Schools
Melde Moves On for Bergen Catholic
Rest of River Dell, Bergen Catholic find first-round knockouts.
Nine River Dell-area wrestlers came to Atlantic City to compete in the NJSIAA state tournament on Friday, but only one will move on to Saturday.
Connor Melde (135) of Bergen Catholic had a strong day, beating Luis Filipe of Long Branch High School 7-2 in the pre-quarterfinals after a first-round bye. He will face Louis Mascola of Seton Hall on the second day.
The rest of the township’s grapplers didn’t fare as well. River Dell’s Danny Lynch (103) fell to John Amato of Camden Catholic 4-0 in his preliminary match.
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Only two other Bergen Catholic wrestlers made it past the preliminary round. Michael Maye (119) bested Hillsborough’s Joey DiCarlo before losing to Joe Giaccio of Cranford 8-2 in the pre-quarters. Johnny Sebastian (152) pinned Philip Bakuckas in the prelims before losing to Christian Barber of Westfield 2-1. Maye and Sebastian will compete in wrestleback matches on Saturday.
The rest of Bergen Catholic fell in the preliminaries. Tyler Casamenti (103) lost to Tony Giancola of Collingswood 7-0. Trevor Albrecht (112) lost to Justin Bellis of High Point by pin. Matthew Mangini (140) fell to Mike Saughnessy of Howell High 8-4. James Dawson (145) lost to Daniel Perrit of Ocean City by pin. Hunter Kiselick lost to Haddonfield’s Kristopher Rahn by pin at :48.
Find out what's happening in River Dellfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Come back to Patch to see how Melde does on Saturday.
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