Clayton captures own Clipper mat tourney

Kyle Fletcher, Josh Ferente, and Tom Rementer helped propel Clayton to a team victory Wednesday in its own Dan Allen Clipper Classic wrestling tournament.

Clayton won the eight-team competition with 149 points, outdistancing its nearest rival, Mainland, by 491/2 points.

But it was 152-pound Ryan Badey of Sterling who won the most outstanding wrestler award. The four-year varsity wrestler pinned Mainland's Dashaun Waller in 52 seconds and Clayton's Steminto Rowe in 1 minute, 24 seconds to earn the honor.

"It feels good to win the award," said Badey, whose team placed seventh with 61 points. "I work hard in the [wrestling] room."

For Clayton, Fletcher scored a major decision over Maple Shade's Eric Landis, 16-8, at 135 pounds, Ferente pinned Mainland's John Fitzpatrick in 2:55 at 145, and Rementer pinned Maple Shade's Alex Conover in 1:26 at 285.

"With a young and inexperienced team, it's nice to win a team title," Clayton coach Dan Antonelli said. "It's good for the kids' confidence as we go into the dual-meet season."

One of two seniors on the team, Fletcher improved his record to 6-0 with the major decision. He had pinned Penns Grove's John Evans in 1:22 in a semifinal bout. The three-year starter had a strategy that carried him through the third period of the second and final bout.

"I was trying to get back points to rack up points with a headlock," Fletcher said about his performance in the final two minutes, when his lead increased from 9-7 to 16-8.

Ferentz pinned Fitzpatrick with a half-nelson. In a semifinal, the junior had pinned Gloucester Catholic's Russell Lee in 3:12.

"Anger is my fuel," Ferentz said about the second pin. "I got angry because I hurt my [left] knee. It feels a lot better after the win."

In a battle of the big boys, Rementer also won with a half-nelson pin. In the semifinals against Sterling's Dave Jones, he had won, 7-1.

Mainland's only win was at 140, where Brendan O'Hara pinned Gloucester Catholic's Paul Koehler in 5:33. O'Hara, a four-year starter who had not wrestled before high school, ran his record to 7-1.

O'Hara, Mainland's only senior, had pinned Penns Grove's Adrian Feliciano in 5:37 in the semifinals. O'Hara was the top seed in his weight class.

The results

Teams: Clayton 149, Mainland 991/2, Penns Grove 99, Gateway 81, St. Joseph 73, Maple Shade 64, Sterling 61, Gloucester Catholic 39.

103: Joe Ansboro, Maple Shade, dec. Alex Eastwick, Gateway, 10-4. 112: Ricky Sassi, Penns Grove, dec. Justin Jencho, Maple Shade, 6-1. 119: Chris Norris, Gateway, dec. Garrett Ewing, Mainland, 4-2. 125: Brennan Humphrey, St. Joseph, dec. Tom Kleinhans, Clayton, 9-2. 130: Brett Blaker, Gateway, dec. Billy Millward, Clayton, 11-5. 135: Kyle Fletcher, Clayton, major dec. Eric Landis, Mainland, 16-8. 140: Brendon O'Hara, pinned Paul Koehler, Gloucester Catholic, 5:33. 145: Josh Ferentz, Clayton, pinned John Fitzpatrick, Mainland, 2:55. 152: Ryan Badey, Sterling, pinned Steminto Rowe, Clayton, 1:24. 160: Isaiah Coppage, Penns Grove, dec. Nick Rodriguez, Clayton, 9-4. 171: Nick Elmer, Penns Grove, major dec. Jack Donio, St. Joseph, 9-1. 189: Pat Campbell, St. Joseph, win by injury default over Ryan Casey, Gloucester Catholic. 215: Roy Lucas, St. Joseph, pinned James Roane, Penns Grove, 0:36. Hwt.: Tom Rementer, Clayton, pinned Alex Conover, Maple Shade, 1:26.