Middletown High School North’s Tyler Klinsky and Allentown High School’s Joseph Lamparelli are good friends on and off the wrestling mat.
The two senior standout wrestlers have been training with each other since they were in middle school at the Triumph Wrestling Club in Ocean Grove.
At the NJSIAA District 22 Tournament that was wrestled on Feb. 22 at Middletown North, both Klinsky and Lamparelli finished alone atop of the podium where they were crowned district champions for the fourth year in a row.
All 32 district tournaments in New Jersey were completed on Feb. 22. The next step for the wrestlers will be the eight region tournaments that will be wrestled Feb. 26, 28 and 29. The top three finishers from each district’s weight class qualify for the regions.
From there, the top four place winners from each region’s weight division punch a ticket to the state tournament that will be held March 5-7 at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City.
Lamparelli cherished his experience at District 22.
“It’s pretty special to be able to win four district titles,” Lamparelli said. “To also do it with my good friend Tyler (Klinsky) is very special to me. It’s great to see people like him win their fourth district title too.”
Lamparelli improved to a perfect 37-0 on the season for the Redbirds with his impressive performance at the District 22.
Rolling up a pin and a 19-2 technical fall en route to the 120-pound final, Lamparelli powered his way past Middletown North’s Fred Luchs to win his fourth district crown by a 9-3 decision.
Lamparelli ended the match in style, executing the single leg takedown to perfection as he brought Luchs down to the mat and then turned to his team and family to celebrate his victory after the buzzer sounded.
Already capturing his fourth county title at the Mercer County Tournament on Feb. 1 at Robbinsville High School, Lamparelli feels great going into the Region 6 Tournament that will be held at Jackson Liberty High School this week.
“I’m feeling really good this year and I hope I can perform the way I know I can at states,” Lamparelli said.
Klinsky, like his buddy Lamparelli, was also very impressive at District 22.
The senior scored a pin in 1:17 over Westampton Technical High School’s Ibrahim Kermen in the semifinals of 113-pound bracket to advance to the final to face Vincent Principe from Christian Brothers Academy.
In classic technical wrestling fashion, Klinsky rolled by Principe to a 23-8 technical fall to be crowned district champion in front of his hometown faithful.
“To be able to win this in front of my family, friends and everyone in the town that comes to support Middletown North wrestling, feels great,” Klinsky said. “It adds more to my legacy here. Hopefully when people think about Middletown North wrestling, they think about my name and the legacy I left.”
Klinsky is now 40-1 on the season and received the district tournament’s Outstanding Wrestler honor. A state tournament finalist last year at 106 pounds, Klinsky feels great and is focused on making it back to the championship match in Atlantic City.
“I’m a little bit more driven this year to punch through and finish on top,” Klinsky said. “It’s all mental at this point. Everyone has put in the work and everyone has worked hard. It’s all about who wants it more at this point.”
There were even more special achievements seen at District 22, including the Colts Neck High School winning its first team district title in program history.
The Cougars edged Middletown North, 223-197.5, to finish atop the team standings, having five wrestlers take home gold in the tournament.
“It feels great. The guys did a great job and had a great tournament,” said Colts Neck coach Brett Jankos. “We’re excited. This is the first one in school history, so we’re really proud of that.”
Senior Luke Rada secured his third district title and second in a row for Colts Neck, roaring to a 26-11 technical fall over Middletown North’s Gabriel Lurbrano Lavandera in 182-pound title bout. Rada now stands at 33-2 on the season.
Junior Logan Waller became a 138-pound champion, winning his second district title by an 18-3 technical fall over Notre Dame High School’s Mason Louderback. Waller won the 120-pound title at the District 22 Tournament last year. The Colts Neck junior is now 34-1 this winter.
Sophomore Michael Lyristis (106 pounds), senior Kenny Koenig (195) and senior Tom Lindondici (285) each won his first district championship for Colts Neck.
Junior Nicholas Moldaver (132), sophomore Bradford Zajac (152) and junior Raymond Santiago (220) each placed second to contribute to the district title for Colts Neck.
Colts Neck had 10 wrestlers advance to Region 6 with sophomore Eli Novoselov (126) and junior Joseph Barsky (160) both placing third.
“This is a nice stepping stone for us in working towards our sectional and state aspirations,” Jankos said. “We would like to win those some day. They should be 100 percent proud of themselves. Every wrestler who competed contributed to the win. We’re hoping now for more success at regions.”
Second-place Middletown North had four wrestlers take home district gold in Klinsky (113), senior Thomas O’Keefe (126), senior Eddie Farrell (152) and junior Nico Cerbo (220).
Farrell rallied from 10-7 down in the final 30 seconds in the title bout to pin Zajac and win his second straight district championship. Cerbo edged Santiago for a 5-3 decision to win his first district title, while O’Keefe topped CBA’s Julian George to be crowned district champion for the first time.
Middletown North will have nine wrestlers advancing to compete in the Region 6 Tournament.
CBA finished third in the team standings with 146.5 points.
Freshmen Zander Silva (132) and Tyler Barrett (145) both won their first district championships in the tournament for CBA.
CBA had four wrestlers place third to qualify for Region 6 in Nicholas Geissler (106), Sebastiano Nini (120), Mason Garber (152) and Ethan Diamond (170). The Colts will have eight wrestlers compete at Jackson Liberty.
Allentown took fourth place with 106.5 points. Senior Nick Golden became a two-time district champion for the Redbirds with a 3-1 decision over Red Bank Catholic High School’s Sabino Portella in the 160-pound championship bout.
Seniors Matt Paglia (145) and Paskal Miga (170) both made it to the final round for Allentown and placed second. Senior Daniel Schweitzer (220) pinned Willingboro High School’s Naeem Walker to place third in the bracket, giving Allentown five wrestlers moving on to Region 6.
Red Bank Catholic rounded out the top five of the team standings. Portella (160), Aidan Meyler-McAuliffe (195) and Matthew Cody (285) all took home silver medals to advance to Region 6 for the Caseys.
Meyler-McAuliffe had to forfeit his championship match against Koenig due to injury.
Howell’s Reitsma is a four-time district champion
Senior Shane Reitsma of Howell High School became a four-time district champion at District 25 that was held in Howell.
The 170-pounder earned two pins to advance the title match where he scored a 10-2 major decision over Camden Catholic High School’s Austin Raynor.
Howell High School placed second overall in the team standings and had four wrestlers win a district title. Perennial power Camden Catholic, which won the Non-Public B state tournament this month, finished first in District 25.
Colin Bradshaw (113), Nieko Malone (126), and Justin Wright (285) all took home gold in the district for the host Rebels.
Kyle Nase (120) reached the final and placed second for Howell, while teammates Isaiah Fenton (132) and Hunter Lino (195) both took home bronze medals to give the Rebels seven wrestlers moving on to Region 7 that will be wrestled at the RWJ Barnabas Health Arena at Toms River High School North.
Jackson Memorial wins second straight district title
Jackson Memorial High School won its second straight district title at District 28 Tournament that was wrestled at Pemberton Township High School.
That showing gave Jackson Memorial its 28th district championship in the program history and its fifth title in the last 11 years.
Four Jackson Memorial wrestlers took home the top prize at the tournament, while the Jaguars had 11 wrestlers place in top-three to finish atop the team standings.
Nick White (138), Mike Rauch (152), Kyle Epperly (195) and Brad Galassi (285) all were crowned district champions for the Jaguars.
Brett Blaess (106), Lucas Lipari (113), Luke Temple (120), Lance Hobbs (126) and Hunter Smith (170) all placed second to help Jackson Memorial win the title.
Rob Lagravenis (160) and Dylan Fischer (182) both qualified for Region 7 by finishing third for the Jaguars.
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