On February 22, 2020, the Colonia’s wrestling team goes to the District tournament. They traveled to Watchung Hills High School for the tournament. At first, Colonia starts off a little shaky however, the star wrestlers quickly find their rhythm and advance into the tournament.
Season Review
The young team had their ups and downs this season but, they certainly have a bright future ahead. At the begging of the season, the team gained many first-time wrestlers. The team holds a record of 6-11. Coach Grasso states, “ The most rewarding thing is taking a new wrestler and watching them improve throughout a season. ” Coach Grasso is very proud of his wrestlers for taking on such a challenge and couldn’t be more satisfied with the season. Colonia’s wrestling team goes the district tournament with confidence and excitment.
District Tournament 2019
In 2019, John Poznanski wiped out his competition and placed first in the district. Senior of 2019, Justice Harris, made it to the semi-finals and finished in third place. Another junior won his matches up until the finals. Unfortunately, the junior fell short and placed second in the district. Each one of these wrestlers qualified for Regions. However, only John Poznanski moved forward into the New Jersey State Wrestling Tournament. As a junior, Poznanski finished second in the states but he’s determination is to take on the tournament differently this year.
Districts 2020
The 2020 District 15 tournament had nine teams competing; Watchung Hills, Bound Brook, Rahway, Middlesex/ Dunellen, Colonia, Ridge, J.P. Stevens, Brearley/ Jonathan Dayton, and Newark Collegiate Academy. Colonia has not competed against any of these schools thus far in the season.
Seniors
The star 182-pound wrestler John Poznanski once again dominates his opponents throughout the tournament. He takes home his fourth district championship. Poznanski is by far the most decorated wrestler in school history and has been a great role model for these teammates. Poznanski wrestled against Jahman McNeil from BOBR in the final and pinned him in the second period. He states he has “never felt better about his abilities and has more confidence in himself than ever before.” The future is bright for this senior and he is determined to take home the state title this March in Atlantic City.
Senior, Kenny Shinski is a first time Colonia wrestler, however, he has some experience from his earlier years. Shinski has learned to adapt to the sport and has definitely impressed everyone with his hard work and dedication. He holds a current record of 21-9 and placed third in the district in the 152-pound bracket. He took a tough loss to Jack Murray from Watchung Hill but came back strong and beat Ronaldo Romero Ban from JPS in the third and fourth place match.
Mahmoud Saad wrestled in the 170-pound bracket and won his first match against Samad Jessamy from NCC. He has an overall record of 5-5 but with regret, he lost to John Braun from BJD. Senior, Jason Dizel, who is one of the team’s first-time wrestler, wrestled in the 220-pound bracket and lost to Jordan Campbell from MIDD.
Juniors
Colonias’ 106-pound wrestler Joseph Caroscio has a record of 9-14 and sadly fell short against Tim Kolshorn from Ridge. The 145 pounder, Jibreel, Abduelal, has a record of 13-12 and had a bye his first match. A bye can be explained as the position of a participant in a tournament who advances to the next round without playing. Abduelal lost to Jake Fern from Ridge and was eliminated from the tournament.
Sophomores
Sophomore, Micheal Torres began wrestling his freshman year and continued his training through the off-season and improved dramatically. He now wrestles on the varsity team at 160 pounds and has a record of 20-12. Torres dominated against Mike Meola from BOBR in the third and fourth place match and finished third in the tournament. Colonia’s 113-pound wrestler Dylan Harvatt, lost to Dylan Kolakowski from Watchung Hills in the first round. The first-time wrestler, Micheal Testa has a record of 6-16 had a bye and unfortunately lost to Syed Jeelani from JPS in the 126-pound weight class. The 138 wrestler, Vincent Diaz, beat Steven Brown from Watchung Hills but, fell short against Mark Venson from BOBR in the second round. Masino Rivituso is a 195 pounder who has an overall record of 17-10. He beat Carlos Zamora from BOBR and Reginald Howard from Rahway. Rivituso place second in his weight class and will be advancing into the Regional Tournament.
Regions
Coach Grasso states, “This year’s district advancement is very pleasing, the guys who put in the most work are the ones who got the best outcome.” With this Micheal Torres, Kenny Shinski, Masino Rivituso, and John Poznanski all advance into the Regional Tournament this weekend. The tournament will take place Friday, February 28th and Saturday, February 29th. Colonia High School is very proud of these wrestlers’ hard work throughout the season and during the district tournament. We wish them luck this weekend and are very excited to see the overall outcome of this season.
