A decade of dominance.
No school has ever pinned down the wrestling Union County Tournament the way the Cranford Cougars have.
Since winning the championship in 2015 no school other than Cranford has managed to capture the team title.
At this Saturday's 50th annual UCT at Union High School's Louis J. Rettino gymnasium, the Cougars will attempt to become the first school to win the event for the 10th straight time.
Roselle Park has still won the most crowns with 14, its last two coming in 2013 and 2014, right before Cranford's dominance.
Roselle Park won seven in a row from 1997-2003 and Brearley won all seven of its crowns consecutively from 2006-2012.
Westfield won the first six tournaments straight from 1975-1980 before Cranford won the first of its three championships in the 1980s in 1981.
Cranford next won in 1984 and 1986 before its recent dominance commenced 10 years ago.
Cranford won the crown in 2015, 2016, 2017 behind four-time champion Tom DiGiovanni, 2018, 2019 and 2020 before the 2021 UCT was cancelled because of Covid. The Cougars picked up where they left off by winning the title again in 2022, 2023 and 2024.
Governor Livingston, which has yet to win the UCT, has been right on Cranford's back the past three tournaments, each time finishing second. Last year the Highlanders were just 6.5 points away.
While Cranford has won the last nine team titles and GL has been second the past three years, there are - which may be a record - 11 returning champions from seven different schools.
Cranford has four returning champions, including Rahway transfer Eoghan O'Hara; GL two and Scotch Plains-Fanwood, Summit, Rahway, Johnson and New Providence one each.
RETURNING UCT CHAMPIONS:
Scotch Plains-Fanwood senior John Boyle, 190 - Boyle won at 190 last year
Governor Livingston senior Nate Faxon, 215 - Faxon won at 215 last year
Governor Livingston senior Jake Kreisberg, 157 - Kreisberg won at 157 last year
Summit senior Sam Henry, heavyweight - Henry won at heavyweight last year
Cranford junior Mike Daly, 113 - Daly repeated as the 106 champ last year
Cranford junior Luke Scholz, 150 - Scholz won at 132 last year, his second title
Cranford senior Jordan Chapman, 190 - Chapman won at 165 last year, his second title
Cranford senior Eoghan O'Hara, 144 - O'Hara won at 144 for Rahway last year
Rahway senior Chris Valerio, 138 - Valerio won at 126 last year
Johnson senior Zach Belverio, 113 - Belverio won at 113 last year
New Providence junior Braeden Valley, 144 - Valley won at 138 last year.
Last year's senior champions were Dan Collin of Union at 175, who was his school's first champ since 2017; Max Rotter of Westfield at 120 and Joey Ortega of Johnson, the repeat winner at 150.
Saturday's competition should commence around 9 a.m., with the finals scheduled for roughly 2:30 to 3 p.m.
Host Union, off to a good start record wise and with impressive performances at the Dover and Parsippany Hills tournaments, has several grapplers who could really impress.
"We have a handful of wrestlers, who, if they wrestle above their potential, can certainly be in contention for an individiual title this Saturday," Union head coach Dino DeBellonia said. "It won't be easy, but Gabe Hargrove, Ariel Azeredo and Aidan Cross have just as much a chance of winning a title as anyone in the county.
"Others who can possibly make some noise are Mark Belfleur, Nick Bertolotti and Obreight Ingram."
Some of the top records as of Monday included Union County Conference-Watchung Division leader Cranford at 9-2 and Mountain Division leader Union at 8-3.
Remainder of Watchung Division: Westfield 8-5, GL 6-5, Johnson 5-5, Brearley 6-2, Rahway 6-3, Scotch Plains-Fanwood 3-3.
Remainder of Mountain Division: Linden 2-2, Elizabeth 8-3, New Providence 4-8, Plainfield 1-8, Summit 4-5, New Providence 0-9, Roselle 0-4.
ROSELLE PARK HAS STILL WON THE MOST TITLES WITH 14
This will be the 50th tournament Saturday and Roselle Park has won the most with 14. Cranford has won 12 and will be going for a record 10th straight and 13th overall.
UCT WRESTLING
TEAM CHAMPIONS:
1975: Westfield
1976: Westfield
1977: Westfield
1978: Westfield
1979: Westfield
1980: Westfield
1981: Cranford
1982: Roselle Park
1983: Roselle Park
1984: Cranford
1985: Union
1986: Cranford
1987: Union
1988: Roselle Park
1989: Union
1990: Westfield
1991: Roselle Park
1992: Westfield
1993: Roselle Park
1994: Union
1995: Rahway
1996: Rahway
1997: Roselle Park
1998: Roselle Park
1999: Roselle Park
2000: Roselle Park
2001: Roselle Park
2002: Roselle Park
2003: Roselle Park
2004: Scotch Plains-Fanwood
2005: Rahway
2006: Brearley
2007: Brearley
2008: Brearley
2009: Brearley
2010: Brearley
2011: Brearley
2012: Brearley
2013: Roselle Park
2014: Roselle Park
2015: Cranford
2016: Cranford
2017: Cranford
2018: Cranford
2019: Cranford
2020: Cranford
2021: No tournament because of Covid
2022: Cranford
2023: Cranford
2024: Cranford
CHAMPIONSHIPS:
Roselle Park (14)
Cranford (12)
Westfield (8)
Brearley (7)
Union (4)
Rahway (3)
Scotch Plains-Fanwood (1)
HAVE YET TO WIN:
Governor Livingston, Hillside, Johnson, Plainfield, Elizabeth,
Summit, New Providence, Linden, Roselle, Union Catholic.
4-TIME UCT CHAMPIONS (9):
2 from Union, 2 from Roselle Park,
1 from Rahway, 2 from Brearley,
1 from Cranford, 1 from Westfield
Larry Guarino, Union, class of 1988
1985: 158 final: maj. dec. Ken Weeks of Summit 13-2
1986: 158 final: defeated Tony Coleman of Westfield
1987: 170 final: dec. Jim O'Donnell of Cranford 4-0
1988: 171 final: defeated Randy Wojcik of Westfield
Dave Bubnowski, Union, class of 1996
1993 - won championship at 103
1994 - won championship at 103
1995: 121 final: dec. Bill Crecca of Roselle Park 5-4
1996 - won championship at 135
Craig Frost, Roselle Park, class of 1999
1996: 103 final: dec. Shawn Stueber of Rahway 10-4.
1997: 112 final: maj. dec. Rich Sachsel of New Providence, 21-8.
1998: 130 final: dec. Shawn Stueber of Rahway, 6-0.
1999: 135 final: pinned Jeff Bubnowski of Union in 2:48.
Dan Appello, Roselle Park, class of 2002
1999: 103 final: dec. Dare Ajibade of Union, 8-3
2000: 112 final: tech. fall Tom McDermott of Johnson 21-6 (3:08).
2001: 119 final: maj. dec. William Banks of Elizabeth, 17-5.
2002: 125 final: dec. William Banks of Elizabeth 11-4.
Darrion Caldwell, Rahway, class of 2006
2003: 103 final: pin Rob Mench of Westfield in 1:05.
2004: 119 final: pin Ross Baldwin of New Providence in 2:44.
2005: 135 final: pin Steve Mineo of Scotch Plains in :54.
2006: 160 final: pin Hany Elshiekh of Brearley in 1:26.
Jesse Boyden, Brearley, class of 2008
2005: 215 final: dec. Julio Loperena of Linden, 10-4.
2006: 215 final: pin Trevor Martin of New Providence in :43.
2007: 215 final: major dec. Richard Tabor of Elizabeth, 12-3.
2008: 215 final: dec. Mike Lefano of Roselle Park, 5-2.
Kenny Knapp, Brearley, class of 2009
2006: 103 final: pin Juan Herrera of Rahway, 3:46.
2007: 103 final: pin Anthony Casselli of Roselle Park, 4:23.
2008: 119 final: pin Anthony Zangari of Roselle Park, 3:40.
2009: 130 final: maj. dec. John Barnes of Westfield, 9-1.
Tom DiGiovanni, Cranford, class of 2017
2014: 113 final: dec. Philip Angelo, Summit, 2-1
2015: 120 final: dec. Carmine Boccellari, New Providence, 5-0.
2016: 120 final: dec. Nic Mele, Gov. Livingston, 4-3
(3-3 UTB – Ultimate Tie Breaker)
2017: 138 final: dec. Philip Angelo, Summit, 2-1
Luke Hoerle, Westfield, class of 2020
2017: 106 final: maj. decc. Gabe Leo, Roselle Park, 10-3.
2018: 113 final: dec. John Ojeda, Linden, 9-4.
2019: 120 final: maj. dec. Chris Dalmau, Rahway, 8-1.
2020: 126 final: dec. Brandon Bowles, Scotch Plains, 8-5.
UP-AND-COMING PROGRAM 10 YEARS AGO MADE ITS MOVE
There have been dominant programs over the years
Roselle Park won the tournament seven years in a row from 1997-2003.
After a two-year break when Scotch Plains-Fanwood in 2004 and Rahway in 2005 won their last crowns, Brearley hoisted the team trophy for seven straight seasons from 2006-2012.
Then Roselle Park won again in 2013 and 2014.
Cranford was coming up. The Cougars finished fourth in 2011, sixth in 2012, fourth again in 2013 and second in 2014.
Cranford ascended to the top the next year in 2015 - for the first time since the 1980s - behind four wrestlers placing first, three second, two third and one fifth.
What was in place was not only success for the immediate present, but also for an extended future.
"We have many second-place trophies tucked away," Cranford head coach Pat Gorman said after his Cougar grapplers captured the 2015 Union County Tournament crown. "We needed to get over the hump and win the championship."
Capturing individual UCT titles for Cranford that season 10 years ago at the 40th annual wrestling Union County Tournament at Union High School were repeat champions Gavin Murray and Tom DiGiovanni and also Niko Cappello and Chris Scorese. Cranford had the most champions.
A sophomore, Scorese, the 126 champion, was the Outstanding Wrestler for the lower weights. Murray, a senior who was the 152 champ, was the Outstanding Wrestler for the upper weights.
Two years later in 2017 DiGiovanni would become Cranford's first four-time UCT champ and only the eighth of nine.
Gorman was the 2015 Union County Coach of the Year.
Cranford outscored second place Governor Livingston 192.5 to 159, while two-time defending champion Roselle Park came in third at 129. GL was second for the first time since 2011.
Ten years later the Cougars will be going for 10 team titles in a row. No Union County team has won that many consecutive. Cranford has won 12 crowns in all, including its first three championships in 1981, 1982 and 1984.
GL has also placed second the past three years. last year coming the closest to sneaking past Cranford as the Highlanders fell just 6.5 points shy.
This Saturday, Jan. 18 will be the 50th annual wrestling UCT at Union High School's Louis J. Rettino Gymnasium.
Cranford, once again, is the favorite.
"It will be a tight race," Gorman said. "GL will score points and Rahway too."
Cranford began the week 9-2 with only out-of-county losses to Phillipsburg and Brick Memorial. The Cougars lead the Union County Conference's Watchung Division again at 2-0 and have four of the 11 returning UCT champions on their roster: sophomores Mike Daly (113) and Luke Scholz (150) and seniors Eoghan O'Hara (144) and Jordan Chapman (175). O'Hara won at 144 for Rahway last year before transferring to Cranford.
In Cranford's 60-17 win at Johnson Jan. 8 in Clark, Johnson senior Zachary Belverio, the 113 UCT champ a year ago, defeated Daly 10-3 at 113. The two could meet again in this Saturday's UCT final at 113.
Scholz, according to Gorman, was to be back in the lineup for Wednesday's Jan. 15 matches at Scotch Plains against Scotch Plains and Brearley. Scholz suffered an ankle injury in last month's Beast of the East Tournament at the University of Delaware.
"This is just the next rung in the ladder," Gorman said.
Joey Acinapura, second in the UCT last year at 175, began the week 9-0; 6-0 at 175 and 3-0 at 190, which will be the weight class he will wrestle in for the UCT.
At 106 is freshman DJ Torsone, who began the week at 10-6. "He's doing well," Gorman said.
Cranford's first three UCT championships were won in 1981, 1984 and 1986.
The 1981 team was led by Region 3 champions Phil Sandford at 119 and Rich Briscoe at 126. Sandford was also a Region 3 champ the year before in 1980 at 112.
The 1984 squad was sparked by Region 3 champions Greg Laverda at 112, Tony Cerrato at 119 and Frank Genova at 126. Genova also won a Region 3 title at 132 in 1986.
The 1985 and 1986 Cranford teams captured North 2, Group 3 sectional state championships and both went on to be Group 3 runner-ups.
Cranford has captured North 2, Group 3 sectional state championships under Gorman in 2017 and 2024. Last year's 2024 squad finished second in Group 3 to Delsea. Cranford was second to Voorhees in Group 3 1985 and second to Brick Memorial in Group 3 in 1986.
CRANFORD WRESTLING
UNION COUNTY TOURNAMENT
CHAMPIONSHIPS:
1980s (3): 1981, 1984, 1986
2010s (5): 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019
2020s (4): 2020, 2022, 2023, 2024