Jackson Memorial seniors Dallas Winston and Brad Royle each finished among the top eight at the prestigious 19th annual Beast of the East Wrestling Tournament on Sunday at the University of Delaware.
Winston, who is ranked 11th in the nation at 195 pounds by Intermat, wrestled in the 182-pound division and finished fourth. Royle placed fifth at 132 pounds. Winston, who was seeded second, was defeated in the semifinals by third-seeded David Reck of Colonial Forge (Va.), 3-2. In the consolation bracket, Winston defeated No. 5 seed Michael Mocco of Blair Academy before falling to top-seeded Scott Gibbons in the 3rd/4th-place bout. The unseeded Royle had a much tougher road to the medal stand. He lost to No. 2 seed and finalist Randy Cruz of Bethlehem Catholic in the Round of 16 and had to win four straight bouts in the consolation bracket to reach the medal round. He was defeated by Bergen Catholic senior Connor Melde, 4-3, to drop to the 5th/6th-place bout where he won by medical forfeit against sixth-seeded Dennis Gustafson.
Southern Regional also represented the Shore Conference at the Beast of the East, but did not have any medalists. Chris Serpico at 145 and Steve Hodgson at 182 each went 4-2 in the tournament while the Rams tied for 25th as a team among a field of nearly 100 teams.
New Jersey was well-represented at the Beast of the East as the nation’s No. 1 team, Blair Academy, won the team title for the 13th time with a tournament-high five champions. Blair senior Mark Grey, a Cornell recruit, was named Outstanding Wrestler for becoming the first wrestler to win four Beast of the East championships.
Jackson Memorial had the highest finish of any NJSIAA member school, finishing 9th with 92.5 points. Bergen Catholic was 10th, St. Peter’s Prep 12th and Don Bosco Prep 19th.
Don Bosco Prep senior Sal Mastriani won the 152-pound title with a 5-3 decision over Blair Academy’s Russell Parsons. Mastriani, a state medalist from a season ago and a Virginia Tech recruit, was ranked 16th in the nation before the tournament. Bergen Catholic sophomore Johnny Sebastian was second at 160 pounds. The No. 5 seed was leading 4-2 before being taken to his back and pinned by second-seeded Zach Epperly of Christianburg.
Finishing third at 170 pounds was St. Peter’s Prep senior Anthony Pafumi. The No. 4 seed topped 6th-seeded Tyler Rill of Mount St. Joseph 3-1 in the consolation final. His teammate, senior Lenny Richardson, finished fourth at 145.
Other New Jersey medalists included Hanover Park’s Anthony Cefolo (5th at 106) North Bergen’s Anthony Giraldo (4th at 120), Timber Creek’s Ricky Carter (8th at 120), Delbarton’s Nick Anderson (8th at 126), Melde (4th at 132), Delbarton’s Jorge Lopez (5th at 138), Northern Burlington’s Wayne Stinson (8th at 152), Don Bosco Prep’s Razohnn Gross (8th at 195) and Don Bosco Prep freshman Zach Chakonis (5th at 220).
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Tags: Beast of the East, Brad Royle, Dallas Winston, high school wrestling, Jackson Memorial, Southern Regional, wrestling
