Bridgewater-Raritan High School Wrestler Advances To State Tournament

BRIDGEWATER, NJ — Danny Smith will be wrestling on the famed Boardwalk in Atlantic City.

The senior wrestler from Bridgewater-Raritan High School received a ticket to the state
tournament when he placed third at 132 pounds in the Region 4 tournament that concluded on
Saturday, Feb. 25, at Union High School.

The top four finishers in each weight class from all eight region tournaments that were finished on February 25 advanced to wrestle at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City when the state tournament opens on Thursday, March 2 and will wrap up on Saturday, March 4.

Smith was the only one of the eight Bridgewater-Raritan wrestlers who had competed at Region 4 to qualify for the state tournament.

Smith was able to stay on track to Atlantic City when he rebounded from his loss in the Region 4 semifinals when his nemesis, Nick Villani of Bernards High School, scored a 4-0 decision on the morning of Feb. 25.

In order for Smith to qualify for the state tournament, he was required to win his ensuing wrestleback semifinals match against Giovanni Maglione of J.F. Kennedy High School in Iselin.

Smith did just that, and secured a berth in the state tournament with a 9-4 decision.

That victory advanced Smith to the third-place consolation round, which guaranteed a wrestler a trip to Atlantic City.

Smith stamped his travel plans when he posted a 3-1 decision in overtime against South Plainfield High School’s Andrew Loniewski to finish in third place.

Loniewski broke a scoreless tie with an escape 10 seconds into the second period, but Smith tied the bout with an escape eight seconds into the third period. They entered overtime tied at 1-1 but Smith gained the third-place medal with his takedown 44 seconds in the extra period to come away with the 3-1 victory. That victory left Smith with a 34-5 record this season.

Smith, the third seed at 132, was forced to win his wrestleback bouts after he also was defeated in his first matchup of Saturday morning against the second-seeded Villani.

A week earlier, the Bernards wrestler had edged Smith, 8-7 by the ultimate tie breaker in the District 15 title bout.

In the Region 4 semifinals in Union, Villani was hanging on to a 1-0 lead against Smith but then sealed the victory with three points late in their match. For the season, Villani has defeated Smith in three of their four matchups.

On Friday evening, Feb. 24, when Region 4 opened, Smith won both his two bouts by technical fall. The first came in 5:30 against Watchung Hills Regional High School’s Michael

Samayoa, while the other came in 5:00 against Bayonne High School’s Abdelaziz Fezani, who entered that bout with 30 victories this winter.

"Danny has a great chance next weekend. With seeding criteria placing third in regions and this being his third year in a row with state criteria and second straight year in Atlantic City," said Bridgewater-Raritan coach Kyle Murphy. "The skill level and experience he has, we hope to see Danny make a run at the podium."

This will be Smith’s second trip to Atlantic City to compete in the state tournament. He finished fourth in Region 4 last year but did not place in the 2022 state tournament.

Meanwhile, three of Smith’s Panther teammates each won by a fall in the opening round of Region 4. Senior Mike Marsigliano, the ninth seed at 126 pounds, pinned Linden High School’s Jimmie Jones in 4:41, senior Casey Spina, the No. 8 seed at 138, won by fall in 1:42 against Lorenzo Percario of Watchung Hills, and junior Dane Sorensen, seeded eighth at 150, pinned Ridge High School’s Liam Thoma in 1:11.

The remaining four Bridgewater-Raritan Region 4 qualifiers were eliminated in their opening-round bouts.

Sophomore Logan Levine, seeded seventh at 120, was upset by 10th-seeded Jahir Aguilar of Saint Thomas Aquinas High School in Edison, who won by a fall in 3:56.

Aguilar then went on to surprise the two-time Somerset County Champion, second-seeded Joe Aldrich of Somerville High School in the second round and was one of just two double-digit seeds to advance to the semifinals.

Joseph Dasti of Governor Livingston High School, the sixth seed at 165, earned a 10-2 major decision victory over 11th-seeded Nick Heuner (165), a senior for Bridgewater-Raritan.

Panther senior Steven Shimko, seeded 10th at 175, fell by a 5-0 decision against seventh-seeded Chris Gomez of Summit/Chatham High Schools.

Nazareth Pina of Saint Thomas Aquinas, the fourth seed at 190, won by fall in 1:49 to eliminate 14th-seeded Christian Gallegos, a senior for Bridgewater-Raritan.

Marsigliano, Spina, and Sorensen each drew the top seeds of their respective brackets in the quarterfinals—and each No. 1 seed wrestled for a parochial power.

Two of them were from Saint Peter’s Prep in Jersey City, which eventually sent 12 of its wrestlers to Atlantic City. And six Saint Peter’s Prep wrestlers won Region 4 titles.

Eventual Region 4 champion Caedyn Ricciardi (126) defeated Marsigliano by technical fall in 3:30, while Saint Peter’s Prep teammate and eventual champion Angelo Pellicci (138) pinned Spina in 3:58, though Spina had trailed only by a 3-0 score prior to the fall.

Region 4 runner-up Landon Kearns, the top seed out of Saint Thomas Aquinas at 150, won by a 30-second fall against Sorensen.

Marsigliano, Spina and Sorensen were eliminated on Saturday morning.

Marsigliano staged a late rally that came up short against Cranford High School’ Luke Scholz, who posted a 12-6 decision at 126. Spina fell by a 7-5 decision at 138 against J.F. Kennedy’s Mark Roche, while Governor Livingston’s Dante Gioia won by fall in 1:58 against Sorensen at 150.

While Smith will now have to emerge as a state champion from a weight class of 32 wrestlers—each weight division in Atlantic City contains 32 athletes–his seven Panther teammates ended their seasons in Union.

They finished with the following records for 2022-2023:

Levine, 27-8.
Marsigliano, 27-10.
Spina, 24-6.
Sorensen, 31-7.
Heuner, 19-15.
Shimko, 24-10.
Gallegos, 16-12.

All are seniors but Levine, who is a sophomore, and Sorensen, who is a junior.

"Thank you to all the seniors who gave us outstanding effort throughout the year and whose seasons and careers ended," said Coach Murphy, whose Panther team qualified for the North Jersey, Section 2, Group 5 state team tournament this winter. "Just because it is over doesn’t mean you will not have a lasting effect on this program for years to come."

— Submitted by BRRSD