Pennsville’s Lussi win his first career tournament title at Overbrook; Schalick/Cumberland wins Clipper Classic, Penns Grove’s Brown voted Most Oustanding Wrestler
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
PINE HILL – Elias Lussi’s rise from a tagalong who knew next to nothing about the sport when he first walked into the wrestling room to becoming the face of a program moved to another level Thursday when he won his weight division in an in-season tournament for the first time.
The Pennsville senior added “tournament champion” next to his name when he took a 7-2 decision from Timber Creek’s Amir Reason-Dallas, an aggressive returning regional qualifier, to win at 190 in the Overbrook Holiday Tournament.
He’s the first Pennsville wrestler to win an in-season tournament title since Mikey Lapalomento took the 138 title in last year’s Gateway holiday tournament. He also had a bye and two pins on the road to his crown.
“I’m proud; I’m pumped, man,” Lussi said. “This is something I was looking forward to, especially after the Howdy Duncan tournament (in Delaware) where I got sixth. I wanted to bounce back after some tough losses. This was my opportunity to make some noise and prove myself.”
Lussi arrived in the Pennsville wrestling room three years ago at the urging of one of his friends knowing absolutely nothing about the sport and has evolved into a leader in that room and captain of the team.
“It’s all a testament to the time he put in during the season, in the offseason, after practice,” Pennsville coach John Starcevich said. “There have been times he’s stayed after practice and asked me to drill extra. That’s like music to any coach’s ear. I’ll leave the light on for anyone who wants to work.”
Lussi was one of four Eagles to place in the tournament. Travis Hagan finished third at 138. Lucas Thomas (106) and Robbie McDade (157) finished fourth in their weight classes. The Eagles finished seventh as a team. Timber Creek won it.
“Actually, it was a pretty tough day,” Starcevich said. “There were a lot of Region 8 teams there we’ll see come the post-season.
“We’re in the grind of the season here. We are entering January. We have been tested in some sense and we have guys who are really figuring out what it means to be competitive. We need to continue to work hard in the room and get after it.”
OVERBROOK HOLIDAY TOURNAMENT
TEAM SCORES: Timber Creek 169, Hammonton 146, Burlington Twp. 133, Barnegat 119, Mainland 83, Deptford 77, Pennsville 67, Millville 61, Cherry Hill East 56, Winslow 56, Overbrook 44, St. Joe’s 17.
CHAMPIONSHIP MATCHES
106: Ryan Pancoast, Timber Creek dec. Tyler Police, Hammonton, 6-4
113: Eoin Curran, Deptford pinned Matthew Steele, Timber Creek, 5:54
120: Gavin Morris, Hammonton pinned Devin Karge, Timber Creek, 4:04
126: Ethan Christmas, Deptford dec. Patrick Tull, Millville, 6-5
132: Anthony Cook, Burlington Twp. pinned Michael Rosano, Overbrook, 0:34
138: Trey DeMeo, Barnegat dec. Jaylen Huertas, Deptford, 7-2
144: Aiden O’Halloran, Barnegat dec. Nicholas Davis, Burlington Twp., 10-3
150: Logan Kahrs, Burlington Twp. pinned Ryan Kuriger, Timber Creek, 2:55
157: Gavin Bates, Timber Creek dec. Vincent Palermo, Hammonton, 5-3 (OT)
165: Nakeem Powell, Winslow pinned Gary Williams, Mainland, 2:46
175: Chase Hoag, Mainland dec. Jacob Davis, Burlington Twp., 5-3
190: Elias Lussi, Pennsville, def. Amir Reason-Dallas, Timber Creek, 7-2
215: Mark Hartley, Hammonton maj. dec. over Raymere Mahadeo, Barnegat, 16-5
285: Jayson Ross, Timber Creek pinned Camryn Broadnax, Hammonton, 1:54
Dan Allen Clipper Classic
CLAYTON – The Schalick/Cumberland cooperative won the first team title in the recent memory of either school and Penns Grove’s Anthony Brown was named the Most Outstanding Wrestler as Salem County wrestlers dominated the day.
Schalick/Cumberland won the 10-team event with 158 points. They had 13 wrestlers place, including five weight-division winners and two runner-ups.
Caleb Jenkins (106), Luke Silva (126), Ricky Watt (157) Jake Magonagle (175) and Ronald Piernikoski (215) all won their weight classes.
Brown was one of two Red Devil champions at the tournament. He won the 150 class title that got away from him last year with a dramatic 11-10 double-overtime victory over Eduardo Oliveira of Riverside. He is 7-0 this season. He’s the Red Devils’ first MOW since Tyreke Brown (220) in the 2019 Region 8 Tournament.
Devine Arce pinned his way to his second title of the season, with both coming in less than 30 seconds. He is 8-0 this year at 120.
Riverview Sports News 