Ewing’s Seifert grabs title at Blue Devil Kitashima Classic

EWING >> Ewing High senior Chris Seifert didn’t waste any time showing he means business this year by capturing the 220-pound weight class of the Ewing Blue Devil Kitashima Classic Tournament on Saturday night.

Seifert completed a 3-0 day when he decisioned Ameir Pittman of Burlington City by the score of 5-2 in his championship match to become the only winner for the host team.

For the most part it was a long day for area wrestling in a tournament that was tougher than in past years. The winner was Colts Neck with 234.5 points. Jefferson was a close second with 230 and Pennsville occupied the third spot with 173.5.

Rancocas Valley came in as the defending champion, but the Red Devils didn’t come close this time around and finished fourth with 147 behind first-place showings by Jiva Gannone (132) and Drew Bowker (195).

Not helping matters for the Mt. Holly team was the fact standout uppeweight Ethan Craft did not wrestle because of a problem with his knee.

For those not familiar with Seifert, he is a defending Mercer County Tournament champion at 220 pounds and also excelled in football as an inside linebacker. He is strong as can be and reps over 300 pounds in the weight room.

“Chris wants to play football when he’s college, but right now he is really focused on wrestling,” said Ewing coach Matt Dalessio. “Last year he was second in his district and fifth at regions. This year his goals are to win districts and advance to the state tournament.”

The only other Ewing wrestler to reach the final was James Kim at 170 pounds. He was forced to settle for second when he was pinned by Mason Godfrey at the 5:36 mark.

“James is just a solid and reliable allaround wrestler,” said Dalessio. “He was at 170 today, but we expect him to eventually get down to 152.”

The top performance for New Egypt came from 106-pounder AJ Beck, who posted a 13-8 victory over Rancocas Valley’s Anthony Lasala in the 106-pound final.