Spector Falls Just Short of States

EGG HARBOR TWP.–Head down on the mat, with his hands covering his head, was not the position West Deptford High School senior Drew Spector imagined he would be in Saturday at the Region 8 Wrestling Tournament at Egg Harbor Township.

Spector, who had just picked up his 100th career victory in Friday’s quarterfinal, was a No. 1 seed in the 140-pound weight class and had visions of reaching Atlantic City for the state championships.

Instead, he had to settle for another fourth-place finish.

Spector fell in the semifinals, and after a wrestleback win, lost in the consolations to finish fourth for the third consecutive year.

“It’s tough,” said West Deptford coach John Craig. “I feel for the kid because he works so hard. I know he’s hurting right now and I need to make sure he understands he needs to focus on the positives of winning three district titles, winning 100 matches, placing in regionals.

"Even though it’s not as high as he wanted, he still medaled in regions three times. I want him to focus on the positives and understand he has had a real nice career even though this tournament was a little disappointing for him.”

Spector lost to eventual champion Bryce Shade of Timber Creek in the semifinals, and in the match suffered a neck injury that nearly ended his day. Spector decided to continue and was able to pick up a victory in wrestlebacks before falling to Pennsville’s Curt Newsome 3-1 in the consolations.  

“We were uncertain if he was going to continue, actually,” Craig said. “He said ‘I’m not going to injury default out’ and he decided to come back and think he felt OK. I think once he got rolling he was feeling better.”

Spector trailed Newsome 1-0 to start the third, but scored an escape to even the match 1-1 with one minute, 12 seconds left. Newsome took Spector down to the mat with 45 seconds left and secured his two points 14 seconds later. He held Spector down the remaining of the match to finish the win.

Spector was not the only Eagle to taste defeat, as Sean Bonner, Rory Bonner, James Shields, Evan Zuzulock, Josh Gilliano and Tyler Kaminski were each eliminated prior to the consolations.

Despite not advancing a wrestler to states, the weekend represented a good showing for the Eagles, particularly Gilliano, Shields and Rory Bonner, who each won a pair of matches in their first trip to regions.

“Honestly, I take a lot of positives out of this weekend,” Craig said. “I mean, this is the elite level of kids and we got a lot of kids further than I think most people thought they would go.

“I’m proud of the effort the guys put in. There were a couple of close matches I would like to have back, but in the grand scheme of things, I can’t say enough about these guys and this team. They did a great job and I am proud of every one of them.”

Region 8 Finals

103: John Gentile (Paulsboro) dec. Tom Gattinella (St. Augustine)  4-1 

112: Ricky Carter (Timber Creek) dec.  John Hennelly (Delsea), 5-2.

119: Billy Ward (Buena) dec. Mike Jiampetti (Absegami)  11-2 

125: Brandon Keller (Timber Creek) maj. dec. Joe Esposito (St. Augustine)  8-0 

130: Charlie Huff (Washington Township)pin Matt Hennelly (Delsea), 5:55

135: Kevin Birmingham (Timber Creek) dec. Christian Matthew Salera (Washington Township), 6-4 

140: Bryce Shade (Timber Creek)  maj. dec.Antonio Mancella (Oakcrest,) 13-0 

145: CJ Cobb (Williamstown) tech fall Dan Pettit (Ocean City), 25-10 3:32

152: Dymere Rappa (Paulsboro) dec. Ken Emmons (Pennsville), 5-4 

160: Adam Schroeder (St. Augustine) dec. Robert Elliott (Cumberland)  11-7 

171: Mathew Cosgrove (Paulsboro) dec. Steve Swayze (Washington Township) 3-2 

189: Eric McMullen (Paulsboro) dec. Eric Hensel (Buena), 4-0 

215: Dan Garwood (Clearview) dec. Kevin Stadtmueller (Absegami), 3-1 

285: Steven Paul (Cumberland) dec. Trent Hampton (Pennsville), 3-1 OT. 

Consolations

103: Zach Valcarce (Lower Cape May) dec. Jesse Swope (Delsea), 10-3 

112: John Vanbrill (Clearview) ded. Josh Dickinson (Lower Cape May), 9-3 

119: Jovanni Arroyo (Oakcrest) pin Stewart Richardson (Schalick), 2:48

125: Donte Scott (Paulsboro) dec. Coley O'Brien (Ocean City)  3-1 

130: Dom Ruggierrio (Timber Creek) dec. Paul Bachman (Deptford), 5-4 

135: Curt Delia (Delsea) dec. Dillon Berghof (Buena), 3-1 

140: Colton Newsome (Pennsville) dec. Drew Spector (West Deptford), 3-1 

145: Monty Krough (Pennsville) dec. Dylan Dobzanski (Delsea), 3-1 

152: Phil Bakuckas (Hammonton) dec. Robert Shade (Timber Creek)  6-2 

160: Anthony Dawson (Paulsboro) dec. Connor Donahue (Clearview), 6- 0 

171: Alex Gong (Absegami) dec. Andrew Hughes (Clearview), 3- 1 

189: Bryheim Muse (Timber Creek) dec. Bryan Dobzanski (Delsea), 10-8  OT

215: pound Roy Lucas (St. Joseph) pin Lucas Pearson (Ocean City), 2:51

285: Steve Schwartz (Absegami) dec. Tom Rementer (Clayton), 5-3 OT