Sebastian Claims State Title in Atlantic City

As the top seed in his weight class, Johnny Sebastian of Bergen Catholic was the favorite to bring home a state title from the Atlantic City wrestling championship this weekend and the sophomore Crusader did not disappoint. After being down in the finals to Philip Bakuckas of Hammonton with one minute remaining, Sebastian battled back for a 7-3 win and his first state title.

Prior to facing Bakuckas, Sebastian was able to hold Becton/Wallington's James Dugan off in a 3-2 decision in the semifinals. He breezed into his match-up with Dugan after an outstanding 16-3 decsion over Dylan Dobzanski (Delsea) and then Keith Lemongello (Pequannock) 3-1 on Friday night.

For the third straight year, Connor Melde was kept out of the semifinals and had to settle for a fourth place consolation win 3-2 over Jason Estevez (Livingston). Connor Melde sat out Friday night's first round, but came out strong in a 4-2 decision over Jesse Meaney (Manchester Township). He started Saturday off in a tight 6-5 decision over Jimmy Schultema (Phillipsburg) to advance to the semifinals but came up short against Brandon Keller of Timber Creek, 3-1 in the semis.

Lukas Iorio, Tyler Casamenti and DJ Tirelli all fell during the second and third rounds.  Nick Baranello was ousted in the quarterfinals by Tevin Shaw (Piscataway) 8-3 on Saturday. Lenny Smith and Carmine Goldsack never made it past the preliminary round.

***

Down in West Orange, Bergen Catholic was set back by a lowscoring first half in the North NonPublic A match with Seton Hall Prep. The top seeded Pirates came out on top, 73-66 over the 8th seeded Crusaders. Taino Flores scored 14 points, Nadi Beciri added 13 points followed by Richie Deluca's 12.

The sixth seeded Golden Hawks were ousted from the North 1 Group 2 state tournament by the third seeded Mountain Lakes Lakers, 51-48 in a tight match. In the end, a flip-flop on control in the middle periods was enough to keep River Dell from advancing. Tim Barnes led with 20 points followed by Sean Boland and Ben Orth's eight points.

In the State Meet of Champions swim meet, the Crusaders 200 medley relay squad finished in eighth in 1:40.01 while Josh Sembrano wound up in eighth in a 53.58 finish in the 100 butterfly.