Allentown wins Ewing tourney for second straight year

EWING TWP. >> With a returning starter at nearly every weight, the Allentown High wrestling team is shooting for a breakout season in which it challenges for Colonial Valley Conference and Mercer County Tournament supremacy.

On Saturday the Redbirds gave an indication of what they hope will be more to come as they won the Ewing Blue Devil Classic Tournament for the second year in a row.

In the second spot was an improved Steinert squad, while Lawrence held a slim lead over Manville for third place in a nine-team tournament that also included Nottingham, Hamilton and Lawrenceville Prep.

“We are excited for this season,” said Allentown coach Marc Cuniglio, whose team will also be shooting for a repeat of the Palmyra Tournament championship during the holiday break. “We are still young in some spots, but the kids have worked very hard. Our lightweights really put in a lot of work during the summer.”

Among the Redbirds lightweights to reach the Ewing Tournament finals were Charles Case at 120 and Connor Urig at 126. A year ago, Case was an MCT champion, posted 36 wins and advanced to states. Urig, meanwhile, went 23-12 and took a second at districts.

The fact Allentown has depth in the lower weights was reflected at 113 pounds where it actually placed two in the finals. They were Aiden Schwartz and Degan Semachick.

Schwartz’s points didn’t count in terms of the team standings, but he was able to post a nice win when he topped one of Ewing’s top wrestlers, Angel Gonzalez, by the score of 6-2 in the semifinals.

Leading Allentown in the upperweights was defending MCT champion Pasquale Stanco at 215 pounds. Cuniglio said Stanco is looking particularly good after the senior pinned his first three opponents this year in the first period.