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Two wrestlers with New Jersey ties finished third in their respective weight classes Saturday in the NCAA Division 1 Wrestling Tournament at Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia.
Cal State Bakersfield's A.J. Ferrari (197), who wrestled parts of his scholastic career at both Blair Academy and Bergen Catholic, defeated his former Bergen Catholic teammate Jacob Cardenas of Michigan 2-0 in the third-place bout.
Ferrari had also defeated Ferrari in the 2018 Beast of the East 195-pound final, when he was at Blair. He then transferred to Bergen Catholic later that season.
The other third-place finisher with ties to the Garden State was Penn State's Shayne Van Ness (149). Van Ness, the former Blair Academy star and a Somerville native, majored Ohio State's Dylan D'Emilio 15-4 in the third-place bout.
Ferrari, Van Ness and Cardenas are three of New Jersey's 10 All-Americans.
The others are: Penn's C.J. Composto (fourth at 141); Virginia Tech's Eddie Ventresca (fifth at 125); Cornell's Simon Ruiz and Chris Foca (fifth at 174 and 184 respectively); Lehigh's Owen Trephan (fifth at heavyweight); Rider's Sammy Alvarez (seventh at 149) and Navy's Danny Wask (eighth at 174).
New Jersey has no finalists for the second straight season. The 10 national final bouts will take place at 7 p.m. Saturday and be broadcast live on ESPN.
Ferrari, who was the 2021 197-pound champion when he was at Oklahoma State, rode out Cardenas in the third period to ensure the win.
Riding is a strength of Ferrari, who is also almost impossible to score on because of his flexibility.
After the bout, Ferrari hugged Cardenas, who then slapped Ferrari's hands.
Ferrari then raised Cardenas' hand while his hand was being raised by the referee.
He went over and lateral dropped Cal State Bakersfield head coach Luke Smith to the mat, picked Smith up, encouraged the crowd to cheer louder and concluded by doing his customary split flex on the mat.
It had been a long journey back for Ferrari, who enrolled at Cal State Bakersfield this season after not wrestling in the national tournament since 2021.
Ferrari had to bounce back from a 3-0 defeat to Iowa's Stephan Buchanan in the semifinal Friday night. He advanced to the third-place bout with a 5-3 win over Wyoming's Joseph Novak in the wrestleback semifinal.
Cardenas, who was a two-time NJSIAA champion at Bergen Catholic and a two-time All-American at Cornell before he transferred to Michigan for this season, was defeated 5-3 by Penn State's Josh Barr in the semifinal. He then defeated Little Rock's Stephen Little 4-1 in the wrestleback semifinal.
Van Ness was ultra-impressive Saturday after he was soundly defeated 14-8 by Nebraska's Ridge Lovett in the semifinal as he duplicated his third-place medal from 2023.
First, Van Ness cradled and pinned Oregon State's in the first period in the wrestleback semifinal. He then recorded four takedowns, two back points and the riding time point against two-time All-American D'Emilo.
Van Ness was one of five third-place finishers for Penn State, which had all 10 of its wrestlers earn All-American status. That is just the second time in the history of the NCAA Tournament a team has had all 10 of its wrestlers become All-Americans. The other was Minnesota in 2001.
The Nittany Lions, who rolled to their fourth straight team title and 12th in the last 14 seasons the national tournament has been held, also have three finalists in Carter Starocci (184), who will be trying to become the first five-time champion, Mitchell Mesenbrink (165) and Barr.
Ventresca, who was the 2019 NJSIAA 120-pound champion when he was a junior at Pope John, defeated Lehigh's Sheldon Seymour 11-4 in the fifth-place bout. \
The placing is an improvement on the seventh-place medal, Ventresca earned in 2023 when he was the No. 27 seed.
Ventresca advanced to the semifinal before he was defeated 6-4 in tiebreaker period No. 1 by Oklahoma State's Troy Spratley. He then was defeated 4-1 in sudden victory by No. 1 seed and eventual third-place finisher Luke Lilledahl of Penn State in the wrestleback semifinal.
Against Seymour, Ventresca had a takedown in the first period and then broke it open with two more in the third period.
Ruiz and Foca, who were both New Jersey state champions, concluded their tournaments within minutes of each other.
Ruiz, a freshman who was an NJSIAA champion at 157 and 175 his junior and senior seasons at Delbarton in 2022 and 2023, defeated South Dakota State's Cade DeVos 2-1 in the fifth-place bout on the riding time point. Ruiz rode DeVos most of the second period.
He had been defeated 4-1 on a late takedown by Penn State's third-place finisher, 2024 157-pound champion and three-time top three finisher Levi Haines in the wrestleback semifinal.
Foca, who was third at 174 in 2023 and was the NJSIAA 182-pound champion in 2019, defeated Maryland's Jaxon Smith 7-4 on takedowns in the second and third periods.
He had been defeated by Minnesota's talented redshirt freshman and third-place finisher Max McEnelly 4-1 in sudden victory in the wrestleback semifinal.
Alvarez ended Saturday with a 9-6 win in sudden victory over North Dakota State University's Gavin Drexler in the seventh-place bout.
Alvarez, who was the 2019 NJSIAA 126-pound champion while a senior at St. Joseph (Montvale) scored the winning takedown off a scramble with 40 seconds left in the sudden victory period.
He forced the extra period with the riding time point. He had accumulated 2:32 in riding time.
Alvarez also scrambled his way out of a takedown attempt by Drexler in the final 30 seconds of regulation.
Two reversals - one in the first period and another in the second - enabled Alvarez to erase an early 3-0 deficit. Drexler grabbed a 6-5 lead with a reversal.
The All-American medal for Alvarez came after a three-school, six-season collegiate career and came in his first appearance in the national tournament.
The only time he had wrestled in the post-season before this season was in 2020, when he was sixth in the Big Ten Tournament at 133 pounds for Rutgers. That tournament was held at Rutgers' Jersey Mike's Arena.
Alvarez was the No. 10 seed at 133 for the 2020 national tournament before that tournament was canceled the day after it was seeded due to the pandemic.
Weight issues cut his next three seasons at Rutgers short. He transferred to Oklahoma State in January, 2023, but did not make the Cowboys' post-season lineup in 2024. He transferred to Rider last spring.
Composto, who was the NCAA eighth-place finisher at 141 in 2022 and the NJSIAA third-place finisher at 126 in 2019, when he was a senior at Westfield High School, finished fourth after he was majored 11-2 by Penn State's three-time top three finisher Beau Bartlett.
Composto advanced to the third-place bout with a 7-2 win over Northern Iowa's Cael Happel in the wrestleback semifinal.
Trephan (heavyweight), who was a two-time national prep champion at Blair Academy and a two-time Atlantic Coast Conference champion for North Carolina State before he transferred to Lehigh, was fifth.
Penn State's 2024 champion Greg Kerkvliet, who was defeated by Oklahoma State's Wyatt Hendrickson in the semifinal, medically forfeited out Saturday, which included the fifth-place bout.
Trephan was defeated 4-3 by his former N.C. State teammate Isaac Trumble on the riding time point in the wrestleback semifinal. He had been majored by Minnesota's two-time champion and 2021 Olympic gold medalist Gable Steveson in the semifinal.
Wask, who was a three-time national prep champion at Blair Academy, was eighth after he was defeated 3-1 by North Carolina State's Matty Singleton in the seventh-place bout.
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: NCAA 2025 Wrestling Tournament: AJ Ferrari, Shayne Van Ness finish third
Continue reading...
Cal State Bakersfield's A.J. Ferrari (197), who wrestled parts of his scholastic career at both Blair Academy and Bergen Catholic, defeated his former Bergen Catholic teammate Jacob Cardenas of Michigan 2-0 in the third-place bout.
Ferrari had also defeated Ferrari in the 2018 Beast of the East 195-pound final, when he was at Blair. He then transferred to Bergen Catholic later that season.
The other third-place finisher with ties to the Garden State was Penn State's Shayne Van Ness (149). Van Ness, the former Blair Academy star and a Somerville native, majored Ohio State's Dylan D'Emilio 15-4 in the third-place bout.
Ferrari, Van Ness and Cardenas are three of New Jersey's 10 All-Americans.
The others are: Penn's C.J. Composto (fourth at 141); Virginia Tech's Eddie Ventresca (fifth at 125); Cornell's Simon Ruiz and Chris Foca (fifth at 174 and 184 respectively); Lehigh's Owen Trephan (fifth at heavyweight); Rider's Sammy Alvarez (seventh at 149) and Navy's Danny Wask (eighth at 174).
New Jersey has no finalists for the second straight season. The 10 national final bouts will take place at 7 p.m. Saturday and be broadcast live on ESPN.
Ferrari rides it out
Ferrari, who was the 2021 197-pound champion when he was at Oklahoma State, rode out Cardenas in the third period to ensure the win.
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Riding is a strength of Ferrari, who is also almost impossible to score on because of his flexibility.
After the bout, Ferrari hugged Cardenas, who then slapped Ferrari's hands.
Ferrari then raised Cardenas' hand while his hand was being raised by the referee.
He went over and lateral dropped Cal State Bakersfield head coach Luke Smith to the mat, picked Smith up, encouraged the crowd to cheer louder and concluded by doing his customary split flex on the mat.
It had been a long journey back for Ferrari, who enrolled at Cal State Bakersfield this season after not wrestling in the national tournament since 2021.
Ferrari had to bounce back from a 3-0 defeat to Iowa's Stephan Buchanan in the semifinal Friday night. He advanced to the third-place bout with a 5-3 win over Wyoming's Joseph Novak in the wrestleback semifinal.
Cardenas, who was a two-time NJSIAA champion at Bergen Catholic and a two-time All-American at Cornell before he transferred to Michigan for this season, was defeated 5-3 by Penn State's Josh Barr in the semifinal. He then defeated Little Rock's Stephen Little 4-1 in the wrestleback semifinal.
Van Ness equals his previous high finish
Van Ness was ultra-impressive Saturday after he was soundly defeated 14-8 by Nebraska's Ridge Lovett in the semifinal as he duplicated his third-place medal from 2023.
First, Van Ness cradled and pinned Oregon State's in the first period in the wrestleback semifinal. He then recorded four takedowns, two back points and the riding time point against two-time All-American D'Emilo.
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Van Ness was one of five third-place finishers for Penn State, which had all 10 of its wrestlers earn All-American status. That is just the second time in the history of the NCAA Tournament a team has had all 10 of its wrestlers become All-Americans. The other was Minnesota in 2001.
The Nittany Lions, who rolled to their fourth straight team title and 12th in the last 14 seasons the national tournament has been held, also have three finalists in Carter Starocci (184), who will be trying to become the first five-time champion, Mitchell Mesenbrink (165) and Barr.
Ventresca goes 2 spots better than 2023
Ventresca, who was the 2019 NJSIAA 120-pound champion when he was a junior at Pope John, defeated Lehigh's Sheldon Seymour 11-4 in the fifth-place bout. \
The placing is an improvement on the seventh-place medal, Ventresca earned in 2023 when he was the No. 27 seed.
Ventresca advanced to the semifinal before he was defeated 6-4 in tiebreaker period No. 1 by Oklahoma State's Troy Spratley. He then was defeated 4-1 in sudden victory by No. 1 seed and eventual third-place finisher Luke Lilledahl of Penn State in the wrestleback semifinal.
Against Seymour, Ventresca had a takedown in the first period and then broke it open with two more in the third period.
Ruiz and Foca grind it out
Ruiz and Foca, who were both New Jersey state champions, concluded their tournaments within minutes of each other.
Ruiz, a freshman who was an NJSIAA champion at 157 and 175 his junior and senior seasons at Delbarton in 2022 and 2023, defeated South Dakota State's Cade DeVos 2-1 in the fifth-place bout on the riding time point. Ruiz rode DeVos most of the second period.
He had been defeated 4-1 on a late takedown by Penn State's third-place finisher, 2024 157-pound champion and three-time top three finisher Levi Haines in the wrestleback semifinal.
Foca, who was third at 174 in 2023 and was the NJSIAA 182-pound champion in 2019, defeated Maryland's Jaxon Smith 7-4 on takedowns in the second and third periods.
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He had been defeated by Minnesota's talented redshirt freshman and third-place finisher Max McEnelly 4-1 in sudden victory in the wrestleback semifinal.
Alvarez ends his career on a high
Alvarez ended Saturday with a 9-6 win in sudden victory over North Dakota State University's Gavin Drexler in the seventh-place bout.
Alvarez, who was the 2019 NJSIAA 126-pound champion while a senior at St. Joseph (Montvale) scored the winning takedown off a scramble with 40 seconds left in the sudden victory period.
He forced the extra period with the riding time point. He had accumulated 2:32 in riding time.
Alvarez also scrambled his way out of a takedown attempt by Drexler in the final 30 seconds of regulation.
Two reversals - one in the first period and another in the second - enabled Alvarez to erase an early 3-0 deficit. Drexler grabbed a 6-5 lead with a reversal.
The All-American medal for Alvarez came after a three-school, six-season collegiate career and came in his first appearance in the national tournament.
The only time he had wrestled in the post-season before this season was in 2020, when he was sixth in the Big Ten Tournament at 133 pounds for Rutgers. That tournament was held at Rutgers' Jersey Mike's Arena.
Alvarez was the No. 10 seed at 133 for the 2020 national tournament before that tournament was canceled the day after it was seeded due to the pandemic.
Weight issues cut his next three seasons at Rutgers short. He transferred to Oklahoma State in January, 2023, but did not make the Cowboys' post-season lineup in 2024. He transferred to Rider last spring.
New Jersey's other medalists
Composto, who was the NCAA eighth-place finisher at 141 in 2022 and the NJSIAA third-place finisher at 126 in 2019, when he was a senior at Westfield High School, finished fourth after he was majored 11-2 by Penn State's three-time top three finisher Beau Bartlett.
Composto advanced to the third-place bout with a 7-2 win over Northern Iowa's Cael Happel in the wrestleback semifinal.
Trephan (heavyweight), who was a two-time national prep champion at Blair Academy and a two-time Atlantic Coast Conference champion for North Carolina State before he transferred to Lehigh, was fifth.
Penn State's 2024 champion Greg Kerkvliet, who was defeated by Oklahoma State's Wyatt Hendrickson in the semifinal, medically forfeited out Saturday, which included the fifth-place bout.
Trephan was defeated 4-3 by his former N.C. State teammate Isaac Trumble on the riding time point in the wrestleback semifinal. He had been majored by Minnesota's two-time champion and 2021 Olympic gold medalist Gable Steveson in the semifinal.
Wask, who was a three-time national prep champion at Blair Academy, was eighth after he was defeated 3-1 by North Carolina State's Matty Singleton in the seventh-place bout.
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: NCAA 2025 Wrestling Tournament: AJ Ferrari, Shayne Van Ness finish third
Continue reading...
