Princeton’s Mele still in mix to place in AC
Heading into the fourth round of Friday night’s wrestle-backs, Princeton High sophomore Blase Mele was only one win away from placing in the top eight in the 132-pound weight class at the NJSIAA State Wrestling Championships.
The only Colonial Valley Conference wrestler to advance past the second round of wrestle-backs, Mele (37-5) moved into that position by winning two bouts Friday in Atlantic City’s Convention Hall.
First, Mele rolled to 11-4 victory over Gavin Haegele of Eastern after going 1-1 on opening day. Mele then reached the fourth round of wrestle-backs when he won by injury default over Giovanni Scafidi of Howell. Mele was ahead, 7-3, when the bout was stopped with 10 seconds to go in the third period.
Mele’s next opponent — Patrick O’Keefe of St. John Vianney — is a familiar one for the Tiger wrestler. O’Keefe posted an overtime win over Mele in the District 17 final and then won another close decision over Mele in last week’s Region 5 final.
In terms of the overall area as as whole, North Hunterdon, had an outstanding showing by advancing three wrestlers advance into the semifinals on Friday night.
Those three — Logan Wadle (106 pounds), Alex Uryniak (189) and Brendan Raley (215) — are the only wrestlers in the entire area to qualify for the semifinal round.
As for the rest of the CVC contingent, Princeton’s
Cole Rose (113) and Robinson’s Richard Esterly (175) both posted victories in the first round of the wrestle-backs, but were then eliminated in the next round.
After posting an 11-6 win over Christian Hoopes of Washington Township, Rose lost by the score of 4-2 to Jake Talarino of St. Peter’s Prep. A sophomore, Rose finished the year with a record of 34-9.
Esterly began Friday by pinning Thomas Cleary of St. John Vianney right before the first-period buzzer. His second wrestle-back round did not go as well as he was pinned by Nevin Mattessich of Don Bosco in the second period. Esterly was 34-6 in his junior year.
Also losing in the second round of wrestlebacks after first winning and then losing bouts on Thursday were Robbinsville’s Anthony Viscido (126) and Ewing junior Collin Elam (215).
Viscido concluded an outstanding junior 33-4 season in a 2-0 loss to Noah Kochman of Bergen Catholic. Elam ended the year with a 34-5 record after being pinned in the third period by Central Regional’s Cosmo Zaccaro.
Bowing out with two straight losses were Allentown’s Charles Case (113), Notre Dame’s Nick Franzen (157) and Hamilton heavyweight Jacob Howland.
Case finished his sophomore season with a record of 36-5 after losing to Delaware Valley’s Jake Taylor, 10-2. A senior, Franzen met the end of the line in a 13-3 loss to Jake Kreisberg of Governor Livingston. Franzen’s record for the year was 39-6.
Howland (29-5) lost in his second bout when he was pinned by Edison Andino of Millville. Howland is also a sophomore who 29 bouts this year after picking up 20 wins as a freshman.