Rutgers' junior Brian Soldano pinned for the second straight match at 197 pounds in the Scarlet Knights' win over Princeton Sunday
While a handful of teams opened during the week and others are starting next week, Saturday included a range of kickoff tournaments.
Here are the results involving teams from the MyCentralJersey area of Middlesex, Somerset, Hunterdon and parts of Union counties. Results will be updated as they come in. Please check back.
The results will include: Mike Dessino Invitational, Wendy Pandy-Leh Wrestling Invitational, Rick I Memorial, Caldwell Tournament, Robin Leff Tournament, Blue Knights Tournament.
Results from duals, tris and quads can be found here: Coming!
Mike Dessino Invitational
Bridgewater-Raritan is expecting a big season after earning a program record of 20 wins and reaching the sectional finals for the first time since 2016.
Saturday, the Panthers kicked off with a second-place finish in the 14-team tournament at Middlesex High School. Middletown North won with 236 points followed by B-R (182) and Edison (141), while Montgomery took sixth (105.5).
Bridgewater-Raritan showed its depth with nine top 4-finishers led by champion Lerrod Smalls (190). BR's runners-up included Andrew Adell (120) and Logan Levine (138).
In a marquee final at 150, returning state qualifier Jackson Obe (Montgomery) won 8-3 over BR's Matthew McCann, who had 33 wins as a freshman last year.
Edison is also looking for a strong year with several returning wrestlers. Saturday, the Eagles claimed champs in Tyler Northern (113), Jeremy Negron (132) and Fernando Avellan (144).
Piscataway's Sean Love, a returning Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament champ and state qualifier, captured the 157-pound title with a pin and two tech falls, including a 20-2 win in the final.
Middlesex/Dunellen's Jack Griffin (165) claimed the gold medal with a pin in the final.
Mike Dessino's legacy
It's always special for Bridgewater-Raritan head coach Kyle Murphy for his teams to compete in the Invitational. He practiced with Mike Dessino, who was an assistant coach, while they were at Bloomsburg University.
The tournament honors the former Middlesex and Bloomsburg wrestler who died on June 1, 2020, at 29 following a car accident. He graduated in 2009 as Middlesex/Dunellen's all-time winningest wrestler (145 wins) and his resume included 98 pins and two state medals. He was well-respected throughout the state.
At NCAA Division I Bloomsburg from 2009-14, he went 105-43 and qualified for three NCAA Tournaments.
Results
Teams: 1. Middletown North 236; 2. Bridgewater-Raritan 182; 3. Edison 141; 4. Rahway 120; 5. Notre Dame 109.5; 6. Montgomery 105.5; 7. JFK-Iselin 103; 8. Scotch Plains-Fanwood 71.5; 9. Somerville 68.5; 10. North Plainfield 58.5; 11. Piscataway 55.5; 12. Middlesex 54; 13. Belvidere 49; 14. Plainfield 43.5
106
1st Place Match - Thomas Blewett (Middletown North) 3-0 won by fall over Andrew Castro (Notre Dame) 2-1 (Fall 0:24)
3rd Place Match - Akeo Diaz (Bridgewater) 3-1 won by fall over Joel Pinzon (North Plainfield) 1-2 (Fall 1:18)
113
1st Place Match - Tyler Northern (Edison) 3-0 won by major decision over Jaeczar Evans (Rahway) 2-1 (MD 18-10)
3rd Place Match - Lucas Pelc (Bridgewater) 2-1 won by fall over Zahir Hidalgo (JFK Iselin) 1-2 (Fall 1:24)
120
1st Place Match - Jackson Fearon (Middletown North) 3-0 won by fall over Andrew Adell (Bridgewater) 2-1 (Fall 4:45)
3rd Place Match - Nicholas Campaneilli (Edison) 2-1 won by fall over Luke Metrovsky (Somerville) 1-2 (Fall 0:54)
126
1st Place Match - Jacob Portman (Middletown North) 3-0 won by decision over Armani Maglione (JFK Iselin) 2-1 (Dec 12-6)
3rd Place Match - Sebastian Molina (Notre Dame) 2-1 won by fall over Zachary Stouffer (Bridgewater) 2-2 (Fall 1:22)
132
1st Place Match - Jeremy Negron (Edison) 3-0 won by fall over Shane Myiow (Middletown North) 2-1 (Fall 4:33)
3rd Place Match - Aidyn Herrera (Somerville) 3-1 won by injury default over Alejandro Montalvo (JFK Iselin) 2-2 (Inj. 4:00)
138
1st Place Match - Justin Fearon (Middletown North) 3-0 won by fall over Logan Levine (Bridgewater) 2-1 (Fall 1:41)
3rd Place Match - Nicholas Reyes (Montgomery) 2-1 won by fall over Naelson Velasquez (JFK Iselin) 2-2 (Fall 3:18)
144
1st Place Match - Fernando Avellan (Edison) 3-0 won by fall over Tyler Oden (Middletown North) 2-1 (Fall 1:14)
3rd Place Match - Adrian Harris (Rahway) 2-1 won by fall over Douglas Hesse (Bridgewater) 1-2 (Fall 1:12)
150
1st Place Match - Jackson Obe (Montgomery) 3-0 won by decision over Matthew McCann (Bridgewater) 2-1 (Dec 8-3)
3rd Place Match - Daniel Gonzalez (Rahway) 2-1 won by fall over Caleb Gluchowski (Edison) 2-2 (Fall 4:18)
157
1st Place Match - Sean Love (Piscataway) 3-0 won by tech fall over Michael Cantwell (Scotch Plains-Fanwood) 2-1 (TF-1.5 2:41 (20-2))
3rd Place Match - Timothy Williams (Plainfield) 3-1 won by major decision over Nico Cordova (Middletown North) 2-2 (MD 21-8)
165
1st Place Match - Jack Griffin (Middlesex) 3-0 won by fall over Sheraj Salman (JFK Iselin) 2-1 (Fall 5:04)
3rd Place Match - Jahkee Carr (Montgomery) 3-1 won by decision over Andrew Usmiani (Notre Dame) 2-2 (Dec 9-8)
175
1st Place Match - Daniel Benbrook (Middletown North) 3-0 won by fall over Pedro Dos Santos (Belvidere) 2-1 (Fall 1:13)
3rd Place Match - KJ Honnig (Notre Dame) 2-1 won by fall over Tyler Van Doren (Somerville) 1-2 (Fall 0:47)
190
1st Place Match - Lerrod Smalls (Bridgewater) 3-0 won by decision over Michael Mulray (Notre Dame) 3-1 (Dec 7-3)
3rd Place Match - Andrew Avent (Rahway) 2-1 won by decision over Kyle Blew (Belvidere) 1-2 (Dec 9-7)
215
1st Place Match - Austin Allen (Montgomery) 3-0 won by fall over Paul Boyle (Scotch Plains-Fanwood) 2-1 (Fall 1:26)
3rd Place Match - Trent Levash (Bridgewater) 2-1 won by fall over Jake Schettino (Middletown North) 1-2 (Fall 1:09)
285
1st Place Match - Jonathan Martinez (Rahway) 3-0 won by fall over Yexon Mercado (North Plainfield) 2-1 (Fall 1:24)
3rd Place Match - Michael Dwyer (Middletown North) 2-1 won by decision over Vincent Williams (Piscataway) 1-2 (Dec 15-8)