Sports roundup: Walsh, Almeyda win silver at states

Seniors Carson Walsh at 138 pounds and Donny Almeyda at 144 each brought home silver medals and junior Dalton Weber placed eighth at 132 pounds to pace the Pope John XXIII Regional High School wrestling team at the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) state wrestling tournament.

Walsh, who was sixth in the state at 113 pounds as a freshman, fifth at 126 as a sophomore and second at 132 last season, was seeded fourth this year in the 138-pound bracket.

He reached the finals at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City with a 12-10 victory over top-seeded Chase Quenault of Delbarton in the semifinal round Friday evening, March 7.

On Saturday afternoon, March 8, Walsh bowed to second-seeded Caedyn Ricciardi in the finals in 57 seconds to end his season with a 41-4 record.

Almeyda (24-2), seeded second at 144 pounds, defeated Nicholas Schwartz of Delbarton, 10-6, in the semifinal round before suffering a 7-1 setback to Princeton’s Blase Mele in the finals.

Weber, who was third in the state at 126 pounds last season, placed eighth at 132 pounds after reaching the quarterfinal round. He wrestled back to the seventh-place match, where he was edged by Jackson Slotnick of Williamstown, 5-2.

Luke Katsigiannis (one win at 150 pounds), Braydan Lombreglia (two wins at 157), Cole Dunham (two wins at 165) and David Thomson (175) also competed for the Lions but didn’t place.

Sparta wrestling

Sparta High School was represented by Ryan Hrenenko (one win at 132 pounds), Logan Hrenenko (two wins at 138) and Luke Brown (two wins at 190).

Junior Paige Weiss, who won the 100-pound girls championship as a freshman and was fourth at 114 as a sophomore, placed fourth in the state at 120 on Sunday, March 9.

After losing in the semifinal round, Weiss bounced back to reach the third-place match, where she bowed to Roselle Park’s Lucia Ranieri, 11-4.

Here’s how other Pope John teams fared recently:

Boys basketball

Anthony Schnabel totaled 15 points, 10 rebounds, two assists and two blocks; Justin Lilley added nine points, five rebounds and three assists; and Trent Houser collected nine points and two assists, but 13th-seeded Pope John bowed to fourth-seeded Seton Hall Prep in the first round of the NJSIAA Non-Public A Tournament on Feb. 28 in West Orange.

The Lions (5-20) trailed by just six points, 27-22, at halftime but were outscored, 21-4, in the third quarter.

Pope John was led this season by Lilley (10.9 points per game, 5.7 rebounds), Schnabel (10 ppg, 6.6 rebounds), Houser (8.7 ppg) and Quinn Klebez (7.4 ppg).

Girls basketball

Pope John, 9-2 in its past 11 games, is seeded second for the North Jersey, Non-Public A tournament and is scheduled to play at top-seeded, undefeated and No. 1 ranked Morris Catholic (26-0) for the sectional championship at 5 p.m. Monday, March 10.

The Lions (21-6) opened tournament play with a 39-23 victory over seventh-seeded Oak Knoll in the sectional quarterfinal round Monday, March 3.

Katie O’Keefe (17 points, four rebounds, two assists, two steals) and Mia Washington (14 points, seven rebounds, two steals) led the offense.

Three days later on March 6, Washington scored the game-winner in overtime to cap a game-high 22-point effort over third-seeded Immaculate Heart, 45-43, in the sectional semis in Sparta.

O’Keefe added 10 points, six rebounds, two assists and two steals; Marisa Captoni totaled five points, three assists, three steals and two rebounds; Natalija Novkovic collected four points, five rebounds, four steals, two assists and two blocks; and Cailey Fitzmorris had four points and four rebounds to fuel the win.