Towns, Murphy, and Crippen Advance to Semi-Finals of District Wrestling Tournament

Out of the nine teams that competed on Friday, Feb. 18  in the first day of the District 9 NJSIAA Wrestling Tournament, Morristown High School came in sixth overall for total points, just behind Parsippany High School. Delbarton scored the most with 106 points.

Despite finishing in the bottom half as a team, Morristown exhibited great intensity. Some of the Colonials' top seeded wrestlers led the way.

Junior Desmond Towns was the top seed in the 145-pound division, and he did not disappoint when he defeated Max Scalice of Boonton, advancing to the next round of the tournament. Towns dominated the match, almost pinning Scalice early, but ultimately winning by decision after picking up points throughout each round.

“I’ve been looking forward to this all year," said Towns. "This is what I've been waiting for."

Junior Pat Murphy will also advance to day two of the tournament after his win against Andrew Nelson of Mountain Lakes in their 160-pound weight class match. Sophomore Frank Crippen of the 112-pound class defeated freshman Michael Koval of Boonton and will be joining Murphy and Towns.

“It’s a typical Friday night at districts. Anyone can beat anyone,” said Morristown coach Brian Young. “It comes down to one match. If you win, you’re on to the next day, if you lose, your season is over. It's pretty much down to who wants it the most and we saw a couple one seeds go down tonight, along with other high seeds, so you can see it's pretty much do or die.”

Competition should only be tighter on day two of of the district tournament, which starts on Saturday, Feb. 19. Weigh-ins begin at 8:30 a.m. at and matches will be going through the remainder of the day. Finals are estimated to start at 3 p.m.