Region 8 Wrestling
By 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 10 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.”
Finally the 4 from each weight class moving on to states are:
106: 1. Dante Mininno of Gateway/Woodbury 2. McKenzie Bell of Kingsway 3. Nicholas Digiacomo of Timber Creek 4. Tom Cole of Washington Twp
113: 1. Antonio Mininno of Gateway/Woodbury 2. Jack Prendergast of Woodstown 3. Seth Henry of Highland Reg 4. Sean Foley of Barnegat
120: 1. Edison Echevarria of Delsea 2. Shamun Smith of Williamstown 3. George Coleman of St. Augustine Prep 4. Terrell Coleman of Egg Harbor
126: 1. Domenic Augello of Timber Creek 2. Connor Kraus of St. Augustine Prep 3. Alexander Pruszinski of Lower Cape May 4. Justin Cariss of Highland Reg
132: 1. Quinn Kinner of Kingsway 2. Matthew Barnett of So. Regional 3. Steven Schwab of St. Augustine Prep 4. Tim Sparks of Gateway/Woodbury
138: 1. Travis Layton of Woodstown 2. Trace Kinner of Kingsway 3. Alec Harper of Holy Spirit 4. Brett Bodnar of St. Augustine Prep
145: 1. Andrew Solomon of Gateway/Woodbury 2. Timothy Suter of Buena Reg 3. Evan Fisler of Washington Twp 4. Nicholas O’Connell of So. Regional
152: 1. Dillon Taylor of St. Augustine Prep 2. Yusuf Yilmaz of Vineland 3. Seth Summers of Delsea 4. Cody Wolf of Woodstown
160: 1. Jake Maxwell of Buena Reg 2. Blaine Shade of Timber Creek 3. Tim Fitzpatrick of Holy Spirit 4. Mason Maxwell of Delsea
170: 1. Bill Janzer of Delsea 2. Mike Yorio of Lower Cape May 3. Charles McCall of Winslow 4. Jacquan McPherson of Penns Grove
182: 1. Christopher Nielsen of Pinelands Reg 2. Vince Degeorge of Delsea 3. Michael Waszen of Holy Spirit 4. Connor Murray of St. Augustine Prep
195: 1. Chad Watt of Woodstown 2. Connor Agostino of Egg Harbor 3. Sean Lenzsch of St. Augustine Prep 4. Tommy Maxwell of Delsea
220: 1. Michael Mascioli of St. Joseph – Hammonton 2. Devon Starks of Highland Reg 3. Timothy Miles of Winslow 4. Tyreke Brown of Penns Grove
285: 1. Nasir Moore of Clayton/Glassboro 2. Kody Wood of Pennsville Mem 3. Paul Valian of Egg Harbor 4. Bryce Dunn of Cumberland Reg