Freshmen wrestlers only have one chance to make a first impression.
For four freshmen wrestlers at the season-opening John and Betty Vogeding Tournament at Paulsboro, their first impression included bringing home a first-place medal and tournament championship on Saturday.
Kingsway’s Evan Villecco (113 pounds), Griffin Preziosi (120) and Matthew Miranda (157) and Howell’s Trevor Hodgins (138) each captured their brackets.
Preziosi was the lowest seed of the winners, coming in as a No. 6 seed. He squeaked past Luis Valasquez of Gloucester, 4-3, in the first match, then won his semifinal by technical fall and dominated Cumberland’s DeAnthony Harden, 8-0, in the final.
Harden was a region semifinalist a year ago.
“Just go out and wrestle who’s in front of me, seeds don’t matter, just go out and wrestle that match,” said Preziosi of his mindset. “Slow first match, but picked it up. It feels great as a freshman, I’m sure I’ll be wrestling those (tough) kids all season.
“I feel good about us this year, a lot of committed wrestlers, (including freshman), so I see us making a deep run in Group 5. Keep training, working on things in practice and be ready for the next one.”
Miranda was a No. 4 seed and Villecco a top seed. Hodgins was seeded fifth.
Kingsway finished with a tournament-high five champions as Ryan Glenn (150) and Chris Owen (215) also captured titles.
“Great opening tournament, not that we wrestled great, we have a lot of young guys and good to see them compete,” said Kingsway coach Mike Barikian. “Definitely lessons to take away from today, both in victory and defeat. Proud of these guys, though. Happy for these guys, happy for the freshmen to get a taste of success. I think we had seven or eight guys who had their first high school win.”
Hodgins pinned his way to the title with three upsets despite coming in as the No. 5 seed.
“It’s awesome, I came in here really wanting to prove myself and show people what I’m about and really excited for my first high school matches, first tournament and ready for the season,” said Hodgins. “I didn’t focus on the seed, I just want to go out and wrestle”
Hodgins’ brother, junior Tanner, is the No. 2-ranked 190-pounder in the country and just committed to wrestle for David Taylor at Oklahoma State.
“He’s a big help, showing me moves and everything, so that’s awesome,” said Hodgins.
Tanner Hodgins and four other Rebel wrestlers sat out the Vogeding Tournament for match count issues because they will compete at the Beast of the East tournament next weekend.
Despite sitting several of its top wrestlers, Howell still brought home four titles. In addition to Trevor Hodgins, Ray Purelli (165), Tyler Going (175) and Shane Maghan (132) also won – all but Hodgins were No. 1 seeds.
Howell, ranked No. 14 in the preseason Top 20, is expected to have one of its better teams in the last few years and possibly give Southern a run at the Group 5 state title.
“Still got a lot of work today, but keep progressing,” said Howell coach John Gagliano. “We’re excited (for the season), but have to get everybody into the right weights and one step at a time. We have some experience up top, but throughout the lineup we have some quality kids.”
Host Paulsboro won three titles, including in two of the more entertaining finals. Tony Chila (126) used a reversal in tiebreaker to outlast Gloucester’s Alexander Ekimoglou, 3-1, while Julian Sosa (144) rallied from a 6-0 deficit to upset Kingsway’s Ryan Preziosi, 9-7.
Will Cruz (106) also won a title for the Red Raiders.
Paulsboro only entered 10 wrestlers and is dealing with injuries. Kyare Harvey will miss the season after suffering an injury in football and Sawyer Cabanas is out indefinitely.
“It’s a good tournament to start off with, and we have one week less to get ready (than some past seasons),” said Paulsboro coach Paul Morina, “It was a good showing with some bright spots, but some work to do.
“Chila had a good match, he goes back and forth with that kid all the time. Good win for him, and Sosa too. We’ll be young this year. It’s hard to say (how we’ll be), its a tough week but I’ll know more next week.”
Gloucester captured the other two titles. Harry Ulmer and Ashton Wall didn’t contest the 190 final after both Lions made the final, and Alex Anderson (285) won at heavyweight.
