UNION- The Cranford Cougars made the 50th annual wrestling Union County Tournament that was contested at Union High School's gym last Saturday a special one for the program by capturing the team title for a record 10th consecutive time.
Cranford's magnificent run, which began with the 2015 tournament when the Cougars won the team title that year for the first time since 1986, this time included a tournament-best five champions and seven grapplers total reaching the finals.
Behind three-time champions Jordan Chapman, Michael Daly and Luke Scholz; first-time winners Joey Acinapura and Dylan Jones and Ryder Connors and Eoghan O'Hara placing second, Cranford produced 243 points for its 13th team title. The Cougars began the finals with a lead of about 40 points and, again, finished ahead of second-place Gov. Livingston, which finished with 173.5 points.
GL, which has never won the team title, placed second for the fourth straight tournament.
Next year Cranford will go for an 11th straight championship and a 14th title, which would tie them with Roselle Park for the most team championships won.
"I think the culture was created 10 or so years ago and the path that was paved by the wrestlers who came before this team has held my boys to a certain standard," Cranford head coach Pat Gorman said.
Gorman has guided Cranford to 219 wins in 14 seasons, including a berth in last year's Group 3 final.
"That certain standard is being the best team in Union County each and every year," Gorman said. "This is always on our set of team goals and it's nice to see that the boys work so hard to make it happen year in and year out."
Also in 2026, Daly and Scholz will have the opportunity to become only the second and third Cranford wrestlers to win four titles. The only Cranford wrestler and one of just nine overall to have won four championships was 2017 graduate Tom DiGiovanni.
TEAMS:
1-Cranford 243. 2-Gov. Livingston 173.5. 3-Rahway 170. 4-Westfield 167.
5-Elizabeth 96.5. 6- Scotch Plains-Fanwood 88. 7-Union 86. 8-New Providence 78.
9-Brearley-Dayton 71. 10-Johnson 58. 11-Summit-Chatham 34. 12-Plainfield 32. 13- Roselle Park 28.5. 14-Linden 14. 15-Hillside 7. 16-Roselle 0.
FINALS:
165: Cristian Gioia, Gov. Livingston pin Alan Walczak, Brearley-Dayton, 4:52.
Gioia was the top seed.
175: Joey Acinapura, Cranford, pin Gabriel Salazar, Elizabeth, :52
Acinapura was the top seed
190: Jordan Chapman, Cranford, pin Jake Zemsky, Westfield, :59.
Chapman, a senior, was the top seed, reached the finals for the fourth time and won for the third straight time.
