Spartans dominate Blue Devils 77-0

By Walter J. O’Neill, Jr.

One of the tightest matches of the night occured at 126 pounds. Alex Falco (top) of Ocean Township took a 5-2 decision over Trevor Doremus of Shore Regional.

Friday the 13th is known to be superstitious, while others seem to have good luck. Well, for Shore Regional, the start of the 2024 wrestling season kicked off on Friday, December 13, and it was not a lucky day for the Blue Devils. They hosted the Spartans of Ocean Township who dominated the matches shutting out Shore Regional 77-0.

The Devils are coached by Dave Porta, who is in his 16th season and has a career record of 242-153 after Friday night. His squad is young this year, and he does not have the numbers or depth. Porta noted that there will be times this season that the Blue Devils will not be able to contest all 14 weight slots, and that’s what happened against Ocean Township.

Last season the Blue Devils completed the season at 15-8.

The Spartans are coached by Cippy Apicelli who is in his 14th season. His career record is 199-92 after Friday night. This is also the first time in 12 years that a Poniros is not a member of the varsity wrestling team at Ocean Township. However, they do have several Voleks and a couple Farinas still on the roster.

Last season Ocean finished 17-4.

Results from Friday, December 13, 2024

106 pounds: Michael Apicelli of Ocean Township, win by forfeit

113 pounds: Qays Ismael of Ocean Township, win by forfeit

120 pounds: Justin Penta of Ocean, technical fall 16-1, over Ray Brown of Shore

126 pounds: Alex Falco of Ocean, decision 5-2 over Trevor Doremus of Shore

132 pounds: Steven Perez of Ocean, technical fall 18-3, over Dominic Calabria of Shore

138 pounds: Dominic Volek of Ocean scored a pin at 0:51 on Christopher Gifford of Shore

144 pounds: Justin Farina of Ocean, win by forfeit

150 pounds: Michael Volek of Ocean scored a pin at 1:01 over Anthony Pernice of Shore

157 pounds: Jake Volek of Ocean scored a pin at 0:23 over Anthony DiSano of Shore

165 pounds: Malcolm Beale of Ocean, win by forfeit

175 pounds: Josh Calixte of Ocean scored a pin at 0:32 over Jonathan Maruschak of Shore

190 pounds: Nicholas Allen of Ocean major decision 22-13 over Cole Torres of Shore

215 pounds: Daniel Farina of Ocean scored a pin at 0:20 over Angel Varrela of Shore

285 pounds: Abimael Andre of Ocean win by forfeit

Up next for Ocean Township is Hillsborough at home on December 18, with a 6:30 p.m. start.

Shore Regional will be at Manchester on December 18, with a 4:30 start time.

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