Sports

Maurice Leads Trio of Rebel Wrestlers at Boardwalk Hall

Takes Seventh at 145

In his senior season Ashanti Maurice showed once again why he was one of the top wrestlers in the Shore Conference. 

Wrestling at 145 Maurice entered the state tournament with a record of 35-10 including a third place finish in the Region VI Tournament, a District 21 crown and a third place finish at the always competitive Mustang Classic.

This past weekend Maurice, fellow senior Ben Esposito and junior Joey Schultz made the trip to Atlantic City for the NJSIAA State Championships and battled their way to the end of the season.

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For Maurice, that meant a seventh place finish in a weight class that was eventually won by fellow Shore Conference competitor BJ Clagon of Toms River South.

After a first round bye Maurice started his season against Region IV champion Mike Marotti of West Essex and emerged with an 8-5 win to face yet another region champion in Camden Catholic's TJ Miller. Maurice was pinned in the first period by the Region VII champion sending him into the wrestlebacks. 

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In his first wrestleback match Maurice beat Jackson Memorial's Spencer Young who just a week before had claimed second place in the local region. The pair had met last week in the semifinals where Young won 5-3. This time around it was Maurice picking up a dominating 13-4 major decision. 

Next up was High Point's Jason Gaccione, who took first place in the Region 1 tournament. The Rebel wrestler was knocked into the 7/8 match with a close 6-4 loss against his third region champ of the tournament. Maurice was able to end his high school career with his hand raised after winning 5-1 over Ryan Weinberger, the Region V champion from Hillsborough. 

After winning the Region VI title at 132 Esposito also made the trip to Boardwalk Hall with a record of 38-3. Esposito's tournament also started with a bye before facing Gordon Wolf of Lawrence Township High School in Mercer County. Wolf started his tournament with a preliminary round win over Anthony Johnson of Phillipsburg and then edged out Esposito 7-6 in an overtime battle. 

That sent Esposito to the wrestlebacks where his season ended with a 9-3 loss to Joseph Lemerise of Cherokee High School.

The third member of the team to make the trip was Joey Schultz who had finished second at 160 in the region tournament. Starting in the prelims Schultz beat Tyler Cote of Hunterdon Central in a 2-1 nail biter. He then took on John Balboni of Brearley/Dayton. Balboni won 9-5 moving Schultz into the wrestlebacks. 

The wrestlebacks started with Kenny Long of Holy Cross with Schultz advancing thanks to a 15-4 major decision. Next up was Connor Donahue of Clearview who ended the Rebel wrestler's season with a 2-1 loss. 


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