Pope John closes strong at state wrestling tournament

A very successful season for the Pope John High wrestling team concluded on Saturday, March 14, as Dalton Weber placed third at 126 pounds and teammate Cole Dunham finished fourth at 175 at the NJSIAA state tournament at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City.

The three-day tournament saw Weber, a senior, earn his third state medal. Weber was eighth at 132 pounds last year and third at 126 in 2024.

At this year’s tournament, Weber earned a 1:32 pin over Cole DeAngelo of Red Bank Catholic in the preliminary round before earning a dominant 17-0 tech fall over Aidan Flynn over Lacey in 4:27 in the pre-quarterfinal round.

Weber, the fifth seed, then defeated fourth-seeded Christian Ramirez of St. Peter’s Prep, 8-2, in the quarterfinal round before dropping a 21-3 decision by tech fall in 5:57 to top-seeded and eventual champion Paul Kenny of Christian Brothers in the semifinal round.

Weber then scored a 10-0 major decision over Mikey Bautista of St. Joseph (Montvale) in the wrestleback semifinal match before defeating Ramirez again, 11-0, in the third place bout.

Dunham, also a senior and also seeded fifth in the 175-pound bracket, took a similar path as Weber, winning three times to reach the semifinal round before bowing to the eventual champion.

Dunham scored a quick 51-second pin over Nolan Monaghan of Roxbury in the preliminary round before earning a 16-1 tech fall in 5:12 over John Saraiva of St. John Vianney in the pre-quarterfinal round.

Dunham then pinned fourth-seeded Tyler Whitford of St. Joseph (Metuchen) with seven seconds remaining in the third period in the quarterfinal round. He then dropped a 10-1 decision to top-seeded Santino Rodriguez of Don Bosco Prep in the semifinal round.

Dunham then outlasted Anthony Verdi of St. Peter’s Prep, 9-5, in the wrestleback semifinal round before Whitford avenged his earlier loss with a 10-5 victory over Dunham in the third-place bout.

Other Lions competing at the state tournament were juniors Braydan Lombreglia (3-2 at 157 pounds) and Luke Katsigiannis (2-2 at 165) and senior Nick Mignone (1-2 at 215).

Pope John fashioned an 11-3 record this season, finishing ranked No. 13 in the state under head coach Mark Piotrowsky, who was named the District 15 Coach of the Year on Feb. 28. Piotrowsky now owns a career mark of 134-59 in 11 seasons at the helm of the Sussex County power.

The Lions, who were a perfect 5-0 in winning the Northwest Jersey Athletic Conference American Division championship, reached the NJSIAA Non-Jersey Non-Public B team championship for the second straight season where they bowed, 53-19.

Pope John’s only losses this season were to No. 4 Camden Catholic (twice) and No. 8 Paramus Catholic this winter.

Sparta Girls Wrestling

Paige Weiss, who became Sparta’s first state champion as a freshman three years ago, ended her career with a third-place finish at 132 pounds, the NJSIAA Girls State Tournament on March 14 at Boardwalk Hall.

Weiss, the fourth seed, won twice by pin before falling to eventual champion, Sheyna Cruz of Paulsboro, 11-0, in the semifinal round. She then defeated JayAnna Hahn of Central Regional, 8-5, in the wrestleback semifinal round before winning by injury default over Aubrey Ramos of Middlesex in the third-place match.

Paige, who won the 100-pound state title as a freshman before placing third at 114 as a sophomore and third at 120 as a junior, finished her career with over 100 victories.