NOTE: Here are the results for the opening weekend of high school wrestling action for Home News Tribune and Courier News-area team on Dec. 17 and Dec. 18. Please check back as results will be added ASAP, including info from Blue Devil Classic, Kearny Holiday Tournament and others.
Mike Dessino Invitational
Bridgewater-Raritan crowned five champions and won the 12-team Mike Dessino Invitational with 259 team points, well ahead of second-place Piscataway (172) at host Middlesex High School.
BR’s champions included Akeo Diaz (106, three pins), Lucas Pelc (113, two pins, 7-6 win over Edison’s Eli Sanchez in the quarters), Logan Levine (120, three pins), Danny Smith (132, two pins, 6-0 win in final) and Matthew Di Eduardo (144, two pins, 7-4 win in semis).
The Panthers’ runners-up were Zachary Liu (138) and Nick Heuner (165).
Taking third for the champs were Michael Marsigliano (126), Dane Sorensen (157), Rahul Godha (175), Steven Shimko (190), while Aaron Correia (285) took sixth.
Piscataway placed with a gold medalist and six finishers in the top 4. Malachi Wyatt was the Chiefs’ lone champ with two pins at heavyweight.
Placing second were Messiah Gibbs (106), Ibn LaBoo (144),
Piscataway’s third-place finishers were Marco Meneses (113), Sean Love (132), Brian Butler (138) and Richard Boateng Baah (215). Taking fourth was Tyler Bertrand (165)
Montgomery finished third with 119 points, boosted by its three champions.
Jackson Obe won the 138-pound title with two falls and a 9-3 decision in the final. Austin Allen (165) edged Bridgewater-Raritan’s Nick Heuner 5-3 in the final after two pins and Lucas Allen decisioned Belvidere’s Jacob Hachtmann 3-0 in the 215-pound final.
Gavin Fong (106) placed third for the Cougars and Elhadji Diara (190) was fourth.
Edison finished fourth with 117.5 points. Julian Dawson led the Eagles with his title at 126 pounds. His day included a pin, a 17-5 major in the semifinals and a 27-12 win in the final.
Hany Ghazy fell in the 190-pound final and Jeremy Negron (120) took third. Fernando Avellan (138) took and Jaden De La Barrera (150) each finished fourth.
Middlesex/Dunellen finished seventh and with a champion in RJ Stradling (150) and a pair of third-place finishers, Dakota Clark (165) and Yousef Mohamed (285). Placing fourth was Dominick McQuone (120).
Metuchen’s Francesco Rossiter won the 157-pound title for the Bulldogs.
Plainfield had runners-up in  David Broadway (120), Tahrae Brown (126) and Brenden Burgess (150).
Henry Cuadrado had New Brunswick’s best finish with a bronze medal at 215.
Placement Matches
106
1st Place Match – Akeo Diaz (Bridgewater) 3-0 won by fall over Messiah Gibbs (Piscataway) 2-1 (Fall 1:27)
3rd Place Match – Gavin Fong (Montgomery) 1-1 won by fall over Weston Smigelsky (Belvidere) 0-2 (Fall 1:42)
5th Place Match – Sean Eagle (Edison) 1-1 won by fall over Saran Siva (Lawrence) 0-2 (Fall 1:48)
113
1st Place Match – Lucas Pelc (Bridgewater) 3-0 won by fall over Ryan Edwards (Lawrence) 2-1 (Fall 2:52)
3rd Place Match – Marco Meneses (Piscataway) 2-1 won by fall over Cole Clark (Belvidere) 0-2 (Fall 0:36)
5th Place Match – Eli Sanchez (Edison) 13-10 won by decision over Shay Cheskis (Montgomery) 1-2 (Dec 9-2)
120
1st Place Match – Logan Levine (Bridgewater) 3-0 won by fall over David Broadway (Plainfield) 3-1 (Fall 0:23)
3rd Place Match – Jeremy Negron (Edison) 2-1 won by fall over Dominick McQuone (Middlesex) 2-2 (Fall 1:04)
126
1st Place Match – Julian Dawson (Edison) 27-4 won by tech fall over Tahrae Brown (Plainfield) 3-1 (TF-1.5 5:26 (27-12))
3rd Place Match – Michael Marsigliano (Bridgewater) 2-1 won by decision over Jimmie Jones (Linden) 1-2 (Dec 8-7)
132
1st Place Match – Daniel Smith (Bridgewater) 3-0 won by decision over Jack Madigan-Green (Notre Dame) 2-1 (Dec 6-0)
3rd Place Match – Sean Love (Piscataway) 2-1 won by major decision over Rommel Mendez (Lawrence) 1-2 (MD 9-0)
138
1st Place Match – Jackson Obe (Montgomery) 3-0 won by decision over Zachary Liu (Bridgewater) 3-1 (Dec 9-3)
3rd Place Match – Brian Butler (Piscataway) 2-1 won by major decision over Fernando Avellan (Edison) 1-2 (MD 13-5)
144
1st Place Match – Matthew Di Eduardo (Bridgewater) 3-0 won by fall over Ibn LaBoo (Piscataway) 3-1 (Fall 1:30)
3rd Place Match – Michael Burnett (Plainfield) 3-1 won by major decision over Michael Mulray (Notre Dame) 1-2 (MD 9-1)
150
1st Place Match – RJ Stradling (Middlesex) 3-0 won by fall over Brenden Burgess (Plainfield) 3-1 (Fall 0:54)
3rd Place Match – Alan Walczak (Linden) 3-1 won by fall over Jaden De La Barrera (Edison) 2-2 (Fall 1:12)
157
1st Place Match – Francesco Rossiter (Metuchen) 3-0 won by decision over Nicholas Franzen (Notre Dame) 2-1 (Dec 4-1)
3rd Place Match – Dane Sorensen (Bridgewater) 2-1 won by fall over Jaden Castro (Plainfield) 2-2 (Fall 2:36)
165
1st Place Match – Austin Allen (Montgomery) 3-0 won by decision over Nick Heuner (Bridgewater) 2-1 (Dec 5-3)
3rd Place Match – Dakota Clark (Middlesex) 2-1 won by fall over Tyler Bertrand (Piscataway) 1-2 (Fall 1:28)
175
1st Place Match – Matthew Melchior (Lawrence) 3-0 won by fall over Frank Hosmer (Notre Dame) 3-1 (Fall 0:30)
3rd Place Match – Rahul Godha (Bridgewater) 2-1 won by forfeit over Josh Munoz (Linden) 1-2 (For.)
190
1st Place Match – Kyle Blew (Belvidere) 3-0 won by fall over Hany Ghazy (Edison) 17-10 (Fall 4:58)
3rd Place Match – Steven Shimko (Bridgewater) 2-1 won by decision over Elhadji Diara (Montgomery) 1-2 (Dec 4-0)
215
1st Place Match – Lucas Allen (Montgomery) 3-0 won by decision over Jacob Hachtmann (Belvidere) 2-1 (Dec 3-0)
3rd Place Match – Richard Boateng Baah (Piscataway) 2-1 won by fall over Henry Cuadrado (New Brunswick ) 2-2 (Fall 5:28)
285
1st Place Match – Malachi Wyatt (Piscataway) 2-0 won by fall over Nick Csillan (Notre Dame) 1-1 (Fall 0:51)
3rd Place Match – Yousef Mohamed (Middlesex) 2-1 won by fall over Padro Maldonado (Lawrence) 1-2 (Fall 1:29)
5th Place Match – William Thomas (Belvidere) 1-1 won by fall over Aaron Correia (Bridgewater) 0-2 (Fall 0:21)
Wendy Pandy-Leh Wrestling Invitational
Delaware Valley captured the 11-team tournament at its home gym with five champions. The Terriers scored 207 points, well ahead of second-place Wall’s 143.5 points and Westfield’s 141. Voorhees took fourth with 111 points.
Owen Kucharski (113), Jake Taylor (120), Jaden Perez (126), Ben Levy (144), Anderson Olcott (190) all captured gold medals for the defending Group 1 champions.
Del Val’s second place finishers included Matt Roche (132), Chris Colasurdo (150), while Jackson Bush (138) earned third place and Brayden Schneider (157) and Kyle Cooke (285) took fourth. Kevin Roman (175) placed fifth.
Westfield’s hammers won titles as the Blue Devils had seven wrestlers place in the top four. Ethan Composto won at 138 with two pins and a major and returning state placewinner Michael Murphy captured the 165-pound title with four pins in the first period.
Dylan Sontz fell 4-3 to Del Val’s Jaden Perez in the 126 final. Luke Vaccaro took second at 190.
In third place were Daniel Berardi (106), Brandon Ribeiro (132), Aidan Harper (144),
Voorhees’ Logan Wiecoreck won at 157 and the Vikings had finalists in Christian Bollette (106) and Cameron Baumann (285). The Vikings added third-place medalists in Luke Hufford (190) and Zakry Bergmann (215), while Joseph Gardner (106) and Logan Bush (113) placed fourth.
Pingry had two second-place finishers in Charles Levine (144) and Reilly Cavanaugh (215). Metteo Littman (120), Jason Weaver (157) and Adekunle Fakorede were third.
Placement Matches
106
1st Place Match – Michael DiBiase (Wall Hs) 29-9 won by fall over Christian Bollette (Voorhees (Glen Gardner)) 2-1 (Fall 2:00)
3rd Place Match – Daniel Berardi (Westfield) 2-1 won by fall over Joseph Gardner (Voorhees (Glen Gardner)) 1-2 (Fall 0:48)
5th Place Match – Justin Penta (Ocean Township) 2-1 won by fall over Joe Cartaino (Cherokee) 2-2 (Fall 3:42)
113
1st Place Match – Owen Kucharski (Delaware Valley Regional) 40-14 won by fall over Travis Balback (Woodstown) 2-1 (Fall 1:32)
3rd Place Match – Adam Froehlich (Williamstown) 3-1 won by fall over Logan Bush (Voorhees (Glen Gardner)) 14-20 (Fall 1:42)
5th Place Match – Nate Fazio (Ocean Township) 3-1 won by tech fall over Max Rotter (Westfield) 10-13 (TF-1.5 0:00 (15-0))
120
1st Place Match – Jake Taylor (Delaware Valley Regional) 30-16 won by decision over Cole Rose (Princeton) 32-5 (Dec 4-3)
3rd Place Match – Metteo Littman (Pingry School) 25-10 won by fall over Colin Roarty (Wall Hs) 11-17 (Fall 3:02)
5th Place Match – Taylor Hammond (Cherokee) 3-3 won by forfeit over Carson Bradway (Woodstown) 2-2 (For.)
126
1st Place Match – Jaden Perez (Delaware Valley Regional) 19-11 won by decision over Dylan Sontz (Westfield) 2-1 (Dec 4-3)
3rd Place Match – Steven Perez (Ocean Township) 2-1 won by major decision over Athan Stamis (Pascack Hills) 19-22 (MD 15-5)
5th Place Match – Ben Waitzel (Wall Hs) 2-1 won by fall over Alex Torres (Woodstown) 2-2 (Fall 1:59)
132
1st Place Match – Michael Volek (Ocean Township) 3-0 won by decision over Matt Roche (Delaware Valley Regional) 5-5 (Dec 7-5)
3rd Place Match – Brandon Riibeiro (Westfield) 29-16 won by decision over Tyler Ehee (Princeton) 31-19 (Dec 7-1)
5th Place Match – Lucas Lapinski (Cherokee) 31-10 won by decision over Dominick Interrante (Wall Hs) 31-20 (Dec 10-9)
138
1st Place Match – Ethan Composto (Westfield) 39-6 won by fall over Martin Brophy (Princeton) 49-27 (Fall 3:50)
3rd Place Match – Jackson Bush (Delaware Valley Regional) 16-15 won by decision over Nicholas Vetrano (Wall Hs) 39-31 (Dec 9-3)
5th Place Match – Harrison Ehee (Princeton) 33-17 won by major decision over Nick Lulla (Pascack Hills) 2-2 (MD 13-3)
144
1st Place Match – Ben Levy (Delaware Valley Regional) 29-14 won by decision over Charles Levine (Pingry School) 27-9 (Dec 8-3)
3rd Place Match – Aidan Harper (Westfield) 23-11 won by injury default over Christopher Petruzziello (Wall Hs) 1-5 (Inj. 0:00)
5th Place Match – Will Groom (Woodstown) 3-1 won by decision over Brett Rowand (Woodstown) 2-2 (Dec 4-3)
150
1st Place Match – Donovan DiStefano (Wall Hs) 42-8 won by decision over Chris Colasurdo (Delaware Valley Regional) 46-22 (Dec 9-4)
3rd Place Match – Jake Wacha (Pascack Hills) 40-7 won by fall over Jason Brown (Cherokee) 31-12 (Fall 5:20)
5th Place Match – Richard DeRick (Westfield) 23-13 won by fall over Travis Cryan (Voorhees (Glen Gardner)) 12-20 (Fall 4:45)
157
1st Place Match – Logan Wiecoreck (Voorhees (Glen Gardner)) 40-13 won by major decision over Will Kinsella (Wall Hs) 22-15 (MD 11-0)
3rd Place Match – Jason Weaver (Pingry School) 28-12 won by fall over Brayden Schneider (Delaware Valley Regional) 19-28 (Fall 2:49)
5th Place Match – Josh Calixte (Ocean Township) 3-1 won by decision over Christian Paul (Princeton) 13-8 (Dec 10-4)
165
1st Place Match – Michael Murphy (Westfield) 41-4 won by fall over Michael Poniros (Ocean Township) 3-1 (Fall 1:04)
3rd Place Match – Hunter Morton (Pascack Hills) 43-10 won by fall over Zach Bevis (Woodstown) 2-2 (Fall 2:47)
5th Place Match – Zach Stevens (Cherokee) 18-11 won by fall over Trevor Zabroski (Voorhees (Glen Gardner)) 10-12 (Fall 3:44)
175
1st Place Match – James Hill (Woodstown) 3-0 won by fall over Luke Vaccaro (Westfield) 19-8 (Fall 3:57)
3rd Place Match – John Hangey (Cherokee) 10-13 won by major decision over Jordy Paredes (Princeton) 29-14 (MD 10-0)
5th Place Match – Kevin Roman (Delaware Valley Regional) 4-1 won by fall over Tyler Kinney (Voorhees (Glen Gardner)) 16-16 (Fall 2:37)
190
1st Place Match – Anderson Olcott (Delaware Valley Regional) 32-18 won by decision over Walter Carter (Woodstown) 2-1 (Dec 6-0)
3rd Place Match – Luke Hufford (Voorhees (Glen Gardner)) 13-19 won by decision over Brian Fuentes (Wall Hs) 7-11 (Dec 14-8)
5th Place Match – Mateo Vinciguerra (Woodstown) 3-1 won by fall over August Savacool (Delaware Valley Regional) 2-2 (Fall 1:34)
215
1st Place Match – Alejandro Camarena (Pascack Hills) 44-11 won by fall over Reilly Cavanaugh (Pingry School) 34-32 (Fall 3:58)
3rd Place Match – Zakry Bergmann (Voorhees (Glen Gardner)) 7-10 won by forfeit over Jack Mosier (Voorhees (Glen Gardner)) 49-38 (For.)
5th Place Match – Quinn Mercier (Pascack Hills) 3-1 won by major decision over Evan Newman (Delaware Valley Regional) 2-2 (MD 9-1)
285
1st Place Match – Kei`sun Sanders (Wall Hs) 32-19 won by decision over Cameron Baumann (Voorhees (Glen Gardner)) 21-15 (Dec 3-2)
3rd Place Match – Adekunle Fakorede (Pingry School) 17-26 won by forfeit over Kyle Cooke (Delaware Valley Regional) 6-11 (For.)
5th Place Match – Jadyn Zayas (Williamstown) 3-1 won by fall over Kylir Alexander (Pascack Hills) 9-16 (Fall 5:43)
Ricky I Memorial
A much-improved Ridge team got an impressive team win in the Ricky I Memorial with five champions in the 14-team field.
The Red Devils had 176 points ahead of second-place St. Thomas Aquinas (172) and North Hunterdon (166.5). Somerville placed fourth (148) and host Governor Livingston (138.5) was fifth.
 Ridge’s Tanner Connelly (106, 3 pins, 7-5 win in final), Ryan Engle (126, 2 decisions, pin), Gavin Duran (132, 3 decisions), Tim Kolshorn (138, 3 pins) and Kevin Taylor (3 pins, decision) each won their weight classes.
Ridge’s Ryan Turner (190) was fourth,  Christopher Oliver (215) took fifth and William Corbett (120) took sixth.
St. Thomas Aquinas had seven finalists and two champions. Â
Landon Kearns won at 150 with a pin and two decisions and Steven Coghan (215) scored a pin over returning state placewinner Brendan Raley in a minute.
Beniamino DiCocco took second, losing to Logan Wadle in the 113-pound final and Reed Kerstetter (120) and Liam Zeh (144), John Howarth (165) and Nazareth Pina (190) also took second. Vincent Gioffre (120) was fifth.
North Hunterdon finished third with several new starters in the lineup.
Two-time state placewinner Logan Wadle won at 113 (2 pin, 14-3 win in final) and Alex Uryniak won at 190 (three pins). Taking second were Joseph Celentano (106), Brian Wilson (157) and Raley (215). Joshua Joubert (138) was third and Evan Kinney (144) was fourth
At 120, Somerville’s Joe Aldrich edged Sean Markey 3-0 in the final. Both won Somerset County Tournament titles last season. Aldrich was at 113 and Markey won at 120.
 Lucas Marchese (144) won the title by a maj. decision.
Fabian Acuna (175) was second, while Ryan Closterman (157) took third and Lukas Neves (106) Anthony Mayers (165) each placed fourth.
Governor Livingston’s Jake Kreisberg (157) won a title. The Highlanders had third-place finishes from Christian Sabatino (106), Brandon Rayack (113), Henrique Ribeiro (120),  Cristian Gioia (144), Dante Gioia (150) and Nathan Faxon (190).
Colonia was led by Michael Feliciano winning at 175 with two pins and a major decision and Manny Faxas taking third at heavyweight.
106
1st Place Match – Tanner Connelly (Ridge) 4-0 won by decision over Joseph Celentano (North Hunterdon) 2-1 (Dec 7-5)
3rd Place Match – Christian Sabatino (Governor Livingston Regional Hs) 3-1 won by major decision over Lukas Neves (Somerville) 1-2 (MD 13-2)
5th Place Match – Zachary Belverio (Arthur Johnson) 3-1 won by major decision over Carter Stein (Brearley/Dayton) 2-2 (MD 18-4)
113
1st Place Match – Logan Wadle (North Hunterdon) 3-0 won by major decision over Beniamino DiCocco (Saint Thomas Aquinas) 2-1 (MD 14-3)
3rd Place Match – Brandon Rayack (Governor Livingston Regional Hs) 2-1 won by decision over Gavin Turnbull (Brearley/Dayton) 1-2 (Dec 6-1)
5th Place Match – Ahmed Amin (Somerville) 3-1 won by fall over Sean Callan (Jefferson TWP) 2-2 (Fall 0:55)
126
1st Place Match – Ryan Engle (Ridge) 3-0 won by decision over Ryan Jack (Jefferson TWP) 2-1 (Dec 5-2)
3rd Place Match – Adam Janouk (Wayne Valley) 2-1 won by fall over Zakaria Akheraz (Brearley/Dayton) 1-2 (Fall 0:54)
5th Place Match – Jason Daleo (Somerville) 3-1 won by fall over Grant Goldan (North Hunterdon) 3-2 (Fall 4:58)
132
1st Place Match – Gavin Duran (Ridge) 3-0 won by decision over Reed Kerstetter (Saint Thomas Aquinas) 2-1 (Dec 3-0)
3rd Place Match – Michael VanderMeulen (Jefferson TWP) 2-1 won by decision over Noah Bone (Colonia) 1-2 (Dec 10-3)
5th Place Match – Noah Zindaki (Wayne Valley) 4-1 won by decision over Braeden Valley (New Providence) 3-2 (Dec 7-1)
138
1st Place Match – Tim Kolshorn (Ridge) 3-0 won by fall over Matthew Lordi (Arthur Johnson) 2-1 (Fall 1:13)
3rd Place Match – Joshua Joubert (North Hunterdon) 3-1 won by decision over Allan Batista (Governor Livingston Regional Hs) 2-2 (Dec 5-2)
5th Place Match – Joseph Connolly (Jefferson TWP) 3-1 won by fall over Ayaan Aziz (Colonia) 2-2 (Fall 1:51)
150
1st Place Match – Landon Kearns (Saint Thomas Aquinas) 3-0 won by decision over Joey Ortega (Arthur Johnson) 2-1 (Dec 5-2)
3rd Place Match – Dante Gioia (Governor Livingston Regional Hs) 2-1 won by major decision over Ryan Flammer (Jefferson TWP) 1-2 (MD 9-1)
5th Place Match – Dagan Jack (Somerville) 4-1 won by fall over Spiro Theologis (Colonia) 3-2 (Fall 2:53)
157
1st Place Match – Jake Kreisberg (Governor Livingston Regional Hs) 3-0 won by major decision over Brian Wilson (North Hunterdon) 2-1 (MD 12-4)
3rd Place Match – Ryan Closterman (Somerville) 2-1 won by fall over Bryan Tilney (Jefferson TWP) 1-2 (Fall 0:43)
5th Place Match – Jaden Mendez (Rutgers Prep School) 4-1 won by fall over Diaa Baghal (Wayne Valley) 2-2 (Fall 4:33)
165
1st Place Match – Kevin Taylor (Ridge) 4-0 won by fall over John Howarth (Saint Thomas Aquinas) 2-1 (Fall 1:02)
3rd Place Match – Nick Barone (Wayne Valley) 2-1 won by medical forfeit over Anthony Mayers (Somerville) 1-2 (M. For.)
5th Place Match – Joseph DiBiase (Jefferson TWP) 3-1 won by major decision over Raymond Guenther (Arthur Johnson) 3-2 (MD 14-2)
175
1st Place Match – Michael Feliciano (Colonia) 3-0 won by major decision over Fabian Acuna (Somerville) 2-1 (MD 11-2)
3rd Place Match – Aidan Lazas (New Providence) 2-1 won by major decision over Henry Nordstrom (Arthur Johnson) 1-2 (MD 12-4)
5th Place Match – Michael Cocchia (Wayne Valley) 3-1 won by decision over Thales Gondim (North Hunterdon) 3-2 (Dec 3-1)
190
1st Place Match – Alex Uryniak (North Hunterdon) 3-0 won by fall over Nazareth Pina (Saint Thomas Aquinas) 2-1 (Fall 3:20)
3rd Place Match – Nathan Faxon (Governor Livingston Regional Hs) 3-1 won by fall over Ryan Turner (Ridge) 1-2 (Fall 4:32)
5th Place Match – Zeyad Abdelmottaleb (Brearley/Dayton) 3-1 won by decision over Omar Elkhouli (North Plainfield) 16-12 (Dec 4-3)
215
1st Place Match – Steven Coghan (Saint Thomas Aquinas) 3-0 won by fall over Brendan Raley (North Hunterdon) 2-1 (Fall 1:00)
3rd Place Match – Kevin Sadej (Wayne Valley) 3-1 won by decision over Alexander DaSilva (Jefferson TWP) 2-2 (Dec 3-0)
5th Place Match – Christopher Oliver (Ridge) 4-1 won by fall over Anthony DeLuca (Colonia) 2-2 (Fall 1:04)
285
1st Place Match – Timothy Connolly (Jefferson TWP) 3-0 won by fall over Daniel Seib (New Providence) 2-1 (Fall 4:37)
3rd Place Match – Manny Faxas (Colonia) 2-1 won by decision over Sean Asgaralli (Arthur Johnson) 1-2 (Dec 6-5)
5th Place Match – Louis White (North Hunterdon) 4-1 won by fall over Caden Sternlieb (Saint Thomas Aquinas) 3-2 (Fall 4:51)
Kearny Holiday Tournament
North Brunswick’s Omar Elhomossy (138) and William Wilson (175) each won titles with a pin in the final at the Kearny Holiday Tournament. Jomar Mena placed fourth at 157.
The Raiders finished ninth (144 points) in the 12-team event won by Cranford (366).
Blue Devil Classic
Manville finished second in the nine-team Blue Devil Classic at Ewing High School with 167 points. Allentown won with 182 points.
 Brandon Rivera (138), Lucas Velando (157) and Geoffrey Mathis (190) won titles for the Mustangs.
Dominik Wojtach (106) and Marvin Valverde-Bonilla (285) took second. Also earning medals were third-place finishers Anthony Drake (126), Isaiah Bennett (132) and Danny Wildgoose (165) and Justin Petti placed fourth.
Robin Leff Tournament
Monroe’s Omar Cholula-Conde placed fourth (175) in the tough Robin Leff Tournament at Southern Regional.
