For the second consecutive season, Delbarton was named top wrestling program in New Jersey, finishing 7-0, Region 2 North champions and home to two state champion wrestlers. The Green Wave also had nine of our 11 state qualifiers finish in the top 8 in the state championships this past weekend in Phillipsburg.
Over the weekend of April 24-25, eleven Delbarton wrestlers participated in the NJ Wrestling Championships, usually held over the first weekend in March at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City. Instead of a packed house with family, friends and wrestling fans, the gym at Phillipsburg High School was filled with socially distanced parents, a few press members and the NJSIAA officials, along with all the qualifying wrestlers.
During Day 1, Delbarton had six wrestlers take the mat in search of a state title. Both
Nico Nardone and
Tyler Vazquez took home third place honors, winning the wrestleback bracket after very tough loses earlier in the day. Nardone finishes his Delbarton career with four state championship appearances, finishing in third place, three times along with a 6th place finish his sophomore year. Joe Davi was one of the wrestlers to watch on day 1, pulling an 8-2 upset of #5 seed Tyler Sagi to earn a spot in the semifinal where he dropped a very close match to #1 ranked and 3x state champion Joey Olivieri. Cross Wasilewsi had a great state final, finishing 5th overall. In the 145 final,
Simon Ruiz dropped a heartbreaker 6-5 to Anthony White in the final, after beating White two times this season, including the region 2 final.
The biggest victory of Day 1 went to freshman Daniel Jones. Jones battled his way through some of the best wrestlers in the state at 106lbs, winning his first state championship after defeating Logan Wadle of North Huterdon 10-0. In the semifinal, Jones faced #1 seed Nico Calello of St. Joes's Metuchen, in a match that would need the ultimate tiebreaker to crown a winner. Tied 2-2, Jones rode out Calello to win the ultimate tiebreaker after neither wrestler got a takedown in sudden victory or was able to escape in ride outs. Jones is the first freshman to win a state championship since
Anthony Clark 5 years ago!
Day Two saw a few less wrestlers for Delbarton, but another champion was crowned for the Green Wave. Freshman Louis Cerchio, who had a fantastic showing at Regions, dropped his semifinal match 8-1, but wrestled his way back to take 6th place overall after a tough 4-3 loss in the fifth place match.
Colin Calvetti also earned 6th place, losing as well in the 170lb 5th place match. To cap off the tournament, junior Andrew Troczynksi came out ready to put last year's loss in the 145lb final behind him for good, pinning his first two opponents before winning a very close 3-2 match in the semifinal against Nathaniel Camiscioli of Bergen Catholic. In the 152lb final, Troczynski defeated Matt Hoelke 8-5 to win his first NJ state wrestling championship.
Congrats to Coach Stoll and the entire wrestling program on another stellar season, and to our two state champions, we are so proud of your accomplishments this season! Go Green Wave!
