Andrew Cerniglia gets his hand raised after a win in the Walsh Jesuit Ironman semifinals (Photo/Sam Janicki, SJanickiPhoto.com)As the second-to-last weekend of the high school regular season approaches, there are going to be some big-time grinder state championship weight brackets to keep an eye on. Six weight brackets feature three or more nationally ranked wrestlers competing together, while there is another weight that could see a showdown between wrestlers ranked in the top four nationally.
Champ vs. champ: PA 2A 160: No. 3 Thayne Lawrence vs. No. 4 Andrew Cerniglia
Two-time state champion Lawrence (Frazier) missed five-plus weeks of the season after sustaining an injury at the Walsh Jesuit Ironman in mid-December. In nine contested matches this postseason, Lawrence has five pins, three technical falls, and one 9-0 major decision victory. The Lehigh signee was runner-up at the Super 32 Challenge this fall.
Returning state champion Cerniglia, who will be attending the Naval Academy next year, has tournament titles at the Beast of the East, My House Trojan Wars, and Escape the Rock on the season; his lone loss came 4-3 to No. 2 Padraic Gallagher in the Walsh Ironman finals. During the postseason, Cerniglia has five pins and two technical falls in seven bouts.
In terms of their path to a champ-champ showdown, Lawrence could face returning state medalist Gavin Garcia (Southern Columbia) in the quarterfinal round; while Cerniglia is looking at a likely semifinal against either returning state placer Keegan Rothrock (St. Joseph's Catholic) or now two-time state qualifier Nolan Lear (Benton), who beat Garcia in the regional final this past weekend.
A light foursome: New Jersey 106 pounds
Two sets of neighboring rivals make up the four nationally ranked New Jersey state tournament competitors at 106 pounds, though all four were champions of different regions due to the realignment that is now in its second cycle. However, based on application of the NJSIAA seeding process, the top seed is Nico Calello (Watchung Hills); he advanced to the round of 12 last year in this weight class and has two losses on the season: one to 113-pound state participant Clayton Utter, and the other is a split against 14-seed Angelo Pellicci (St. Peter's Prep).
As a result, the 4 vs. 5 match is No. 11 Evan Mougalian (Kinnelon) against No. 14 Tyler Vazquez (Delbaton). Mougalian is undefeated on the season including a 5-4 win over the freshman Vazquez in the Morris County finals; he missed state last year due to regional losses against a pair of state medalists (1-0 in overtime to Joseph Manno and 9-6 to Kelly Dunigan). The freshman Vazquez upset national No. 2 Marc-Anthony McGowan in the Beast of the East semifinal.
In the other half of the bracket, the likely semifinal features Shore Conference rivals No. 4 Anthony Santaniello (Brick Memorial) and No. 5 Evan Tallmadge (Brick Township); those wrestlers are the second and third seeds respectively. The freshman Santaniello is undefeated on the season with a 1-0 win over Cadet National freestyle champion Tallmadge; for returning state qualifier Tallmadge, this is his lone loss of the season.
Middleweight meatgrinder: Pennsylvania 3A 132 pounds
Another state tournament bracket with four nationally ranked wrestlers is in Pennsylvania Class 3A, which is perennially the deepest and most rigorous state tournament in the country. This weekend two weights in this classification feature four nationally ranked wrestlers, including the 132-pound field where all four of the ranked wrestlers sit in the top 12 nationally.
A pair of ranked wrestlers each qualified through the Northeast Regional and the WPIAL. No. 6 Kenny Herrmann (Bethlehem Catholic) and No. 12 Patrick Noonan (Stroudsburg) have split matches the last two weeks, Herrmann winning 7-5 in overtime at the District XI final, while Noonan won 1-0 in the Northeast Regional final. No. 10 Alejandro Herrera (Seneca Valley) beat No. 12 Gabe Willochell (Greater Latrobe) 4-2 in the WPIAL final this past weekend to avenge a 2-0 ultimate tiebreaker loss in the Powerade final.
Two-time state champion Herrera is the top ranked of the five regional champions in the bracket, while 2018 state placers Matt Sarbo (Altoona) and Bryce Brennan (Red Land) are ranked second and third. As a result, now three-time state qualifier Noonan is the fourth ranked regional champion, which puts him in the same half as Herrera and in the champ/champ quarter with Zac Martin (Neshaminy). Even with Herrera looking at a possible quarterfinal against returning state placer Trenton Donahue (DuBois) and Noonan in the champ/champ quarter, it would be a shock if those two aren't in the semifinal.
Down in the lower half-bracket, Willochell is looking at a quarterfinal match against Brennan, while Herrman is looking at a quarterfinal match with Sarbo, presuming Sarbo can clear returning state placer Cole Homet (Waynesburg) in the round of 16.
Triple-A quad-pack at 170 (PA 3A)
The other weight class across the country that features four nationally ranked wrestlers is in Pennsylvania 3A at 170 pounds, where No. 2 Trey Kibe (Mifflin County) seeks to earn a second state title as just a junior. However, he will face a difficult path to accomplish it.
Two of the three other nationally ranked wrestlers are the regional champions in the opposite half of the draw, No. 8 Leonard Pinto (Stroudsburg) and No. 16 Dylan Reinert (Gettysburg). Those two wrestlers should meet in the semifinals.
On the other hand, Kibe is looking at possibly having to beat two returning state medalists just to advance to the semifinal: Nick Delp (Kiski Area) in the round of 16, then No. 17 Angel Garcia (Mariana Bracetti Academy) in the quarterfinal. Garcia lost 12-6 to Pinto in the Northeast regional final this past week. In the champ/champ quarter of Kibe's half, Cadet national freestyle runner-up Mac Stout (Mount Lebanon) is most likely to clear to the semifinal; while regional champion Matt Romanelli (Downingtown East) faces returning state medalist Dominic Falcone (Easton) in the round of 16.
Replica of last year? New Jersey 120 pounds
The top four place-finishers at 113 pounds from last year's state tournament anchor this year's 120-pound weight class bracket. The top three place finishers are all nationally ranked in order of their state placing finish: No. 3 Dean Peterson (St. John Vianney), No. 8 Nick Babin (Emerson-Park Ridge), and No. 15 Vincent Santaniello (Brick Memorial). Three-time state placer Nick Kayal (Bergen Catholic) finished fourth.
Peterson and Babin are the top two seeds, which makes sense. Somehow Santaniello dropped to the six-seed despite his only loss being 5-3 to Peterson in the Shore Conference final. Kayal is the fifth seed, as he has an in-season loss to the four-seed Joseph Davi (Delbarton). The third seed here is Matt DeStefanis (Randolph), who beat Davi in the regional final. The result is possibly quarterfinal matches placing DeStefanis vs. Santaniello and Davi vs. Kayal.
Peterson is looking at a possibly quarterfinal match against either returning state medalist Shane Percelay (Pope John XXIII) or now multi-time state qualifier George Mazzeo (Paulsboro), who took Santaniello to the brink in a 3-2 ultimate tiebreaker loss in the regional final. Babin is looking at a possible quarterfinal against returning state placer Jack Maida (Shore Regional).
Three in the top 10: Pennsylvania 2A 113 pounds
A pair of state tournament weight brackets across the country this weekend feature three wrestlers ranked within the top ten nationally. The first of those is in Pennsylvania Class 2A at 113 pounds. 2018 state champion Gary Steen (Reynolds), who placed third at state last year, is the top ranked of the four regional champions; he is also ranked No. 6 nationally.
The next two ranked regional champions are returning state placers No. 8 Joey Fischer (South Park) and Gavin Bradley (Athens), while the fourth ranked regional champion is No. 5 Brett Ungar (Notre Dame); Ungar was state champion last year as a junior for Hunterdon Central (N.J.), which yields less "ranking" points than an in-state state medalist. On the season, Ungar has split matches against Steen (loss at Ironman, win at state duals) with his other loss coming to national No. 2 Stevo Poulin in the East of the East final. The loss to Ungar at state duals was the lone loss of the season for Steen, who has titles at both Ironman and Powerade on the season.
Ungar also has the toughest path of anyone in the field with a likely quarterfinal coming against returning state medalist Kai Burkett (Chestnut Ridge) in order to clear to the semifinal round.
Three in the top 10: New Jersey 126 pounds
The other weight class featuring three top ten wrestlers is in the Garden State at 126 pounds. Three-time state placer Eddie Ventresca (Pope John XXIII) is a Virginia Tech signee, a returning state champion, and ranked No. 3 nationally; three-time state finalist Robert Howard (Bergen Catholic) was state champion in 2018, and the Penn State signee is ranked No. 9 nationally; while two-time state placer Nico Nardone (Delbarton) is ranked No. 8 nationally, and a Class of 2021 commit to Penn.
Mericfully the seeding outcome for the weight class actually makes sense, Ventresca is the top seed with Nardone the two and Howard the three; Nardone beat Howard 5-4 in a dual team state playoff bout. The fourth seed is two-time state placer McKenzie Bell (Kingsway Regional, N.J.) with the bracket's other returning state placer Alex Almeyda (St. Joseph Montvale) the sixth seed.
Ventresca is looking at a likely quarterfinal against one of two now three-time state qualifiers, Logan Hoerle (Westfield) or Logan Mazzeo (Emerson-Park Ridge). In the other quarter of the top half, the likely match would place Bell against fifth-seed Sean Rendeiro (St. Peter's Prep), who had an in-season victory over two-time Super 32 placer Almeyda.
Within the lower half-bracket, Howard is looking at a potential quarterfinal match against Almeyda. It should be noted that Howard's loss in last year's state final came against Sammy Alvarez, who also wrestled for St. Joseph Montvale. Nardone is looking at a potential quarterfinal against now three-time state qualifier Nico Messina (Freehold Boro).
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