Coming off a 15-9 record last season, the Cinnaminson boys’ wrestling squad continues to dominate this winter. With a current record of 16-7, the team is second in the Liberty Division behind Northern Burlington.
While the boys’ wrestling team has a long history at Cinnaminson, the program has grown in the last several years with the addition of female competitors. With new girls coming out this season, the squad has increased from two females on last year’s team to seven this year.
With no senior female wrestlers, the girls’ wrestling team looks to gain more experience and grow the program in years to come. Emily DeSilva, a freshman new to wrestling, said, “I feel like I am making history, and I’m excited for more girls to join and expand the team.”
In comparison to last year’s achievements, Head Coach Robert Murray claims this year’s group is “…built for the same type of success.”
“We made it to the playoffs last year. We were fourth seed. I think we’ll be back there again this year,” Murray said ahead of the season.
The boys secured big wins this season against Burlington Township, Woodstown, Manchester Township, and Pitman. However, one challenge the team has had to face this season is the loss of last year’s senior captains, along with their leadership.
“Replacing the guys like Isaiah Ruiz and Pat Ghegan – they were two really good seniors not even just on the map, but they were really good leaders to elevate the program the last couple years,” Murray said.
With two seniors graduating at the end of last year, juniors Eddie Frey and Dylan Vallone (who finished in fifth place in last year’s playoffs), as well as sophomore Dominic Marino and senior Nasir Paige have stepped up as new captains.
With six seniors on the squad, three of whom wrestle in the varsity lineup, the team is comprised of mostly underclassmen. Marino emphasizes the future successes the team could have in store with this team’s makeup.
“We have a good group of freshmen that are putting up numbers and since we only have a couple of seniors, we’re just going to keep getting better and better because we’re a young team,” Marino said.
After an upsetting 37-31 loss to RV, the team rebounded with four straight wins, including a 41-25 victory over Delran with pins from Noah Huber, Jarrett Edwards, Evan Reed, Jaiden Shimp, and Marino, as well as big wins from Jake Barbich, Donavon Wilkinson, and Vallone.
Another one of those four wins came from Lenape at home. While expecting to lose, Cinnaminson sent Lenape to the bus with a huge upset. The boys won 30-28 with huge pins by Marino, Wilkinson, Eddie Frey and Davi Guimaraes who boosted the team’s points. Vallone and Mitchell Dalesio also won their matches, which allowed the Pirates to come out with the victory.
On Monday night, the team traveled to Rumson-Fair Haven to wrestle Wall Township in the first round of playoffs. The boys pulled out a win against Wall 38-37 thanks to Mitchell Dalesio, Noah Huber, Evan Reed, Dominic Marino, Dylan Vallone, and Max Frey taking wins all around.
During Tuesday’s home match against Bordentown, the Pirates celebrated their six seniors at senior night. Noah Huber, Dom Del Grippo, Jarrett Edwards, Evan Reed, and Donovan Wilkinson all had pins, with big wins also coming from Dylan Vallone, Nasir Paige, Mitchell Dalesio, Jake Barbich, and Connor Prendergast. The Pirates were victorious: 53-10.
The boys’ final match will be away on Thursday, the 8th, against the Moorestown Quakers.
