Hightstown High Wrestler LeBlanc Advances to Tonight's Region 7 Quarterfinals

After the District 25 Tournament and the first round of Region 7,  the wrestling season now comes down to the exploits of Sean LeBlanc.

Hightstown High's LeBlanc, Josh Parkhurst and Marcus Lawrence earned the right to wrestle in the regions. The top three finishers in each weight class of the District 25 Tournament, held this past weekend, advanced to Region 7. The champions of each weight class earned a spot in the Region 7 quarterfinals to be held today, Friday. The second- and third-place finishers needed a win in the qualifying round on Wednesday (pushed back a day because of snow) to make the Region 7 quarterfinals.

Only LeBlanc got that win. He defeated Joey Baer of Burlington City, 7-2, in their 112-pound qualifying match.

The season ended for Lawrence when he lost to Lenape High School's John DiBiase, 10-4, in the 189-pound Region 7 qualifier.

 Josh Parkhurst lost to Paul VI High School's Jamie Calhoun, 18-6, in the Region 7 145-pound qualifier.

"We had a decent showing at the districts this year," Hightstown Coach Mike Russo said. "I was hoping to get a few more kids through, but I guess getting three wrestlers through is okay."

Sean LeBlanc placed second at 112 pounds in District 25. LeBlanc was defeated by Steinert's Joe Michel, 4-2, in the title match.

"Sean LeBlanc had a great tournament, especially his semifinal pin over Jared Staub of Hamilton West," Russo said. "Staub is a state qualifier from last year and Sean was losing 14-2 at the time of the pin. LeBlanc caught Staub's head while he was riding legs on top.  Sean also had a nice showing losing to Steinert's Joe Michel.  LeBlanc had lost to Michel, 14-0, just a couple weeks ago."

LeBlanc was the only wrestler in the finals for Hightstown, which placed ninth in District 25 as a team. The top two teams were Northern Burlington Regional High School and New Egypt High School. Rancocas Valley and Pemberton are other teams from outside Mercer  County who participate in this district.

Lawrence was the Mercer County champion at 189 pounds, but the championship of that weight in District 25 had Pemberton's Rick Undercuffer pinning New Egypt's Rigo Morfin. Lawrence, however, placed third by pinning Hamilton's Mark McKenzie.

"Marcus had a heartbreaking 6-5 loss to Pemberton's Rick Undercuffler in the semifinals, but was able to bounce back to pin Mark McKenzie in the consolation match to finish third," Russo said. "It was a tough loss to Undercuffler, because Marcus was winning the whole match and then was hit with a lateral drop with about 20 seconds left in the match.  It's ironic that Marcus used the same move to take down and pin McKenzie."

Josh Parkhurst also won by pin in his match for third place and a spot in Region 7. Parkhurst pinned Northern Burlington's Severo Cardenas at the 3:45 mark of their 145-pound match.

"Josh was originally slated to wrestle at 140 pounds, but I decided to move him at the last minute because I knew he had a much better chance at 145," Russo said.  "Josh Parkhurst has had a solid year for us and never misses a practice and I really think it paid off at districts."

Joey DeChristofaro came close to advancing, placing fourth at 171 pounds. DeChristofaro lost an 8-4 decision to Rancocas Valley Ian Clang in the match for third place.

 "Joey had an outstanding year for us and I really wish he  (made) regions as well," Russo said.