Six Absegami High School Wrestlers Seeded as District 32 Tournament Begins Tonight

The team portion of the high school wrestling season has come to an end, and the long road to Atlantic City begins tonight.

The District 32 tournament commences tonight, 5:30 p.m. at Absegami High School, and following a disappointing season that resulted in a close first-round playoff loss, the Braves look to shine during the individual portion of the New Jersey wrestling season.

The NJSIAA has released the seedings and first round matchups for each district tournament. The following is a synopsis of where Absegami’s wrestlers will compete in District 32. The top three placewinners in each weight class advance to next week’s regional round.

Three Absegami wrestlers are seeded, while the rest of the wrestlers on the team must work their way up from the preliminary round.

Alex Gong was the lone No. 1 seed for the Braves, as he is the man to beat at 170 pounds. The first one to get a crack at Gong will be the winner of a preliminary round matchup between Oakcrest’s Jacob Orchard and Buena’s Nick DeFeo.

The other seeds at 170 are: No. 2 James Bennett, of St. Augustine; No. 3 James Moore, of Middle Township; and No. 4 Eric Wollerman, of Egg Harbor Township, who faces No. 5 Ryan Herold, of Buena, in the quarterfinals.

Mike Jiampetti is seeded No. 2 at 126. Should he advance to the finals, his expected opponent would be top-seeded Brandon Bower, of Egg Harbor Township. First, however, Jiampetti must get past the winner of a preliminary round contest between Atlantic City’s John Migone and Buena’s Chaz Bramble.

Nate Ross also begins his quest to reach the state tournament from the No. 2 spot in his weight class, 152. Before having the opportunity to face top-seeded Mark Patterson, of St. Augstine, in the finals, however, Ross must win two matches, beginning with the winner of a prelim bout between Oakcrest’s Ian Lipford and Atlantic City’s Gerardo Gonzalez.

John Willette is seeded third at 132 pounds, behind top-seeded Kevin McGloin, of Oackrest, and No. 2 Jason Cohen, of Egg Harbor Township. Willette begins the tournament against the winner of a preliminary round matchup between Middle Township’s Bryan Belger and Holy Spirit’s Ed Sooy.

Heavyweight Mike Ottavio is also a No. 3 seed for Absegami, behind No. 1 Dom LaFragola, of Holy Spirit, and No. 2 Matthew Rickards of Holy Spirit. Ottavio faces either Cedar Creek’s Christopher Brown or Atlantic City’s Bruce Mercado in the quarterfinals.

John Carr earned the lowest seed among Absegami wrestlers, procuring the No. 7 seed at 195 pounds. He opens the tournament in the quarterfinals against No. 3 Joe Johnston of Middle Township.

At 120 pounds, Brandon Goldberg is seeded No. 4, behind Buena’s Billy Ward (No. 1), Ocean City’s Cliff Owens (No. 2), and Holy Spirit’s Garrett Paolone (No. 3). Goldberg faces No. 5 Elijah Johnson, of Atlantic City, in the quarterfinals.

At 106 pounds, Absegami’s Douglas Sterling clashes with ShaQuan Harrell-Huffin, of district rival Oakcrest in a preliminary round matchup.

At 113 pounds, Absegami’s Chris Harvey faces Egg Harbor Township’s Shane Morgan in a preliminary round matchup.

At 138 pounds, Absegami’s Frank Malloy faces Karl Rieck, of district rival Cedar Creek, in the preliminary round.

At 145 pounds, Absegami’s Ibrahim Diomande meets Mainland’s Eric Lands in the preliminary round.

At 160 pounds, Absegami’s Alvin Mears opens the tournament in the preliminary round against Cedar Creek’s Bryan Bellace.

At 182 pounds, Absegami’s David Blake meets Ocean City’s Ryan Richards in the preliminary round.

At 220 pounds, Absegami’s William Sanz will face Mainland’s Shane Edwards in the prelims.