Greetings from Robbinsville.
It’s about 9:15 and 16 wrestling coaches from throughout the state are gathering at NJSIAA headquarters to seed the State wrestling tournament.
They are hoping to get to seeding at about 10 a.m.
Click the continue reading link below to see a rundown of the seeding procedure and continue clicking regularly to see highlights of the seeding in each weight class as they are completed.
Seeding Procedure
What scares me is that I am actually beginning to understand how they seed 24 wrestlers in each weight class, the top 3 finishers in each weight class from the region.
First, the eight region champions are pre-seeded 1-8 based on their finish in last year’s state tournament. So a returning state 4th is pre-seeded higher than a returning 7th and a wrestler who reached the second round of wrestlebacks is pre-seeded higher than a wrestler that reached the first.
Then wrestlers can move up and down in that ranking based on head-to-head meetings this season.
Then the 1, 4, 5 and 8 placers in that ranking are placed in the top bracket at that weight and the 2, 3, 6 and 7Â are placed in the bottom bracket.
The region runner-ups are placed in the opposite bracket from their region champion. So if the Region 2 champ is in the top bracket, the Region 2 runner-up is placed in the bottom bracket.
That gives you two 8-man rankings and you go back to the top, ranking them 1-8 based on finish in last year’s state tournament and then finally seeding them within that half of the bracket based on head-to-head matchups.
The region thirds are then placed in the same half bracket as the region seconds but placed far enough away so they can’t meet until the quarterfinals on Saturday morning.
And that’s how you end up with two distinctive 12-man half brackets in each weight class.
So two of the interesting things that can happen is that a wrestler can get the top seed in the top bracket but still have to wrestle in the preliminary round Friday night at 5 p.m. because he finished second in his region.
Also, a wrestler can have the top pre-seed among region champions because he’s propped up by a head-to-head victory over a state placewinner this season. But he can fall in the final seeds because he and that placewinner have been split into seperate brackets and he is no longer propped up by that head-to-head win.
With luck, seeding will begin at 10 a.m. so keep checking back.
106: Joe Trovato of Paramus (35-3) was ranked 7th among the Region champs because his best win (two against returning State 8th Mike Andreano of Glen Rock/Saddle Brook) was not as good as fellow freshman Tyler McBride of Camden Catholic who beat Timber Creek’s John Amato who was already ranked higher on the board. So Trovato went into the bottom bracket away from returning State third Jan Rosenberg of Morris Knolls but with returning fifth Carl Buttita of JFK-Iselin and sixth Joe Ghione of Brick. He ended up with the fifth seed in the bottom bracket which would set him up against Michael Russo of St. Peter’s in Friday night’s pre-quarterfinals and Buttita in the quarterfinals Saturday morning. Tyler Casamenti of Bergen Catholic (25-10) ended up in the top bracket and was pre-seeded third behind Rosenberg and Amato but dropped to sixth because Amato dropped with a couple of losses. Clifton’s Jean DuBois (30-5) is the seventh-seed in the top bracket.
113: Returning runner-up Luis Gonzalez of North Bergen (35-2) earned the top ranking among region champs. DePaul freshman Dave McFadden (34-2) earned the seventh ranking because of his victory over returning state qualifier Dylan Nace of Hunterdon Central in the All-Star and junior Matt Murphy of Northern Highlands (31-7) was 8th. Gonzalez and Murphy are in the top bracket and McFadden in the bottom. Here’s where it got interesting. returning champ Brendan Calas of Seton Hall Prep, who beat Gonzalez in the state final last year but is only 16-3 this season, finished second in Region 3 and ended up in the top bracket away from his region champion Christian Innarella of Delbarton but with Gonzalez. That means that even though Gonzalez hasn’t lost in New Jersey this season, he drops to the second seed in the top bracket because Calas’ state championship last year trumps his state second. Â That means that instead of being in opposite brackets, which they would have been if Calas had won his region, Calas and Gonzalez could meet in the semifinals in a rematch of last year’s state final. Murphy ended up the eighth seed in the top bracket. River Dell’s D.J. Tirelli (32-5) and Marc Mastropietro of Hasbrouck Heights/Wood-Ridge (36-3) ended up in the bottom bracket with Mastropietro seeded sixth and Tirelli seeded seventh based on a higher winning percentage. I just realized I missed where McFadden ended up seeded in the bottom bracket. When I get that weight back I will update it. McFadden is the fifth seed in the bottom bracket and would have go through unbeaten Kyle Brady of Bishop Ahr in the pre-quarterfinals and Innarella in the quarterfinals.
120: North Bergen’s Anthony Giraldo (37-2), a returning state 4th, was the third-ranked wrestler among region champs but jumped up to 2 with a victory over returning 3rd Billy Ward of Buena. Returning runner-up Troy Heilmann of South Plainfield was the top-ranked champ and remained in the top bracket as did Ridgewood’s Joe Oliva (33-5), the fifth-ranked region champ. Giraldo went to the bottom bracket with Pascack Valley’s Dean Piterski (32-2). Oliva earned the fifth seed in the top bracket. He could end up with Nutley’s Robert Trombetta, who earned the top seed in the top bracket with a win over Heilmann despite losing to Giraldo in the Region 4 final, in the quarterfinals. Trombetta and Heilmann could meet in a rematch in the semifinals. Giraldo originally got the third ranking in the bottom bracket behind Mike Magaldo of Watchung Hills, a returning state second who finished second in his region, and Ward, but again jumped to the second seed in the bottom bracket with the win over Ward. LOADED BRACKET. Again, I missed Piterski’s seeding in the bottom bracket. When I get that weight returned to me, I will update this. Piterski pulled down the seventh seed in the bottom bracket and would have to go through Giraldo in the quarterfinals Saturday morning.
126: Wayne Valley’s Sam Tareky (33-2) and Joe Guerriero of Glen Rock/Saddle Brook (31-4) earned the seventh and eighth rankings among region champs in a weight class dominated by South Plainfield’s Anthony Ashnault (40-0), a junior who has already won two state championships and has yet to lose in his high school career. Tareky is in the bottom bracket with Danny Tyson of Waldwick/Midland Park (34-3) and Clifton’s Anthony DePasque (33-2) while Guerriero is in the top bracket. Guerriero finished with the sixth seed on top  which puts him up against Belleville’s Justin Colon (40-1) in the prepquarterfinals. DePasque, who reached the first round of wrestlebacks last year, was the fifth pre-seed in the bottom bracket with Tareky, making his first appearance 7th. But Tareky jumps to 5 with a win over DePasque this year and DePasque drops to 6.
132: A two-time returning State 4th, Bergen Catholic’s Connor Melde (27-4) was originally the N0. 1 ranked region champ but dropped to two behind South Plainfield’s Scott DelVecchio (40-0) on the basis of his loss to DelVecchio in December. DelVecchio jumped up from the sixth ranking. Pequannock’s R.J. DeGeorge (31-2) earned the fifth pre-seed of the region champs and ended up in the top bracket with DelVecchio and Steven Schneider of Emerson/Park Ridge (36-1) while Melde dropped to the bottom. Amazingly, without his win against Melde propping him up, DelVecchio plummeted back down in the top bracket to the 5th seed because he only reached the first round of wrestlebacks last year. Schneider, a returning State eighth earned the third seed in the top bracket behind a pair of returning 7ths. DeGeorge is the 7th seed in the top bracket and could face John Hennelly of Delsea, who finished seventh in 2010, in the quarterfinals. Melde hung onto the top seed in the bottom bracket.
138: Rutherford’s John Boyle (37-1), a returning state 8th, earned the fourth ranking among region champs behind a returning 2nd, 4th and 5th. Nick Maselli of Emerson/Park Ridge (32-4) earned the seventh-ranking with two appearances in the state tournament compated to one by Hackettstown’s Tyler Kozimor. So Boyle is in the top bracket with Ridgewood’s Brandon Giovanetti (31-5) and Maselli is in the bottom. Boyle held down the second seed in the top bracket behind returning runner-up B.J. Clagon of Toms River South, who he can see in the semifinals. Giovanetti pulled down the fifth seed in the top bracket which would put him up against Delbarton’s Jorge Lopez (31-7) in the pre-quarterfinals if both win their first-round bouts and Clagon in the quarterfinals. Â Maselli pulled down the fourth seed in the bottom and could get unbeaten Tyler Hunt of South Plainfield in Saturday’s quarterfinals.
145: Nick Gravina of Northern Highlands (34-1), who finished fifth in 2010, was ranked second among region champs over St. Peter’s Alexander Richardson (31-3), who finished 5th last year, because he reached the second round of wrestlebacks in his only other state tournament appearance while Richardson only got as far as the first round of wrestlebacks in his previous two trips. He retained the second ranking among region champs behind returning champ T.J. Miller of Camden Catholic and went to the bottom bracket with Richardson while Rutherford’s Mike Paskas (34-3) and Old Tappan’s Adam Rusch (30-5) went to the top bracket. Paskas pulled down the third seed in the top bracket with two appearances in the state tournament and would face Brearley’s Nick Lospinoso (33-5) in the pre-quarterfinals and returning seventh Ken Theobold of Toms River South in the quarterfinals Saturday. Rusch earned the seventh seed in the top bracket and would face Theobold in the pre-quarterfinals Friday night. Gravina pulled down the top seed in the bottom bracket.
IT’S 11:45 AND WE’RE HALFWAY DONE. AHHHHH!!!
152: Nice loaded weight class with returning fourth Sal Mastriani (37-0) of Don Bosco and PCT’s Pelal Deeb (33-0), a returning 7th, pulling down the top and third ranking among region champs in a class with five returning state placewinners. Mastriani stayed up top while Deeb dropped to the bottom with Pascack Valley’s Dan Ressler (33-2) whose only two losses have come to Mastriani. Mastriani, who has been rolling since the beginning of the season, retained the top seed in the top bracket. Deeb pulled down the second seed in the bottom bracket behind Raamiah Bethea (33-0), a returning sixth from Trenton Central. Ressler is the fifth seed in the bottom bracket and would have to go through Bethea in the quarterfinals Saturday morning if he wins both his bouts Friday night.
160: Five returning state placewinners top this weight class and the top-ranked region champs have all wrestled each other. At the top, returning 6th Vincent Favia of Christian Brothers beat returning 2nd Jaeaen Bernstein of Voorhees and Johnny Sebastian of Bergen Catholic (36-2), a returning 5th beat Favia. So Sebastian got the top ranking, Favia second and Bernstein third. Brearley’s John Balboni, who never placed jumped to the fourth ranking with a victory over returning sixth James Dugan (36-2) of Becton/Wallington, who took the fifth ranking. Pequannock’s Keith Lemongello (35-4), making his first state appearance took the 8th ranking. So Sebastian, Dugan and Lemongello are all in the top bracket while Matt Dickman of Glen Rock/Saddle Brook (31-3) who has more than 150 career wins is in the bottom. Sebastian kept the top seed in the top bracket while Dugan dropped from the second pre-seed to third again behind Balboni because of the head to head loss. Lemongello is the fifth seed in the top bracket and could face Sebastian in the quarterfinals Saturday morning while Dugan can get another shot at Balboni in the quarters and see Sebastian in the semis. Dickman pulled down the fourth in the bottom bracket and could get unbeaten Phillip Bakuckas of Hammonton in the quarterfinals and Favia in the semifinals.
170: Unbeaten Ethan Ramos of Hawthorne (38-0) was the fourth-ranked region champ behind a returning state 1st, 4th and 5th (Anthony Pafumi of St. Peter’s). And he kept that pre-seed, putting him in the top bracket with returning champion Ryan Harrington of West Morris Mendham. Don Bosco’s Luke Farinaro (30-6), Lakeland’s Brett Secor dropped to the bottom bracket while Nathan Bueno of Becton/Wallington (26-10) is in the top. Harrington and Ramos pulled down the top two seeds in the top bracket. Bueno got the rookie seed, earning the eighth seed in the top bracket, putting him up against Harrington in the pre-quarterfinals Friday night. Farinaro, who went 1-and-done as a freshman last year pulled down the seventh seed in the bottom bracket and will likely have to face Pafumi in the pre-quarterfinals Friday night. Secor is the eighth seed in the bottom bracket.
182: Unbeaten Bryan Loughlin of Becton/Wallington (39-0) was the fourth-ranked region champ and held that pre-seed down while Bergen Catholic’s Lukas Iorio (29-5), making his first appearance in the tournament, took the eighth pre-seed among region champs. Both will be in the top bracket along with Wayne Valley’s Nick Della Ferra (30-5), also making his first appearance while River Dell’s Nick Baranello (35-2) another rookie is in the bottom. Loughlin pulled down the second seed in the top bracket behind returning runner-up Dallas Winston of Jackson Memorial. Della Ferra pulled down the sixth seed in the top by virtue of one more win than Iorio, dropping Iorio to seventh and a pre-quarterfinal showdown with Loughlin Friday night. Baranello took the fourth pre-seed in the bottom bracket with returning state runner-up Tevin Shaw of Piscataway and returning 7th Vic Pozsongyi of Roselle Park. He kept the fourth-seed in the bracket but the matchups were pulled away before I could see who he will face.
195: Don Bosco’s Razohnn Gross (31-5) was the top-ranked region champ based on his advancement to the first round of wrestlebacks last year with North Bergen’s Eric McMullen (28-1) second. It’s a weight class without a wrestler who even reached the second round of wrestlebacks last year. McMullen jumped over Gross to the top pre-seed because of his win in the Bergen Holiday Tournament over Gross in December leaving him in the top bracket with Hawthorne’s Evan Ramos (37-1) whose only loss is to Gross in the region final, and Wayne Valley’s Anthony Lanberg (23-13) while Gross drops to the bottom. McMullen retained the top seed up top with Ramos pulling down the fourth seed on top, which could put him up against McMullen in Saturday’s quarterfinals. Lanberg is the eighth seed in the top bracket and would have to face McMullen in the pre-quarterfinals Friday night. Gross is the top seed in the bottom bracket.
220: This weight class is even worse with no wrestler in the weight class advancing beyond the first round on Friday night last year. Freshman Zack Chakonis of Don Bosco (35-3) pulled down the fourth ranking among region champs, putting him in the top bracket while Wayne Valley’s Alex Trani (30-4) and River Dell’s Lenny Smith (34-3) in the bottom. He ended up with the fifth seed in the top bracket which would put him up against Anthony Angelone of West Orange (30-6) in the pre-quarterfinals and top-seeded Brandon Hull of Phillipsburg (34-4) in the quarterfinals. Smith pulled down the fifth seed on the bottom and Trani the seventh. Smith could see once-beaten Roy Lucas of St. Joseph Hammonton in the quarterfinals while Trani would have to go through unbeaten Lex Knapp of Lacey Township (39-0) in the pre-quarterfinals on Friday night.
285: Thirteen of the 16 region 1 and 2′s in this weight class are making their first appearance in the state tournament, making this a tough weight to seed. Pequannock’s unbeaten Mike Spencer (39-0) pulled down the fifth ranking among region champs and Old Tappan’s Keith Rodman (30-6) the eighth ranking based on their winning percentages. Both ended up in the top bracket with Bergen Catholic’s Carmine Goldsack (20-6) in the bottom. Spencer pulled down the third seed in the top bracket behind Northern Burlington’s Cody Melton (32-2) and Manalapan’s John Appice (34-1). Rodman got the seventh seed in the bracket, setting him up for a pre-quarterfinal battle with Appice Friday night while Spencer would face the winner in the quarterfinals Saturday morning. Goldsack got the eighth seed in the bottom bracket based on his lowest winning percentage and would have to face Anthony Tufaro of Scotch Plains (31-2) in the Friday night pre-quarterfinals.
That’s the seeding meeting. Those were the highlights noting where the local region champs and runners-up will be in the brackets and why. I will get the full pairings up later tonight and they should be in Tuesday’s record.