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ShoreConferenceWrestling.com Wrestler Of The Year

1/27: SHORE CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT PRELIMS
#6 Raritan  52  -  #11 Ocean Township  24  (BOX SCORE)
OT: Farina, Benner, & Cartagena-Walsh win by pin

The Spartans took a pretty big hit to graduation, losing six Region Qualifiers. Still, they have some solid talent returning, including five other Region qualifiers, as they look to break in some promising newcomers to keep things rolling.

Down low, Ocean will be led by returning starters James Farina and Gio Poniros. Farina, a sophomore is looking to build upon his impressive rookie season in which he went 12-3 and advanced to the State Tournament after finishing in 3rd-place at the Regions at 106. Poniros, a senior, is a 3-time Region Qualifier. He'll be gunning for his first trip to States, while also providing some valuable senior leadership to the new faces expected to crack the starting lineup. Among the group are juniors Nate Fazio and Jake Schwartz, as well as freshman Michael Volek, who was a State Medalist at Intermediate States.

Ocean has their most experience returning in the middle, as three starters are back. Nick Benner is a 2-time Region Qualifier, and finished 6th in the Region last year at 145. Shane Cartagena Walsh impressed in his first season with the Spartans last season, and is capable of big things this year after also finishing 6th at Regions. The duo give Ocean some solid senior leadership in the middle. Also returning for Ocean in the middle is sophomore Michael Poniros, who is looking to build off his freshman campaign in which he showed a lot of potential. Those a host of new faces working to crack into the lineup here, as well, including promising freshman Danny Farina.

Jared Tracey anchors the upperweights for the Spartans. The senior is a 2-time State Qualifier who will be looking to cap his career with a spot on the podium in Atlantic City. Outside of Tracey, the only other wrestlers up top with any varsity experience are senior Najib Noorzaie (2 matches) and junior Iqbal Ahmadi (5 matches). Other than that pair, it's going to be mostly underclassmen looking to break into the lineup, including freshmen Marvin Hill and heavyweight Isaac Bozarth, who the team is hoping can make immediate contributions.

The Spartans have six solid starters that they know they can rely on, and should have solid postseason runs. How much success the team can have overall in the duals this season will rely heavily on how much they can get out of all the new faces in the lineup. Just as important, however, will be developing all those youngsters in the room for the future. Coach Apicelli and his staff have traditionally done a very good job at this, so we'll keep an eye on that, especially with the freshmen like Volek, Farina, and the upperweight frosh.

Possible Lineup