
Overall Record: 9-7 / Shore Conference: 6-5 / A-Central: 2-3
ShoreConferenceWrestling.com Wrestler Of The Year
6th: Shane Cartagena-Walsh (157)
WB4: Jared Tracey (190)
WB1: James Farina (126) / Nick Benner (150)
Jared Tracey Wins Region Title; 4 Spartans Advance To Atlantic City
1st: Jared Tracey (190)
2nd: Shane Cartagena-Walsh (157)
3rd: James Farina (126) / Nick Benner (150)
Ocean Twp (4th Place / 1 Champ / 5 Medal Winners)
Jared Tracey's pin in the 190-pound final assured that the Spartans' District Champion streak would continue, as it now stands at 18 season, 5th best in the Shore Conference.
1st: Jared Tracey (190)
2nd: Gio Poniros (138) / Shane Cartagena-Walsh (157)
3rd: James Farina (126) / Nick Benner (150)
Hopewell Valley 39 - Ocean Township 31 (BOX SCORE)
Ocean Twp: Farina & Noorzaie win by pin; Cartagena-Walsh & Tracey tech
Ocean: Farina (18-3); Cartagena-Walsh (14-0); Tracey (19-1)
Rumson 48 - Ocean Township 25 (BOX SCORE)
OT: Tracey (18-1); Farina (17-3); G Poniros (15-6); Cartagena-Walsh (13-0)
1/27: SHORE CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT PRELIMS
#6 Raritan 52 - #11 Ocean Township 24 (BOX SCORE)
OT: Farina, Benner, & Cartagena-Walsh win by pin
Ocean Township 36 - Middletown North 35 (BOX SCORE)
OT: Tracey (16-1); Farina (15-3); G Poniros (14-5); Cartagena-Walsh (11-0); Volek (12-6)
Ocean Township 46 - Jackson Liberty 34 (BOX SCORE)
OT: Cartagena-Walsh (10-0); Tracey (15-1); M Poniros (14-4); G Poniros (13-5)
Ocean Township 49 - Monmouth 27 (BOX SCORE)
Ocean Township 55 - Holmdel 24 (BOX SCORE)
Ocean Township 44 - Donovan Catholic 27 (BOX SCORE)
OT: Volek & Cartagena-Walsh pin; Farina techs
Ocean Township 36 - Hillsborough 35 (BOX SCORE)
Ocean Township 42 - Watchung Hills 37 (BOX SCORE)
Ocean Township 39 - Emerson 36 (BOX SCORE)
#9 Raritan 46 - Ocean Township 27 (BOX SCORE)
OT: Benner, Cartagena-Walsh, Noorzaie, & Tracey win by pin
#6 St John Vianney 42 - Ocean Township 36 (BOX SCORE)
OT: Benner & Cartagena-Walsh win by fall
#8 Lacey 45 - Ocean Township 22 (BOX SCORE)
OT: Cartagena-Walsh pins; Benner majors
Ocean Township 44 - Freehold Twp 27 (BOX SCORE)
OT: Farina, Volek, Benner, Tracey win by pin; Hill majors
Cippy Apicelli - 11th Season (Career Record - 159-72)
12/18: Delaware Valley Tournament
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
Wgt | Wrestler | 2021 |
106 | (Jr) Nate Fazio | |
106 | (So) Chaunci Jones | 1-0 |
113/120 | (Jr) Jake Schwartz | |
113/120 | (Fr) Sophie Sharp | |
120/126 | (So) James Farina | 12-3 / R-3rd / NJ-WB2 |
120/126 | (So) Kyle Allen | |
126/132 | (Fr) Michael Volek | |
126/132 | (Jr) Lucas Keenan | |
132/138 | (Sr) Gio Poniros | 7-2 / R-PQ |
132/138 | (Jr) Stephanie Fingerman | |
132/138 | (Sr) Lucas Rodriguez | |
138/144 | (Fr) Danny Farina | |
138/144 | (Jr) Rayden Salazar | |
144/150 | (So) Michael Poniros | 6-2 |
144/150 | (Sr) Sahmi Noorzaie | |
150/157 | (Sr) Nick Benner | 9-4 / R-6th |
157 | (Fr) John Sibole | |
157 | (So) Angel Cardona | |
157 | (Jr) Christopher Luc | |
157 | (Fr) Fabian Bautista | |
157/165 | (Sr) Shane Cartagena Walsh | 7-6 / R-6th |
157/165 | (So) Rodley Petit | |
165 | (So) Jonathan Barragan | |
175 | (Sr) Najib Noorzaie | 0-1 |
175/190 | (Sr) Jared Tracey | 8-7 / R-4th / NJ-WB1 |
175/190 | (So) Reuvin Israeli | |
190 | (Fr) Marvin Hill | |
190 | (Fr) Elijah Tulloch | |
215 | (Jr) Iqbal Ahmadi | 1-4 |
215 | (Fr) Abimael Andre | |
215 | (Fr) Ahmed Elmenoufi | |
215 | (So) Julio Elvay | |
Hwt | (Fr) Isaac Bozarth |
Wgt | Wrestler | Record | Post-Season |
113 | Demetri Poniros | 7-2 | R-PQ |
120 | Blake Tarnowski | 8-1 | R-PQ |
132 | AJ Benner | 6-3 | R-PQ |
152 | Kevin Cartagena-Walsh | 7-2 | R-PQ |
170 | Tah-Jay Phillips | 6-3 | R-PQ |
195 | Mateo Chavarriaga | 0-4 | |
220 | Alejandro Villarraga | 0-2 | |
Hwt | Joseph Teresi | 14-4 | R-3rd / NJ-5th |
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Ocean Township Spartans Wrestling