A Day For Underdogs at Region 8 – Sports/Wrestling
A Day For Underdogs at Region 8
By Sentinel of Gloucester County Sports Writer Jacob Keppen
The Region 8 wrestling tournament was one of excitement. A day full of thrills and great stories saw numerous top wrestlers squaring off in Egg Harbor. No wrestler was better than Delsea’s Bill Janzer, who was named the Region 8 Outstanding Wrestler. Janzer dominated the bracket at 170. Janzer, after a tech fall and pinfall victory in the two previous rounds, decked Lower Cape May’s Mike Yorio in 53 seconds. With a great regular season and an individual portion of the season that has been filled with dominance, it’s no wonder why Janzer is one of the favorites to be in the 170 state final.
While Janzer was named the most outstanding wrestler, no one had a better day than Clayton-Glassboro heavyweight Nasir Moore. Moore, a senior, entered his first regional tournament as the #4 seed. He defeated Vineland’s Jonathan Morris in the pre-quarter final, and then Highland’s Chris Duddy. On Saturday Moore entered as the ultimate underdog, wrestling #1 seed Paul Valian. Moore knocked off the Egg Harbor Heavyweight 6-2 in the semifinal. In the final Moore defeated Pennsville Kody Wood 5-4 in one of the best matches of the night. As soon as the match ended, Moore ran and jumped into his coach’s arms. The victory was not only significant for Moore, who was wrestling in his first region tournament, but significant for Clayton-Glassboro. Moore became the school’s 2nd region champion, the first in ten years. After the match, an elated Moore said, “It feels really really good. It’s exciting, they don’t expect it and you go out and win it. I lost to every guy that was in that podium in the regular season and I worked hard and took the W.”
The most anticipated final was at 138. #1 Travis Layton of Woodstown wrestled #2 Trace Kinner of Kingsway again. The undefeated Layton defeated Kinner in a close 5-3 decision in the district 29 final. Layton once again got the better of Kinner with a 5-2 decision victory. Layton will undoubtedly be one of the favorites for the State championship match at 138 lbs. The Kinner family did not walk out empty handed on Saturday though, with Quinn Kinner defeating Matthew Barnett 17-8 in the 132 region final.
Fellow undefeated Wolverine Chad Watt was equally as dominant at 195. Watt pinned both his quarterfinal and semifinal opponents. In the finals Watt wrestled #2 Connor Agostino, a rematch of the 195 final last year in which Watt won 3-2. This year Watt won with a lot more ease, defeating Agostino via 3-2 major decision.
At 106 another undefeated wrestler Dante Mininno was on a mission. After losing in the Region 8 final last year as a sophomore to Paulsboro Nick Duca, Mininno was determined not to fall short again. After a tech fall victory and then a 7-2 decision victory in the semifinals against Clearview’s Carmen Giumarello, one of the top semifinal matches of the day, Mininno found himself against Kingsway freshman McKenzie Bell. Mininno would defeat Bell 13-7.
Dante’s brother Antonio Mininno repeated as the 113 Region 8 champion, defeating Woodstown’s Zach Pendergast 1-0. Also repeating as champion was Delsea’s Edison Echevarria. Last year Echevarria won the Region 8 title after upsetting both #2 Anthony Duca and #1 Trace Kinner. He was named the most Outstanding Wrestler. This year Echevarria entered in as the #1 one seed and defended both his ranking and his title by defeating in overtime Williamstown’s Shamun Smith.
“I got to defend my title title at 120. I was warmed up really well thanks to one of my best friends (former Region 8 Champion) Lorenzo Ruggiero. Shamun’s a good wrestler, he’s got a lot of good defense. Winning my 2nd title for regions will just make me keep going that way, best for states.”
The four (4) from each weight class moving on to states are:
106:
Dante Mininno of Gateway/Woodbury
McKenzie Bell of Kingsway
Nicholas Digiacomo of Timber Creek
Tom Cole of Washington Twp
113
Antonio Mininno of Gateway/Woodbury
Jack Prendergast of Woodstown
Seth Henry of Highland Reg
Sean Foley of Barnegat
120
Edison Echevarria of Delsea
Shamun Smith of Williamstown
George Coleman of St. Augustine Prep
Terrell Coleman of Egg Harbor
126
Domenic Augello of Timber Creek
Connor Kraus of St. Augustine Prep
Alexander Pruszinski of Lower Cape May
Justin Cariss of Highland Reg
132
Quinn Kinner of Kingsway
Matthew Barnett of So. Regional
Steven Schwab of St. Augustine Prep
Tim Sparks of Gateway/Woodbury
138
Travis Layton of Woodstown
Trace Kinner of Kingsway
Alec Harper of Holy Spirit
Brett Bodnar of St. Augustine Prep
145
Andrew Solomon of Gateway/Woodbury
Timothy Suter of Buena Reg
Evan Fisler of Washington Twp
Nicholas O’Connell of So. Regional
152
Dillon Taylor of St. Augustine Prep
Yusuf Yilmaz of Vineland
Seth Summers of Delsea
Cody Wolf of Woodstown
160
Jake Maxwell of Buena Reg
Blaine Shade of Timber Creek
Tim Fitzpatrick of Holy Spirit
Mason Maxwell of Delsea
170
Bill Janzer of Delsea
Mike Yorio of Lower Cape May
Charles McCall of Winslow
Jacquan McPherson of Penns Grove
182
Christopher Nielsen of Pinelands Reg
Vince Degeorge of Delsea
Michael Waszen of Holy Spirit
Connor Murray of St. Augustine Prep
195
Chad Watt of Woodstown
Connor Agostino of Egg Harbor
Sean Lenzsch of St. Augustine Prep
Tommy Maxwell of Delsea
220
Michael Mascioli of St. Joseph – Hammonton
Devon Starks of Highland Reg
Timothy Miles of Winslow
Tyreke Brown of Penns Grove
285
Nasir Moore of Clayton/Glassboro
Kody Wood of Pennsville Mem
Paul Valian of Egg Harbor
Bryce Dunn of Cumberland Reg