8 Bridgewater-Raritan Wrestlers Advance To Region Tournaments

BRIDGEWATER, NJ — Not only did eight wrestlers from Bridgewater-Raritan High School advance to the region tournaments, but this program left District 15 with another valuable result.

Respect.

"We came into one of the toughest districts in the entire state and showed we don’t only have what it takes to compete with the best but we are now respected as one of the best," SAID Bridgewater-Raritan coach Kyle Murphy.

Three Bridgewater-Raritan wrestlers — Danny Smith,Casey Spina and Logan Levine — each wrestled his way to a District 15 final, where they were defeated.

Meanwhile, another five Panther wrestlers each won his third-place consolation bout so that qualified eight from Bridgewater-Raritan to compete in Region 4 which starts this Friday, Feb. 24, and will be finished on Saturday, Feb. 25, all at Union High School.

The top three finishers from each weight class from each of the 32 District tournaments that were wrapped up on Saturday, February 18 from around the state advance to the eight Region tournaments.

From there, the top four finishers from each weight from each region earn the opportunity to bid for a New Jersey championship when the NJSIAA state tournament is wrestled March 2 through 4 at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City.

At District 15, which was wrestled at Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School, on Feb. 18, Bridgewater-Raritan placed fourth in the 10-team standings and in a field that featured a state team champion and a state team runner-up.

Delaware Valley Regional High School, fresh off winning the Group 1 state team title a week earlier, placed first at District 15 with 230 points. The District 15 runner-up was Governor Livingston Regional High School, which scored 171 points. A week earlier, Governor Livingston fell in the Group 2 state final against High Point Regional High School.

Watchung Hills Regional High School, which was defeated during the season by Bridgewater-Raritan, placed third in the district with 150.5 points. Bridgewater-Raritan finished fourth with 134 points.

But the eight Panthers who will remain wrestling for at least another week overshadowed any fourth-place finish.

"I’m proud to coach such a motivated group of kids," Murphy said.

While two of the Panther finalists fell by a fall to Delaware Valley wrestlers – Levine at 120 pounds against Jade Perez and Spina at 138 pounds against Jacson Bush — Smith’s title bout came down to the Ultimate Tie Breaker (UTB) when he was edged by his rival Nick Villani of Bernards High School, 8-7. The two had split their previous two matches this season.

Smith was seeking his second straight district championship while Spina was also a runner-up last year and Levin placed third in 2022.

But Bridgewater-Raritan produced five victories out of its six wrestlers who competed in the third-place consolation bouts.

"We won five third-place matches and some in dramatic fashion," Murphy said.

One of those dramatic bouts came when Bridgewater-Raritan’s Michael Marsigliano rallied from two points down and turned Colonia High School’s Noah Bone to secure the pin at 5:01 in the third-place match at 126 pounds.

"Arguably the most intense match I’ve ever seen and coached," Murphy revealed.

The other consolation winners for Bridgewater-Raritan were 165-pounder Nick Heuner and 190-pounder Christian Gallegos, who each won by a fall, 150-pounder Dane Sorensen, who won by a forfeit, and 175-pounder Steven Shimko, who scored a victory by a decision.

Heuner pinned Luke Williams of Watchung Hills in 3:19 and Gallegos won by a fall in 5:59 against Pingry School’s Nicholas Sendon. Shmko decisioned Delaware Valley’s Kevin Roman, 6-1.

Bridgewater-Raritan’s Lucas Pelc fell in his 106-pound consolation bout when he was pinned by Christian Sabatino of Governor Livingston in 3:59.

The eight region qualifiers are tied for the second most in school history. Nine Panthers once advanced to the regions.

"The kids fed off of our crowd, staff and each other’s energy," Murphy said.

— Submitted by BRRSD