Season Ends for Absegami High School Wrestlers

Each of Absegami High School's remaining two wrestlers saw their seasons come to an end at the hands of the eventual third-place winners in their respective brackets at the Region 8 tournament Saturday, March 2, at Egg Harbor Township High School.

Senior Jack Willette, the District 32 champion at 145 pounds, dropped his first wrestleback match to Woodstown senior Patrick McCurdy, 4-3. It was a rare set of circumstances that saw the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds meet in the wrestleback bracket after being upset in their respective quarterfinal matches.

McCurdy went on to defeat Highland's Joe Rodano, 7-4, and Paulsboro's Zach Richard, 5-0, to clinch third place. He will join Clearview's John Vanbrill, who improved his overall record to 40-0 with the Region 8 title, at the state tournament next weekend in Atlantic City. Vanbrill defeated Pennsville's Adrian Feliciano, 7-4, to win the title on Saturday.

As the second place wrestler, Feliciano also advances to the state tournament. Feliciano was the No. 10 seed, and upset Willette in the quartefinals. Willette finished the season with a 24-11 record.

Freshman Yanni Patsaros also lost his first wrestleback match, as he was pinned by Lower Cape May senior Zach Hicks in 40 seconds. Hicks went on to defeat Delsea's Tom Carney by pinfall to clinch third place. He joins Timber Creek's John Amato, who defeated Clayton/Glassboro's Jodeci Robinson to win the Region 8 title, at the state tournament next weekend.

Patsaros finished his freshman campaign with a record of 24-17.