Wrestling

Will Livingston completed his wrestling career at Kittatinny and capped an undefeated season as he won the 130-pound title in the 73rd Annual NJSIAA State Tournament at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City on Sunday afternoon. Livingston completed his career with a 145-13 and will graduate as the Cougars’ all-time leader in wins. He edged Delbarton’s Trevor Melded 7-6 in the title bout to post an unblemished 42-0 mark as a senior. He placed eighth in the state at 112 pounds as a freshmen, was seventh in the same weight bracket as a sophomore and picked up third place at 125 last March. In addition to Livingston, Kittatinny had four other grapplers advance to Atlantic City with two picking up medals. Tommy Spellmann finished his junior campaign with a 42-3 record as he placed third in the 171-pound weight class after entering the competition as the No. 1 seed. He dropped a 5-3 decision to Anthony Trompone of Camden Catholic in the semifinals but rebounded to defeat West Morris’ Dillon Landi in the consolation third place final as he avenged his loss to Landi in the Regional I title bout. Sophomore Andy Valenti reached the semifinals in the 103-pound bracket after defeating South Plainfield’s Patrick Hunter in the quarterfinals. Hunter came back to post a 12-4 major decision over Valenti in the consolation third place match as Valenti finished in fourth place. In the 215-pound finale, top-seeded D.J. Russo dropped a 6-4 decision to Jack Corcoran of St. Joseph/Hammonton when the referee did not award Russo any points in the final 10 seconds. The Rutgers’-bound grappler packed up Corcoran in a cradle near the edge of the circle but referee did not award take-down points that would have knotted the match. With a win, Russo would have become the Patriots’ first-ever state champion. The three-day competition drew a new attendance record crowd of 42,719 fans, topping the old mark of 39.200 set last year.