 3rd period.

Among the Lions' 5 #2 seeds are Anthony Urso, a returning State Qualifier and 3-time Region Top 5 finisher, and Jordan Ayyash and Armani McCann, who both finished one win shy of a trip to Atlantic City last year.

 

 

Top 4 Seeds
1st: Andrew Mucciolo (120) / Vinny Kain (138)
2nd: Anthony Mucciolo (144) / Donny Tibbet (175)  Constantine Kilaras (190)
3rd: Gage Grant (132)
4th: Ardit Gola (165)

The Braves set a program record last year with 6 District Champions. Two of those champions are back in seniors Andrew Mucciolo and Vinny Kain, who are the Braves' two #1 seeds. Both wrestlers are looking for their 3rd Titles for Manalapan, a feat that has been done 8 times previously for the program, most recently by Matt Benedetti in 2020.

 

 

 

Top 4 Seeds
2nd: Luke Palmieri (165)
4th: Ryan Walsh (132) / Joseph Preziose (150)

The Falcons have an active streak of 6 seasons with at least one District medal winner. Their medal winner from last year, junior Ryan Walsh, took 2nd last season after defeating the top-seed in the semifinals. Can lightning strike twice? Walsh is a rare 4/5 quarterfinal match between two previous medal winners as he takes on Freehold Boro's Riley Tate, a 3rd-place finisher in 2022. The two met last week, with Walsh winning a 12-6 decision.

Monmouth's highest seed is #2 Luke Palmieri, who had some solid wins wrestling at both 157 & 165. Among those wins was a pin at the Shore Conference Tournament against potential semifinal opponent, Brody Kaplan of Colts Neck.
 

 

Top 4 Seeds
1st: Joey DeAngelo (113) / Jake Clayton (157) / Ryan Acquisto (165)
2nd: Frankie Burgio (126)
3rd: West Matta (120) / Braden Pratt (150) / Tanner Hynes (190) / Ryan Jankowski (215) / George Walsh (Hwt)
4th: Michael DeAngelo (106)

The Panthers' current streak of 26 seasons with a District Champion is tied with Southern Regional for the 2nd longest active streak in the Shore Conference. Two members of the current lineup have played key roles in keeping the streak alive in Frankie Burgio, who was the Panthers' lone champion in 2022, and Joey DeAngelo, who was the lone champ in 2023. Burgio, who suffered an injury in Boro's Sectional Quarterfinal win over Holmdel, is back in the lineup and seeded #2 at 126. A 2-time State Qualifier, Burgio has split a pair of bouts with #1 seed Tucker Pazinko of Jackson Liberty.

DeAngelo, also a 2-time State Qualifier, is 1 of 3 top seeds for Boro. He is joined by Ryan Acquisto, a 2-time medal winner, and freshman phenom Jake Clayton, who led all freshmen in the Shore with 32 wins. 

 

Team Title Prediction

Jackson Liberty

Champions Prediction

106: Michaels (Colts Neck)
113: DeAngelo (Pt Boro)
120: Mucciolo (Manalapan)
126: Pazinko (Jackson Liberty)
132: Dubnik (Freehold Twp)
138: Kain (Manalapan)
144: Mucciolo (Manalapan)
150: Russ (Colts Neck)
157: Clayton (Pt Boro)
165: Acquisto (Pt Boro)
175: Davis (Burlington Twp)
190: Niewiadomy (Jackson Liberty)
215: Shakhnavazov (Colts Neck)
Hwt: Stokes (Freehold Boro)
 

Previous Advancement