Eight Raiders Advance to District Semifinals

The Hillsborough wrestling team had eight of its 13 wrestlers advance to the semifinals of the District 18 Tournament held at Hillsborough high school on Friday.

Despite the strong showing from many of his wrestlers, head coach Steve Molinaro was a bit torn with the overall results of the day. He was very happy with his wrestlers that advanced, but disappointed that some of his wrestlers' careers were coming to an end.

“We pretty much put all of the kids into the semis that we thought would be there,” Molinaro said.  “There was a couple others that we had that we thought could make it into the next round that didn’t, so I have a mix of feelings.”

Easy wins were recorded by some of Hillsborough’s best wrestlers.  In the 103-pound division, sophomore Deric Winston recorded a pin in just 28 seconds.  The Raiders saw similar success in the 112 and 119 pound matches as Adam La Bracio recorded a pin in 58 seconds and Joey DiCarlo won by technical fall with a final score of 17-1, respectively.

Mackey Price and TJ Guidice were two more Raiders who saw quick success in their quarterfinal matchups. Price, the one seed in the 130-pound division, scored a pin against Manville’s Brian Burke in 1:10.  Guidice, the last one seed to secure a victory for Hillsborough, got his pin at 1:38 in the 140 pound division.

Many of the wins did not come as a surprise for Molinaro. However, he is aware that in a tough district, anything could happen.

“Obviously the next two rounds are the big ones,” Molinaro said. “It’s nice to get the wins now and get some points for the team, but we obviously want to win these next two. Every one that makes it to tomorrow has a shot at a medal, so we’ll have to see what happens.”

Rhys Weinberger and Brian Campanale advanced to the semifinals as two seeds.  Weinberger scored a pin in 2:16 against Franklin’s Ryan Kaplan at 135 pounds while Campanale recorded a pin at 1:00 against Bound Brook’s Ronald Picado at 171 pounds.

Tom Cellamare capped out the strong day by the Raiders with his 15-0 technical at 5:34 in the 189 pound division.

One wrestler that did not advance was senior Mike Caver—whose wrestling career came to an end on Friday night. Caver, who finished the season with a 19-12 record, is one of the Raiders that Molinaro commented on when he talked about his mixed emotions.

“It’s upsetting that some of our guys end their career on this,” Molinaro said.  “There’s a little bit of disappointment because guys like Mike Caver don’t get to wrestle anymore.”

The Raiders, who started wrestling at their best right at the end of the season are fully prepared to win the district. Molinaro is also very confident that all eight of his wrestlers can win their respective individual weight classes.

“We have a lot of experience in our lineup right now, so I’m very confident with my guys,” Molinaro said.  “You have to be on your game and be smart about it, but there is a good chance for quite a few of these guys.”

The District 18 tournament continues Saturday with the semifinals beginning at 10 a.m., and the finals will start at 3 p.m.