Five wrestlers seeded 17-32 placed in the first eight last weekend at Atlantic City. Each of these wrestlers lost in either the first round or the pre-quarterfinals and wrestle several matches to get to the first eight places. It takes a lot of heart to accomplish that, usually under very disappointed mental states. The five wrestlers are: Spencer Stewart (Sparta), Eddie Hummel (Roselle Park), Christian Vertedor (Passaic Tech), Ethan Craft (Rancocas Valley), and Kyle Epperly (Jackson).
120 – #30 Spencer Stewart, Sparta
First Round -lost 10-4 decision to #3 Dylan Cedeno (Bergen Catholic)
Wrestleback, Round 1 – won 9-2 decision over #19 Hunter Nixon (Seneca)
Wrestleback, Round 2 – won 10-5 decision over #20 Nick Reilly (Toms River North)
Wrestleback, Round 3 – won 10-0 major decision over #27 Fred Luchs (Middletown North)
Wrestleback, Round 4 – won 7-6 decision over #10 Nico Messina (Freehold Boro) Wrestleback, Quarterfinals – lost 5-4 decision to #9 Devin Flannery (High Point) Wrestleback, 7th/8th Place – lost 3-2 decision to #8 Vincent Scollo (Jackson)
126 – #17 Eddie Hummel, Roselle Park
First Round – won by pin, 1:51, over #17 Mike Ruane (West Essex)
Pre-Quarterfinals – lost 12-1 decision to #1 Robert Howard (Bergen Catholic) Wrestleback, Round 2 – won by pin, 2:33, over #15 Ryan Zimmerman (Long Branch) Wrestleback, Round 3 – won 5-2 decision over #9 Garrett Stewart (Sparta) Wrestleback, Round 4 – won 3-2 decision over #11 Hunter Gandy (Woodstown) Wrestleback, Quarterfinals – won 5-1 decision over #7 Gianni Manginelli (Dumont) Wrestleback, Semi-Finals – lost by pin, 4:57, to #4 CJ Composto (Westfield)
Wrestleback, 5th/6th Place – lost 7-6 decision to #5 Nick Cabanillas (DePaul)
132 – #18 Christian Vertedor, Passaic Tech
First Round – won 3-2 decision over #15 AJ DeRosa (Delaware Valley)
Pre-Quarterfinals – lost 3-1 decision to #2 Andrew Clark (Collingswood)
Wrestleback, Round 2 – won 6-2 decision over #16 Darren Jones (West Essex)
Wrestleback, Round 3 – won by pin, 5:59, over #25 Cody Walsh (Camden Catholic) Wrestleback, Round 4 – won 7-5 decision over #12 Travis Jones (Phillipsburg) Wrestleback, Quarterfinals – lost 3-1 decision to #9 Cooper Pontelandolfo (Cherokee)
Wrestleback, 7th/8th Place – won 4-3 decision over #3 William Grater (Don Bosco)
170 – Ethan Craft, Rancocas Valley
First Round – lost 4-2 decision to #7 Reid Colella (Wayne Valley)
Wrestleback, Round 1 – won by pin, 1:44, over #23 Gabriel Rodrigues (Piscataway) Wrestleback, Round 2 – won 5-2 decision over #9 Michael Conrad (Montville) Wrestleback, Round 3 – won 3-2 decision over #17 Joseph Colon (St. Augustine) Wrestleback, Round 4 – won 4-3 decision over #11 John Stout (Southern) Wrestleback, Quarterfinals – won 6-1 decision over #7 Reid Colella (Wayne Valley) Wrestleback, Semi-Finals – lost 2-1 (UTB) decision to #4 AJ Lonski (Delbarton) Wrestleback, 5th/6th Place – lost 1-0 decision to #8 James Cruz (St. Peter’s Prep)
*UTB = ultimate tie breaker
195 – Kyle Epperly, Jackson
First Round – lost 7-4 decision to #7 Zane Coles (Pitman)
Wrestleback, Round 1 – won by pin, 2:47, over #23 Alieis Almanzar (Kingsway)
Wrestleback, Round 2 – won 6-4 decision over #25 Ryan Brazill (Bordentown-Florence)
Wrestleback, Round 3 – won 6-2 decision over #15 Nick Recine (Piscataway) Wrestleback, Round 4 – won 6-3 decision over #3 Joe Daddario (Montville) Wrestleback, Quarterfinals – lost 7-6 decision to #10 Drew Bowker (Rancocas Valley) Wrestleback, 7th/8th Place – won 12-4 major decision over #9 Anthony Franden (Eastern)