Highland Wrestling Team Sending Four to State Championships

The Highland Regional High School wrestling team is sending four wrestlers to next weekend’s state championships in Atlantic City.

Highland didn’t capture any regional titles, but it had a pair of runner-ups and a pair of third-place finishers at the Region 8 tournament this weekend at Egg Harbor Township, according to nj.com. The top three wrestlers in each weight class advance to the state tournament.

Seth Henry qualified for the state tournament at 106 pounds after dropping the regional final to Kingsway’s Quinn Kinner, 10-2. The fifth seed advanced to the final by upsetting top-seeded Dante Mininno, of Gateway, 4-3, in the semifinals. Before that, he upset No. 4 Nick Duca, of Paulsboro, 3-2, in the quarterfinals.

Sheldon Morris qualified for the state tournament at 160 pounds after dropping the regional final to Clearview’s Edward Lenkowski, 5-0. Morris was the No. 3 seed, and advanced to the final with a sudden victory upset win over No. 2 Thomas McNeill, of Winslow. In the quarterfinals, he defeated St. Augustine’s No. 11 seed Branden Cirillo, 4-1, and in the first round on Tuesday night, he downed No. 14 Kyle Fisher, of Washington Township, by major decision.

Lucas Siegfried and Mark Gillis advanced by battling their way through the wrestleback rounds at 113 and 220, respectively.

Siegfried entered the 113-pound tournament as the No. 3 seed. He defeated Holy Spirit’s Tim Fitzpatrick, 3-2, in the quarterfinals, but fell to eventual Region 8 champion Trace Kinner, the No. 2 seed from Kingsway, by pinfall in the semifinals.

In the wrestleback semifinals, he defeated Buena’s Luis Rivera, 3-2. In the final, he defeated Gateway’s Antonio Mininno, 3-2, to claim third place.

Gillis entered the 220-pound tournament as the No. 5 seed. He upset No. 4 Tai Cosby, of Vineland, in the quarterfinals when Cosby was stopped with an injury. In the semifinals, he fell to No. 1 James Brady, of St. Augustine, 3-0.

In the wrestleback semifinals, he defeated Gateway’s Frank Weyhmiller, 6-0. The final was a little closer. Gillis defeated Delsea’s Joe Fabrizio, 13-11 to claim third place.

St. Augustine won the Region 8 team title by the narrowest of margins, defeating Clearview, 118-117.5. Highland was sixth with 70 points. For complete team scores, click here.

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