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Cranford's Michael Daly (left) at 120 pounds and Luke Scholz at 157 became the 10th and 11th wrestlers to win four Union County Tournament titles when they helped lead the Cougars to an 11th straight UCT championship and 14th overall Saturday, Jan. 17th , at Union High School. In second photo a smiling Jaydon Robles of Union, who captured his first UCT title with triumph at 126, is surrounded by assistant coach Nick Curcio (left) and the head coach Dino DeBellonia. In the third photo are the top 3 finishers at 157, respectively, from the left, Luke Scholz of Cranford, Daniel Gonzalez of Rahway and Givonni Donofrio of Johnson. In fourth photo, from left, are the top three finishers at 138, repeat champion Ariel Azeredo of Union, Carter Stein of Brearley and Keegan Parkhill of Johnson. In fifth photo Union's Robles controls Rahway's Jaeczar Evans in 126-pound championship match. Robles is a happy Farmer as he holds chart and is joined by 126-runner-up Evans and third-place Kenneth Egbeji of Elizabeth. In bottom photo is 14-time UCT championship Cranford as perennial power celebrates its 11th straight title. (Photos by JR Parachini)
UNION - Pat Gorman knew it would be close. He realized his Cougars were going to be taken to the limit by the likes of the Rahway Indians and the much-improved Union Farmers. The veteran Cranford mentor was right. Rahway produced the most kids in the finals with six and had the most champions with three and Union had two champions for the first time under repeat Union County Coach of the Year selection Dino DeBellonia. Still, for those two solid teams, it wasn't quite enough for Rahway to win the team title for the first time since 2005 and Union for the first time since 1994. The Cranford Cougars, behind four-time winners Michael Daly and Luke Scholz and a total of five grapplers reaching the championship round, did just enough to capture a record 11th straight Union County Tournament championship and 14th overall. The 51st wrestling Union County Tournament was contested Saturday, Jan. 17 at Union High School's Louis J. Rettino gymnasium, with Cranford winning the team title with 215.5 points. Rahway was second with 206.0 and Union third with 202.0. To show how dominant those three schools were, fourth-place Johnson's point total was 105.5, almost 100 points less than third-place Union. Rahway placed third in 2025, third in 2024 under 2024 Union County Coach of the Year Dan Garay and fifth in 2023. Union was seventh in 2025, fifth in 2024 and ninth in 2023. Cranford and Roselle Park have now won the most titles with 14 each. Roselle Park was the last team to triumph, winning the 2013 and 2014 crowns, before Cranford's present dominance began in 2015. Cranford's first three championships were obtained in the 1980s in 1981, 1984 and 1986. "It was a smorgasbord of ups and downs for us all day," Gorman said. "For a team that has seven new varsity wrestlers and three kids that have never wrestled before, we continued to wrestle, as a team, for each other. That was the difference." Scholz defeated senior Daniel Gonzalez of Rahway in the 157 pound final, winning by the score of 17-2 and in a time of 2:23. That was the 14th and final championship bout and it was an important win for Cranford in order for the Cougars to prevail once again. Winning the UCT 11 years in a row is quite an achievement for a program that before 2015 had not won it since 1986. The previous record of capturing seven titles in a row was held by Roselle Park from 1997-2003 and Brearley-Dayton from 2006-2012. "I never thought we would be able to put together a streak like this," Gorman said. "We try to keep it fresh by continuing to work hard. If we win it, we move on to the next thing. Should we not win it we still move on and hope to be more motivated for what's next." Daly won at 120 to become the 10th wrestler to win four UCT crowns. Before Scholz joined Daly as a four-time winner, becoming only the 11th and just the third from Cranford, this is what Daly said: "Luke and I grew up together, so I'm proud of him. We have a great group of guys and we all push each other." Union senior Jaydon Robles followed by winning at 126, capturing his first UCT crown. "This is unreal, it's my first bracket," Robles said. "I worked hard in the room during the week and knew I would have to give 100 percent for six minutes in all of the matches. "As a team we knew we would be contenders." "Hard work, discipline and doing what he has been asked to do served Jaydon well," DeBellonia said. "He's smart, good on his feet, knows positioning and is very poised." Union's Ariel Azeredo, as the second seed, pinned Henrique Ribeiro of Gov. Livingston in 2:43 in last year's 138 final to capture his first UCT crown. This time, as the top seed, the senior Azeredo defeated Carter Stein of Bearley 15-0 in the time of 1:41 in the 138-title bout to become the first of only two of Saturday's champions to win by technical fall. Scholz later became the other. Azeredo and Scholz also won their 100th matches Saturday. "I knew I was the favorite," Azeredo said. "I was confident and I trust the work I put in. "We've also progressed so much as a team. It starts with hard work and continues with the coaches being awesome. We're all family." Azeredo, who is looking at Springfield and Arcadia in his quest to wrestle collegiately, was the first repeat UCT champion DeBellonia has coached. "He certainly wrestled to his seed," DeBellonia said. "It's not easy to beat a good wrestler in the finals by technical fall. "Two county champions is just great for the program." If things really broke right DeBellonia was confident Union could bring home the team title for the first time in 32 years. "Overall, we were not too bad," DeBellonia said. "We were hoping to do a little better. It speaks to the toughness of the tournament." Rahway senior Adrian Harris was his team's third and final champion, capturing his first UCT crown by winning at 144. Fellow senior Andrew Avent won at 190 by defeating Cranford senior Joey Acinapura in the final. Acinapura was the 175 champion in 2025. Then sophomore Phillip Griffin won at 113 to become Rahway's second champion. Harris won a dramatic and loud 144 final by pinning Cranford junior Anthony Dispensa in 4:15. Dispensa did well to reach his first UCT championship bout. "This is amazing," Harris said. "Last year was not so great, so I worked real hard in the off season. There was training, club, working with coaches and just going hard at it every day." Placing second for the Indians were junior Zaire Barron at heavyweight, senior Jaeczar Evans at 126 and Gonzalez at 157. Gonzalez lost to Scholz in the 150 final in 2025. Evans won the 106 crown in 2025. "I'm very proud of our team, as a captain and teammate," Harris said. "Coach Garay always helps me clear my head and keeps me calm." When Scholz was told he was the 11th wrestler to win four crowns to help Cranford win its 11th straight team title, this is what he said: "The culture here at Cranford is something else. From youth to now with the coaching staffs, it's something really special." UNION COUNTY COACH OF THE YEAR: T. RALPH "PUG" WILLIAMS AWARD: OUTSTANDING WRESTLER LOWER WEIGHTS (106-144): OUTSTANDING WRESTLER UPPER WEIGHTS (150-HWT): UCT REPEAT CHAMPIONS: Braeden Valley, New Providence, 144 in 2025 and 150 in 2026 UCT FINALISTS WHO WERE 2025 CHAMPIONS: Rahway senior Jaeczar Evans won at 106 in 2025 and reached the 126 final in 2026 Johnson junior Matty Ortega won at 120 in 2025 and reached 120 final again in 2026 2027 RETURNING UCT CHAMPIONS: UNION UCT CHAMPIONS 2026 UNION COUNTY TOURNAMENT TEAMS: FINALS: UCT WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIPS: DALY AND SCHOLZ OF CRANFORD BECOME THE NEXT 4-TIME UCT CHAMPIONS Eight years later and Cranford now has the most wrestlers that have won four crowns, three to be exact. That's because Cranford seniors Michael Daly and Luke Scholz pulled off the feat at the 51st annual wrestling Union County Tournament held Saturday, Jan. 17 at Union High School's Louis J. Rettino gymnasium. DiGiovanni, Daly and Scholz on the wall now at Cranford as four-time UCT champions. "Wrestling, that's their life," Cranford head coach Pat Gorman said. "They will both continue wresting in college." Daly is going to the University of Pittsburgh and Scholz to Appalachian State. "We've been going at this since middle school, we just love this sport," Scholz said. "We're the team that is hunted." Both top seeds again, Daly defeated Johnson junior Matty Ortega 7-3 in the 120 final. Ortega won 120 last year as a sophomore, one weight class after Daly won at 113. Scholz was dominant over Rahway senior Daniel Gonzalez for the second straight year in a final. Last year Scholz pinned Gonzalez in 1:48 in the 150 final. This time Scholz defeated Gonzalez by technical fall in the 157 final, winning by the score of 17-2 in 2:23. "Michael and Luke represent Cranford wrestling well," Gorman said. "It's not easy to win this tournament four times if only 11 wrestlers have. Both wrestlers don't take anything for granted the way they continue to work really hard." Larry Guarino, a surgeon in Wayne, was the first four-time UCT champion, accomplishing the feat for Union in 1988 under head coach Al Lilley. Dave Bubnowski of Union was the second four-time winner, reaching that status 30 years ago in 1996. Three years later in 1999 Roselle Park senior Craig Frost was the next four-time winner and first for the Panthers. In the same tournament Roselle Park freshman Dan Appello won his first UCT title and then three years later in 2002 became the fourth grappler to capture four crowns. Rahway's lone four-time winner is 2006 graduate Darrion Caldwell, who also won three NJSIAA Tournament championships for the Indians before excelling collegiately at North Carolina State, winning one NCAA championship. Brearley's two four-time winners were produced in consecutive seasons. In 2008 the late Jesse Boyden became the first and then later that year he went on to become the 215-pound state champion. Kenny Knapp followed in 2009. After DiGiovanni became Cranford's first four-time winner, Luke Hoerle achieved the feat three years later in 2020 to become the first Westfield grappler with four crowns. "Jordan Chapman didn't win for us his freshman year, so there have been a lot of really good wrestlers who didn't win four times," Gorman said. 4-TIME UCT CHAMPIONS (11): Larry Guarino, Union, class of 1988 Luke Hoerle, Westfield, class of 2020 Michael Daly, Cranford, class of 2026 Luke Scholz, Cranford, class of 2026 Follow JR Parachini on 'X' @parachini_jr
Union's Ariel Azeredo repeated as the UCT's 138-pound champion and is joined by his head coach Dino DeBellonia (left) and assistant coach Nick Curcio after achieving his latest title. In second photo, from left, are the top three finishers at 144, Adrian Harris of Rahway, Anthony Dispensa of Cranford and Aidan Cross of Union. In the bottom photo is Union's Azeredo, who notched his 100th career victory in the 2026 UCT. He is joined by his teammates to help commemorate achievement while coach DeBellonia (right), who was named as Union County Coach of the Year for a second straight year, holds his senior's UCT championship plaque.
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