It was a productive day at Middletown High Schoo North on Feb. 22 for the Notre Dame High School wrestling team in the NJSIAA District 22 Tournament
Senior Mason Louderback and juniors Jaylen Bynes and Michael McLeod each punched his ticket to the Region 6 Tournament that will be held on Feb. 26, 28-29 at Jackson Liberty High School.
Louderback picked up two impressive victories to advance to the final of the 138-pound bracket.
Roaring to a fall in 1:13 over Willingboro High School’s Shaya Douglas in the quarterfinals, Louderback then edged Jarrell Brown of Westampton Technical High School by a 3-2 decision to qualify for Region 6.
The senior went on to finish second in the tournament, losing to Colts Neck High School’s Logan Waller in the finalsby an 18-3 technical fall.
Louderback is now 22-15 on the season.
Bynes took home the bronze medal in the 195-pound bracket at the district tournament.
The junior did a great job bouncing back from his loss to Red Bank Catholic High School’s Aidan Meyler-McAuliff in the semifinals.
With a shot at regions on the line, Bynes wasted no time to get the victory and clinch a spot in Region 6 when he pinned Trenton Central High School’s Jayson Williams in 1:47 to finish third in the bracket.
Bynes is now 22-11 on the season.
McLeod came up from the No. 5 seed in the 285-pound bracket to place third in District 22.
The junior pinned Allentown High School’s Jacob VanDenBogart in 25 seconds to advance to the semifinals, before losing to Colts Neck’s Tom Lidondici and having to wrestle in the third place bout to qualify for regions.
McLeod, like Bynes, got the job done to win bronze for Notre Dame, pinning Willingboro’s Oliver Lilly with 16 seconds left in the second period to clinch his spot in Region 6.
McLeod is 23-11 on the season.
Once all eight regions throughout New Jersey are complete don Feb. 29, the top four finishers in each region’s weight class will advance to the state tournament on March 5-7 at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City.
Follow Steven Bassin on Twitter @SBassin_Sports
