Schalick’s Magonagle wins in SC Holiday Classic in first tournament back from a season-ending injury, Penns Grove’s Arce wins his first title in same event; Pennsville, Woodstown also in action
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
PITTSGROVE – The flex Schalick junior Jake Magonagle did after winning his weight division in the SC Holiday Classic Saturday might be all the evidence one needed to prove it just might be the most satisfying title claim of the early wrestling season.
Magonagle won the 175-pound division with a 5-3 decision over Chase Hoag of Mainland. It was his first tournament back after having last season cut short by an injury. He was seeded second, drew a first-round bye, then won a pair of decisions.
“I think he needed that,” Schalick coach Joe Frassenei said. “He was definitely one of the more happy kids.
“He’s very confident to begin with, but I think the win was a nice start for him. He was super happy after the match and I was very proud of him.”
The Schalick-Cumberland co-op team finished fourth in the team race with five individual medalists (top three finishers) and eight placers (top four). DeAnthony Hardin was runner-up at 113, while Daniel Lloyd (144), Ayden Jenkins (150) and Keon Martin (165) all placed third.
Point Pleasant Beach won it handily with three individual champions and seven wrestlers in the finals.
Magonagle wasn’t the only wrestler from Salem County to bring home a title from the tournament.
Penns Grove’s Devine Arce won his first tournament title when he pinned Mainland’s Garrett Chew to win at 120. His road to the title featured an opening-round bye and two pins in two minutes of elapsed time..
“I was amazed at myself like how I did it,” Arce said. “My freshman record was 8-13. Last year I went twenty-something and four or five, and this year I’m starting off 3-0.”
With two pins.
“He’s probably our most dedicated wrestler, especially the early part of this season,” Red Devils coach John Emel said. “To be at a weight that a little higher than he’s going to wrestle later in the year and have success that’s bodes well for him going forward.”
Arce was one of four Penns Grove wrestlers place in the top three. Isaiah Upshur was runner-up at 190, while Jayden Owens (157) and Antonio Cooper (215) both won consolation finals for third. For Cooper it was the best tournament finish of his career.
“I was actually pretty excited with the way we wrestled,” Emel said. “We have a lot of kids who have never won a match in districts.
“This type of tournament experience is what we’ve tried to get them early in the season. We haven’t done an opening weekend tournament in a few years, probably pre-COVID, and we’re going to get four tournament-type atmospheres early in the season. I just hope it prepares them for districts later on. Getting in these type tournaments early in the season I think it gives our guys good experience going forward.”
SC HOLIDAY CLASSIC
TEAM SCORES: Point Pleasant Beach 186.5, Haddon Heights 119, WW-Plainsboro North 117, Schalick-Cumberland 96, Mainland 83, WW-Plainsboro South 81, Penns Grove 74, Oakcrest 50.
CHAMPIONSHIP MATCHES
106: Cole Denning (HH) tech fall over Brandon Stizza (PPB), 15-0
113: Bruce Bellace (O) def. DeAnthony Hardin (SC), med. forf.
120: Devine Arce (PG) pinned Garrett Chew (M), 1:00
126: Zachary Owens (WWPN) pinned Luke DeBenedett (PPB), 1:00
132: P.J. Niethe (PPB) dec. Ryan Brown (WWPN), 11-4
138: Jude Bowers (PPB) tech fall over Joaquin Poventud, (O) 15-0
144: Jordan Blaise (WWPS) dec. Antonio Acevedo (PPB), 10-3
150: Josh Delgozzo (HH) dec. Christian Tardieu (WWPS), 1-0
157: Evan DeJong (WWPN) pinned Liam Wikberg (HH), 1:00
165: Gary Williams (M) dec. Sam Yedman (PPB), 6-3
175: Jake Magonagle (SC) dec. Chase Hoag (M), 5-3
190: Darren DeJong (WWPN) pinned Isaiah Upshur (PG), 0:55
215: Marcos Kaiafas (PPB) dec. Jason George (WWPS), 6-0
285: Jayden Trace (HH) pinned Youssef Abouelela (WWPS), 1:10
Wendy Pandy-Leh Invitational
FRENCHTOWN – Woodstown’s Zach Bevin and Mateo Vinciguerra wrestled for championships in their weight classes at the Wendy Pandy-Leh Invitational at Delaware Valley High School and just came up short.
Bevis was pinned in the 165-pound final by Logan Wiecoreck of Voorhees and Vinciguerra lost a decision in the 285 final to Cameron Baumann, also of Vorhees.
The Wolverines had four wrestlers win consolation finals – Travis Balback (120), Carson Bradway (126), Greyson Hyland (175) and Paul Banff (190) – and two others finish fourth.
The Wolverines finished fourth in the 10-team field.
WENDY PANDY-LEH INVITATIONAL
TEAM SCORES: Delaware Valley 257.5, Ocean Twp. 168, Vorhees 160, Woodstown 125, Westfield 99, Princeton 85.5, Pascack Hills 78, Wall 66.5, Williamstown 66.5, Cherokee 64.0
CHAMPIONSHIP MATCHES
106: Justin Penta (OT) pinned Michael Apicelli (OT), 1:42
113: Johnny D’Andrewa (V) maj. dec. over Justin Farina (OT), 10-1
120: Jake Taylor (DV) maj. dec. over Christian Bollette (V), 13-5
126: Jaden Perez (DV) maj. dec. over Cole Rose (P), 9-0
132: Matt Roche (DV) pinned Luke Sluberski (We), 0:32
138: Blasé Mele (P) pinned Dominic Volek (OT), 1:01
144: Jackson Bush (DV) dec. Michael Volek (OT), 11-9
150: Jake Wacha (PH) pinned Ben Levy (DV), 4:33
157: James Farina (OT) maj. dec. over Jeremy Marsella (Wa), 13-1
165: Logan Wiecoreck (V) pinned Zach Bevis (Wo), 0:35
175: Kevin Roman (DV) dec. Travis Cryan (V), 10-8
190: Anderson Olcott (DV) pinned Jake Zemsky (We), 4:52
215: Trevor Zabroski (V) pinned Cody Lagun (DV), 4:50
285: Cameron Baumann (V) dec. Mateo Vinciguerra (Wo), 5-3
Howdy Duncan Classic
NEW CASTLE, Del. – Three of the four Pennsville wrestlers who reached the quarterfinals of the Howdy Duncan Classic at William Penn High School placed in the top six of their respective weight divisions Saturday.
Christopher Daniels (120) was their highest finisher, placing fourth. Kameron Drummond (126) and Elias Lussi (190) both finished sixth in their weight classes. Daniels was seeded eighth in his weight class and Drummond was seeded tenth.
The Eagles finished 13th in the 32-team field.
“It was a tough tournament, very competitive, and we got a lot of mat time,” Eagles coach John Starcevich said. “A couple guys got seven matches this weekend.”
Among those who didn’t place Sky Eppes lost in overtime in the pre-quarterfinals and just missed getting a spot and freshman Luke Thomas showed a lot of potential in going 2-2 at 106.
HOWDY DUNCAN CLASSIC
TEAM SCORES: Exeter Twp. 246, Lower Dauphin 243.5, Red Lion Christian 193, New Oxford 168, St. Frances Acad. 165, Palisades 158, Central Bucks West 157.5, Milford Senior 126, William Penn 125, Unionville 100, Tower Hill 94, Middleton 85.5, Pennsville 78.5, Appoquinimink 76.5, Charter-Wilmington 74, Episcopal 68, First State MA 68, Wilmington Friends 67.5, Dickinson 57.5, Odessa 57, Christian 56, Delcastle 54.5, Conrad Science 42, Tatnall 42, Hodgson VoTech 40, Howard Tech 37, McKean 32, Archmere 30, AI Dupont 23, John Carroll 23, West Nottingham 19, Mt. Pleasant 7.
PENNSVILLE FINALS
Third Place Match 120: Sam Johnson (Exeter) pinned Christopher Daniels, 4:59
Fifth Place Match 126: Kamren Griffin (St. Frances) maj. dec. over Kameron Drummond, 11-3
Fifth Place Match 190: Jacob Julier (Unionville) maj. dec. over Elias Lussi, 10-1
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