CAL National Champ Braves host District 32 Saturday at 10a.m.
The Absegami Braves, fresh off a good 16-9 regular season, will host the NJSIAA District 32 Wrestling Tournament Saturday in Galloway. Wrestling will begin at 10 a.m. The Braves won the Cape-Atlantic League National Division crown, highlighting a season in which the majority of their dual meet losses were to elite non-conference programs. Actually the Braves came close to dominating the entire CAL this season, losing only to stacked powerhouse St. Augustine.
This year’s District 32 tournament is a reminder of days gone by. Eight teams that were a part of the old District 32 lineup for decades (before the state screwed everything up several years ago) will be in the Absegami gym all day Saturday. It will be amusing to see if they occupy their old seating sections that their predecessors filled for a generation.
The Braves have three number one seeds and a number two seed in the tournament. George Rhodes, Sean Cowan and Frank Gargione are seeded first. Julian Rivera is seeded second.
Freshman Nick Gargione is Frank’s younger brother. He has a 10-11 record at 106 and will receive a bye into the quarterfinals where he will face Barnegat frosh John Giblock, who is 13-11. A win there and Gargione will face top seed Andrew Siteman of Mainland, who is 26-4. On February 7 Siteman pinned Gargione in the Braves’ South Jersey Group III quarterfinal win over Mainland. Fellow Brave freshman Matthew Sterling is 11-16 and will face Pinelands’ Josiah Hart, 19-11, in the quarterfinals at 120. A win over Hart will very likely land Sterling a bout with top seed Sean Dever of EHT in the semifinals. Dever defeated Sterling by major decision, 10-2, in a dual meet on January 27. Sophomore Aiden Zeck is 9-7 at 126. He will face Ocean City’s Tommy Grimley, who is 9-11, in the quarterfinals. A win over Grimley will place Zeck in the semifinals against top seed D’Amani Almodovar of St. Augustine.
Absegami veteran Bhavya Rama is 12-14 at 132 and will face Pinelands freshman Jake Greenberg in the quarterfinals. Should Rama win and advance to the semifinals he will face top seeded Hunter Horsey of Oakcrest, who is 34-1. Frank Gargione, 22-9, is the top seed at 138. He will face the winner of the preliminary round match between Lower Cape May’s Gabriel Donaghy and Jackson Waters of Mainland. Should Gargione advance to the finals there is a good chance he will face EHT’s Vincent Faldetta. Gargione beat Faldetta, a longtime presence in the Eagles’ lineup, 6-5 in the teams’ dual meet on January 27. Gargione built a nice lead and withstood a strong comeback by Faldetta.
Absegami freshman (is that getting repetitive?) Brayden Wright is 10-9 at 144 and will face Barnegat Junior Miguel Sendecki in the quarterfinals. Should he defeat Sendecki Wright will meet top seed Richie Grungo of The Prep in the semifinals. Absegami sophomore Julian Rivera is 17-8 at 150 and is the number two seed. Rivera will face Oakcrest’s Owen Becker in the quarterfinals. Rivera pinned Becker in 2:29 on February 2. If he wins and advances to the semis it is likely he will have a rematch with Lower Cape May’s Nathan Stewart, who is 23-6. Rivera beat Stewart 7-6 on February 1 at Absegami. Sean Cowan is the top seed at 157. He is 26-5. He does not have a particularly difficult path to the finals where he would likely meet Ocean City’s Charley Cossaboone. Cowan defeated Cossaboone 8-2 on January 8.
Kevin Guerrero is 4-4 at 165 and will likely meet top seed Brock Zurawski, 30-2, in the quarterfinals. Gami veteran George Rhodes is 28-3 at 175 and is the top seed. Rhodes has a very good chance to advance to the finals where it is also very likely he will meet Lower Cape May’s Braydon Castillo, who is 25-7. Rhodes defeated Castillo in a dual meet bout 5-2 on February 1. Absegami sophomore Caiden Hurley, 6-13, will have his hands full in the quarterfinals with number two seed Sam Williams of Ocean City at 190. Williams is 22-10. Should he advance he would have another tough one versus Lower’s Brody Saltzman, 27-3.
Absegami’s Nadhim Drinkard is a senior first-year starter at 215 and is 9-13. Drinkard will face Mainland’s Paul Lombardo in the quarterfinals. Lombardo beat Drinkard 9-7 on February 7. A win would put Drinkard in a tough spot versus top seed Marcus Hebron of Lower in the semis. But the rest of the bracket in this weight class does not appear to be very strong. Don’t underestimate Drinkard’s chances to grab a podium spot via the consolation round. He has a winning record in his last seven bouts and has been improving all year.
Absegami heavyweight Adrain Martinez-Ruiz is 12-15 and will wrestle Oakcrest’s Francisco Velazquez, 12-12, in the quarterfinals. Velazquez pinned Martinez-Ruiz with one second left in their dual meet bout on February 2.