WILLIAMSTOWN—Hammonton’s Luca Giagunto won a title at 126 pounds and five other local wrestlers advance to the Region 8 tournament with top-three finishes last week at the District 30 championships hosted by Williamstown High School.
Giagunto led a group of five Hammonton wrestlers to advance to this week’s regional championships, as the Blue Devils placed fourth behind Washington Twp., Eastern and host Williamstown in the team standings.
Wrestling as the top seed at 126 pounds, Giagunto earned his first district title by sweeping three matches. The sophomore pinned Timber Creek’s Temwani Lungu-Cord to begin the day, then pinned Williamstown’s Chandler Zanella.
Taking on Washington Twp. senior Robert DuCoin in the finals, Giagunto won a 10-4 decision.
At 113 pounds, Hammonton’s Shane Way placed second, earning his first trip to regionals.
Seeded second at District 30, Way received a bye into the semifinals where he pinned Eastern’s Jayden Belonia in 1:24. Facing the tournament’s top seed, Washington Twp.
freshman Christian Hoopes, Way was pinned in 3:55 in the championship match.
Three Blue Devils earned their way to regionals with third-place finishes last weekend.
Justin Flood, Logan Walters and Frank Italiano each finished third for Hammonton.
Flood, a senior seeded third, opened the tournament by pinning Eastern’s Ryan Schmidt in 1:32.
In the semifinals, he dropped a 5-0 decision to Washington Twp.’s Tyler Hildebrand. In the third-place match, Flood bounced back to pin Timber Creek’s Matthew Steele.
At 120 pounds, Walters earned a bye into the semifinals where he lost to Winslow’s Jeremiah Lewis, getting pinned in 1:21. The junior then took third place when he took down Timber Creek’s Brandon Myers in 4:00.
Italiano placed third at 144 pounds. The junior was the top seed, and had a bye into the semifinals where he was upset by eventual district champion Chaz Melton of Washington Twp. 9-2. In the consolation final, Italiano defeated Buena’s Charlie Muzzarelli 4-2 to advance to Region 8 for the second-straight season.
Also finishing in third place was St. Joseph’s Nick Melchiore at 150 pounds. The junior pinned Timber Creek’s Anthony Talamo to open the tournament, then lost 11-2 to Winslow’s Xavier Harvey in the semifinals.
Wrestling for third place, Melchiore pinned Williamstown’s Anthony Iacovone in 1:32.
Four Hammonton wrestlers placed fourth, falling one victory short of advancing.
At 132 pounds, Vincenzo Cirillo pinned Overbrook’s Oscar Calderone before falling to Washington Twp.’s Jackson Hoopes in the semifinals. In the third-place match, Cirillo fell 6-2 to Williamstown’s Tyler Devers.
Brett Stansbury was fourth at 138 pounds. He beat St. Joe’s Doug Farinaccio in the quarterfinals 3-1, then was pinned by Washington Twp.’s Tyler Lucia in the semis. Wrestling for third place, Stansbury lost 8-0 to Eastern’s Jaelin Benson.
Kevin Watson was fourth at 165 pounds. He pinned St. Joe’s David Goodwin in 1:23 to open the tournament, then lost to Eastern’s Nikita Alcoba in the semifinals. In the third place match, Watson was pinned by Washington Twp.’s James Henhaffer.
At 175 pounds, Edward Niedoba opened the day with a semifinal loss to Williamstown’s Derryk Hannold. Competing for third place, Niedoba was pinned by Eastern’s Quinn Weismer.
Others competing for Hammonton last weekend included Michael Maimone, Michael Benedetto, Michael Ryan, Serhii Chuhui and Camryn Broadnax, who were all eliminated in the quarterfinals. Also losing in the quarterfinals were St. Joseph’s Farinaccio Goodwin, Gavin Steiner and Colin Steiner.