HOWELL CAPTURES SECOND SHORE CONFERENCE WRESTLING TITLE By Eric Braun

HOWELL CAPTURES SECOND SHORE CONFERENCE WRESTLING TITLE

By Eric Braun

 

Editor’s Note: This is a corrected story from the February issue. We apologize for the error.

 

HOWELL – The Howell wrestling program captured another Shore Conference Tournament title, this time topping Jackson Memorial by 51 points.  The Rebels entered the tournament as the top seed and finished with six wrestlers combining as finalists.

Sophomore Nieko Malone, a transfer from Rancocas Valley, earned the Shore Conference Tournament’s Most Outstanding Wrestler award after making a name for himself knocking off the number 1, 2 and 4 seeds to capture the championship at 126 pounds with a 13-11 decision over Toms River East’s Michael Conklin.

Malone set the tone for the Rebels by knocking off three top area and state wrestlers in Central Regional’s Tyler Pepe, Freehold’s Nico Messina and Conklin.  In the quarterfinals against Pepe, Malone battled back from 4-0 and 6-4 deficits before tying the match with just eight seconds left before winning in sudden death with a take down.  Against Messina in the semifinals he would work a second-round pin earning him a spot in the championship against Conklin.  Malone opened with a 4-2 first-period lead before Conklin tied it in the second period, 6-6.  Malone took over the match in the third period with three takedowns and walked away with a 13-11 decision and the title at 126 pounds.

Senior Darby Diedrich squared off with Lacey’s Hunter Gutierrez in the next match.  Diedrich jumped out to a fast five-point lead in the first and withstood a second-period push from Gutierrez before putting the match away in the third to walk away with a 7-1 decision and his second Shore Conference Tournament title.

Three matches later, sophomore Paul Jakub made quick work of Jackson Memorial’s Casten DiGiantomssso at 152 pounds with a first-period pin with 1:23 remaining in the period to capture his first Shore Conference Tournament title. 

Next up was Xavier Kelly, who had to forfeit in the final to Wall’s Rob Kanniard after getting injured in his semifinal match.

Junior Shane Rietsma would pick up his teammate in the very next match with a 9-4 decision over Manalapan’s Matt Benedetti at 170 pounds for Howell’s final Shore Conference Tournament individual title.  Reitsma would earn four takedowns in the three periods to pace his championship win.

Next up at 182 pounds, Christian Murphy fell to Rumson-Fair Haven’s Nick Addison, 11-4, in the championship bout to finish off the scoring for Howell Township.

Howell would add to their winning streak with five more match wins before falling in the NJSIAA South Jersey Group 5 final to Southern Regional 30-28 and ending their team season with a record of 24-1. 

Shore Conference Tournament Finals Scoreboard

Overall Team Champion: Howell

Most Outstanding Wrestler: Nieko Malone (Howell)

 

106: Tyler Klinsky (Middletown North) pinned Jack Maida (Shore) 4:46

113: Dean Peterson (Saint John Vianney) defeated Vincent Santaniello (Brick Memorial) 5-2

120: Vin Scollo (Jackson Memorial) defeated Logan Waller (Colts Neck) 5-1

126: Nieko Malone (Howell) defeated Michael Conklin (Toms River East) 13-11

132: Darby Diedrich (Howell) defeated Hunter Gutierrez (Lacey) 7-1

138: Alex Baran (Manalapan) defeated Al DeSantis (Shore) 3-1

145: Nick Boggiano (Toms River North) defeated Luke Rada (Colts Neck) 5-1

152: Paul Jakub (Howell) pinned Carsten DiGiantomasso (Jackson Memorial) 1:23

160: Rob Kanniard (Wall) won by forfeit Xavier Kelly (Howell)

170: Shane Reitsma (Howell) defeated Matt Benedetti (Manalapan) 9-4

182: Nick Addison (Rumson-Fair Haven) defeated Christian Murphy (Howell) 11-4

195: Kyle Epperly (Jackson Memorial) won by injury Jacob Anderson (Middletown North) 3:12

220: Billy Borowsky (Point Boro) defeated John O'Donnell (Toms River North) 2-0

285: Paul Liseno (St. John Vianney) pinned Joe Teresi (Ocean) 1:46

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