Drew Spector Wins 100th at Region 8 Tournament

EGG HARBOR TWP. — For weeks, West Deptford High School senior wrestler Drew Spector has made it clear that reaching the milestone of 100 wins was not a big deal to him. He had bigger goals in mind, like winning a region title and advancing to the state tournament.

Friday night, Spector was able to reach the century mark and in the process keep those bigger goals very much alive. Spector pinned Paulsboro’s Mike Silvestro in 31 seconds in the 140-pound weight class to advance to the Region 8 Wrestling Tournament semifinals on Saturday.

“It feels great,” Spector said. “I mean, I’m still focusing on my next match and then the next match. I’m not looking over anyone.”

Spector was familiar with Silvestro, having beat him twice already this season. He wasted no time recording a takedown 10 seconds into the match and locked in a cradle for the pin moments later.

“I’ve been hitting cradles probably every match that I have pinned somebody,” Spector said. “It just felt comfortable. I cradled him last time I faced him (in the District 29 quarterfinals) so I just went back to it.”

Spector has been determined to make it to states since his junior season ended at regionals with losses in the semifinals and wrestlebacks. This year, he is not only a favorite to advance to the State Tournament - the top three finishers in each weight class move on - but is the No. 1 seed at 140.

He said he feels no extra pressure being the wrestler everyone is gunning for.

“I got to go in thinking I want to beat everybody just like they got to go in thinking that. I just have to try my hardest and impose my will on them.”

Friday night did not go as well for the other six West Deptford wrestlers who advanced to the quarterfinals. Tyler Kaminski, Evan Zuzulock, Josh Gilliano, James Shields, Sean Bonner and Rory Bonner each suffered defeat, making their roads to Atlantic City much more difficult. Each must now win a series of wrestlebacks to claim third place.

Zuzulock’s loss was particularly excruciating for the Eagles coaching staff as he lost a 4-3 decision to Pennsville’s Grant Kirchner. Zuzulock had what West Deptford head coach John Craig believed should have been ruled a takedown late in the third period, but two points were not awarded and Zuzulock ran out of time.

Rory Bonner also suffered a close defeat, 2-1, to Andrew Hughes. Bonner beat Hughes in the district semifinals but could not repeat the result. Bonner allowed a takedown with six seconds left in the first period and could not recover.

Giving up points late in periods was a problem for several of the Eagles.

“When you get this far, when you are in the region quarters, everybody is going to be good,” Craig said. “We had a couple matches that we won during the season and a couple we lost, so we were familiar with our opponents. The one thing I will say is that we have to stop allowing points on us late in the clock with five seconds, 10 seconds left. It’s killing us.”

The action resumes Saturday with the semifinals at 10 a.m. followed by wrestlebacks. The consolations are scheduled to start at 3 p.m. with the finals to follow.

Craig is hoping all of his wrestlers will rise up and have a big day.

“We are definitely going to be tested,” Craig said. “These are the elite kids in this area so we will se how elite some of our guys are. We know that we are strong as a team and now we will have to find out how strong our guys are individually.”

Region 8 Quarterfinal Round

103: Tommy Gattinella, St. Augustine, pin. Chris Bucceroni, 1:44; Jesse Swope, Delsea, pin. Joey Rocks, 3:28; Zach Valcarce, Lower Cape May, dec. Alan Nguyen, Timber Creek, 7-4; John Gentile, Paulsboro, maj. dec. Thomas Moss, Williamstown, 16-3.

112: Ricky Carter, Washington Township, dec. Ronray Harris, Middle Township, 2-1 (2 OT); John Van Brill, Clearview, dec. Tyler Kaminski, West Deptford, 7-1; Josh Dickinson, Lower Cape May, dec. Michael Zold, Paulsboro, 7-4; John Hennelly, Delsea, dec. Steven Passarella, Washington Township, 9-4.

119: Billy Ward, Buena, pin. Dennis Conway, Hammonton, 4:52; Grant Kircher, Pennsville, dec. Evan Zuzulock, West Deptford, 4-3; Jovanni Arroyo, Oakcrest, dec. Connor Bestwick, Woodstown, 3-2; Mike Jiampetti, Absegami, pin. Newt Richardson, Schalick, 1:42.

125: Brandon Keller, Timber Creek, pin. Eric Hanusewicz, Cedar Creek, 1:34; Gabriel Cisneros, Lindenwold, pin. Mike Graham, Williamstown, 5:55; Joe Esposito, St. Augustine, dec. William Elliott, Cumberland, 11-3; Coley O’Brien, Ocean City, dec. Donte Scott, Paulsboro, 8-3 (OT).

130: Chalie Huff, Washington Township, dec. Joshua Gilliano, West Deptford, 11-6; Julio Matos-Nunez, Atlantic City, dec. Steve Rossi, Lower Cape May, 4-3; Paul Bachman, Deptford, maj. dec. Dom Ruggierrio, Timber Creek, 12-4; Matt Hennelly, Delsea, dec. John Ecret, 6-2.

135: Dylan Berghof, Buena, tech fall Kellen Whitney, Hammonton, 18-2, 4:45; Christian Matthew Salera, Washington Township, dec. Dan Cornew, Clearview, 7-5; Kevin Birmingham, Timber Creek, pin. Nick Knauer, Paulsboro, 2:42; Curt Delia, Delsea, tech fall Nick Quiles, Millville, 17-2, 3:49.

140: Drew Spector, West Deptford, pin. Mike Silvestro, 0:31; Bryce Shade, Timber Creek, pin. Rick Azeglio, Delsea, 4:57; Antonio Mancella, Oakcrest, dec. Joe Devone, St. Augustine, 10-5; Colton Newsome, Pennsville, dec. Nathaniel Ross, Absegami, 3-2.

145: C.J. Cobb, Williamstown, tech fall Tyler Sentman, St. Augustine, 23-8, 3:38; Monty Krough, Pennsville, dec. Dylan Dobzanski, Delsea, 6-4; Brett Carrero, Pennsville, dec. Tyree Ellis, Paulsboro, 8-7; Daniel Pettit, Ocean City, dec. George Skibinski, Clearview, 9-4.

152: Robert Shade, Timber Creek, dec. Cleveland White, Atlantic City, 11-5; Kenny Emmons, Pennsville, dec. James Shields, 7-6; Dymere Rappa, Paulsboro, pin. Steminto Rowe-Akins, Clayton, 3:48; Phillip Bakuckas, Hammonton, tech fall Chris Hahn, Absegami, 15-0, 5:08.

160: Anthony Dawson, Paulsboro, dec. Brandon Sulik, Woodstown, 5-3; Adam Schroeder, St. Augustine, dec. Sean Bonner, 10-5; Robert Elliott, Cumberland, dec. Anthony DeSantis, Ocean City, 3-0; Connor Donahue, Clearview, dec. Tommy Mitchell, 3-1.

171: Matthew Cosgrove, Paulsboro, dec. Nick Elmer, Penns Grove, 3-1; Andrew Hughes, Clearview, dec. Rory Bonner, West Deptford, 2-1; Alex Gong, Absegami, maj. dec. Anthony DeVito, Pennsville, 11-1; Steven Swayze, Washington Township, pin. Chris Lail, Kingsway, 1:35;

189: David Williams, Hammonton, dec. Cory Damiana, Lower Cape May, 9-5; Eric Hensel, Buena, maj. dec. William Cioffi, Pitman, 11-2; Bryan Dobzasnki, Delsea, dec. Bryheim Moss, Timber Creek, 3-1; Eric McMullen, Paulsboro, maj. dec. Tyler Coleman, Pennsville, 15-3.

215: Kevin Stadtmueller, Absegami, dec. Jordan Murray, Clayton, 3-2; Lucas Pearson, Ocean City, dec. Noah Repko, Buena, 9-4; Roy Lucas, St. Joseph, dec. Nick Pustizzi, Schalick, 3-2; Dan Garwood, Clearview, dec. A.J. Lear, Timber Creek, 7-2.

285: Nick Curl, Paulsboro, dec. Salvatore DeSilvio, Timber Creek, 2-0; Steven Paul, Cumberland, pin. Josh Hitchner, Woodstown, 5:34; Trent Hampton, Pennsville, dec. Andrew Baumgardner, St. Augustine, 6-1; Steve Schwartz, Absegami, dec. Tom Rementer, Clayton, 3-2.