Cherry Hill West Wrestling Opens Season With Lopsided Win

CHERRY HILL, NJ - The Cherry Hill High School West wrestling team fell one win short of a South Jersey title last season, and is looking to take the next step this year.

With 10 wrestlers, including seven seniors, back from that team that was the top seed in last year’s South Jersey Group 4 playoffs, the Lions look poised to do just that.

They got off to a good start on Wednesday night, defeating Winslow 72-10, in the first match of the season for both teams.

The win was highlighted by heavyweight Max Sullivan’s pin fall victory over Connor Quigley. Both wrestlers qualified for last year’s regional tournament, and it was the second straight season Sullivan got the win over Quigley.

“I was looking forward to the rematch,” said Sullivan, who scored the pin fall with 2.7 seconds left in the first period. “He’s strong, stronger than I expected.”

Although Quigley picked up strength since last year, Sullivan said both grapplers knew what to expect from each other.

“He knew I would go for under hooks, the throws and tosses,” Sullivan said. “He almost got me on those, but I’m used to guys knowing what I’m going to do, and I was able to counter it.”

The end came when Sullivan took Quigley down. Quigley went for a roll, but Sullivan countered it and was able to put his opponent down for the count.

Cherry Hill West returns plenty of experience, but coach Zach Semar was also impressed with the performance of three of his freshmen.

At 113 pounds, Brandon Drea pinned Tamaj Johnson in the second period despite a nose bleed that began early in the first period. After three stoppages in the first two periods, the trainers had to tape Drea’s nose.

“When your nose is covered, you usually breathe out of your mouth, but he also had a mouthpiece in, which made it difficult to breathe,” Semar said.

Fortunately for Drea, he was able to score the pin over Johnson a short time later.

“It was difficult for me to breathe, which made me want to pin him even more,” Drea said.

It was the first match of the night, and the first win of the season for the Lions, setting the tone for the evening.

Freshmen Michael Ummarino was up next, pinning Jaylen Williams in the first period at 120. Freshman Jackson Casida closed the night with a first period pin fall victory over Judah Green at 106.

In between, Sean Taylor (145), RJ Silver-Cohen (152), Xavier Barker (160), Aiden Rhodes (171) and Dominic Ummarino (182) all picked up wins. Jaden Reyes (126), Kyle Edwards (132) and John Howe (138) all picked up wins via forfeit.

The Lions face an early test this weekend, when they host Rancocas Valley, Clearview and Egg Harbor Township in a tri-meet on Saturday. Sullivan knows the team will be challenged, but he said the squad is battle tested and humble.

They face a tough task in Group 4 with Kingsway potentially standing in their way, but they wrestle hard, and they wrestle tough. They’re also eyeing a championship season.

Image via Shutterstock.