{"id":96803,"date":"2026-02-20T22:34:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-21T01:34:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tech.einnews.com\/article\/894240272"},"modified":"2026-02-20T22:34:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-21T01:34:08","slug":"southern-marches-to-group-5-final-with-win-over-passaic-tech","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/2026\/02\/20\/southern-marches-to-group-5-final-with-win-over-passaic-tech\/","title":{"rendered":"Southern marches to Group 5 final with win over Passaic Tech"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

They\u2019re not unfazed by it. Taking a state semifinal is as exciting as you\u2019d think it is.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s just that the Southern wrestling team, No. 7 in the NJ.com statewide Top 20, has a bigger prize in mind.<\/p>\n

If the Rams\u2019 celebration of their 45-20 win over Passaic Tech in the Southern gym in Manahawkin seemed low-key, it was to be expected. <\/p>\n

They\u2019re veterans of a few championship campaigns now and they recognize it for what it is — a step in a process.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re telling (their younger wrestlers) that this is just what we do,\u201d Southern\u2019s Nick Daddona said. \u201cThis is our program. We come here and we win. We go out to Rutgers and we win. Our goal this whole season has been Group 5 state champs. Every day in the practice room, it\u2019s what we\u2019re working towards.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now it\u2019s within their grasp. Southern will face Old Bridge, a 37-30 winner over Bridgewater-Raritan, for the NJSIAA\/IBEW Local 102 Group 5 state championship Sunday at Rutgers University.<\/p>\n

The three-time defending champion Rams took the first six bouts in the semifinal, including a pin by Daddona, a junior, at 175 pounds. They grabbed one bonus point in four of those six bouts. Attila Vigilante (152) and 190-pounder Levi Foote scored technical falls and Vincent Esposito (165) earned a major decision.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we know what bout we\u2019re starting at, that\u2019s what we kind of look for,\u201d Foote said. \u201cNick and I are always talking about trying to get a six, or at least bonus. We know our lower weights are where our strength is, so if we can get some momentum up top, we know we can cruise through the lower weights.\u201d<\/p>\n

Daddona scored a first-period near-fall against Muntaser Atyieh, then pinned him at 2:36.<\/p>\n

\u201cI got that bar and half and I stacked him,\u201d Daddona said. \u201cI was happy to keep the momentum going and get that for the team. It\u2019s really big for us. It keeps our lineup going. Foote got a tech right after me. It gives us some spirit. It gives us some energy to keep going.\u201d<\/p>\n

Foote nearly brought his bout to an end in the second period, when he powered Hector Rodriguez over with an arm bar, but Rodriguez was able to save a point there and escaped a moment later.<\/p>\n

An early third-period takedown ended it in the third period.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was trying to go bar and it was kind of slipping a little, so I decided to just stick to my neutral,\u201d Foote said. \u201cI could kind of mentally break him on top, but then neutral is where I shine. I worked my takedowns.\u201d<\/p>\n

Passaic Tech (19-12) took the next two bouts, a tech fall by Anderson Tavarez at 215 and a pin by heavyweight Jayden Paulino, but Southern grabbed its momentum back at 106, when Jonas Lusker turned Rayan Chenni with a half-nelson, then got on his chest to finish their bout in 38 seconds.<\/p>\n

Marco Barra answered for Passaic Tech with a technical fall at 113, but the Rams answered again, this time with Cade Collins\u2019 4-1 decision over Muhammad Abuhadba in an anticipated bout at 120.<\/p>\n

A pin by Southern\u2019s Anthony Mason (126) and a major decision by Aidan Malley (132) were the finishing touches.<\/p>\n

As juniors, Foote and Daddona have been through the state championship process a few times. <\/p>\n

Lusker, 144-pounder Anthony Molinaro, who opened the meet with a close decision, and 157-pounder Colton Gearl, who also gutted out a close win, are all freshmen. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s new to them.<\/p>\n

\u201cHonestly, I\u2019ll remind them it\u2019s just a match,\u201d Foote said. \u201cIt\u2019s like Monday, like Wednesday and like today, it\u2019s another dual. And no matter who we wrestle, we\u2019re just wrestling another guy. Not a name, not a school — you\u2019re just wrestling a guy in a singlet. I\u2019ll tell them, just wrestle who you\u2019re wrestling.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s how you become a champ. Wrestle until they run out of guys in singlets to put in front of you.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the goal we strive for every year, to win the state title,\u201d Southern coach Dan Roy said. \u201cWe work very hard at it and the kids are all on board. They\u2019re great kids, who are coachable and do what we ask them to do. It\u2019s a pleasure to coach these kids.\u201d<\/p>\n

Passaic Tech did the same thing for most of the season.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just proud of them coming out and doing their best,\u201d Passaic Tech coach Eyad Abdelaziz said. \u201cThey had a great season. A lot of these kids came out and stepped up. They won the counties, the league and the sectionals, before they faced Southern, the No. 1 public school in the state. I\u2019m proud of them.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese guys wrestled hard.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/section>\n

<\/a><\/strong> <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

… . I worked my takedowns.\u00e2\u0080\u009d Passaic Tech<\/span> (19-12) took the next … . Marco Barra answered for Passaic Tech<\/span> with a technical fall at … to coach these kids.\u00e2\u0080\u009d Passaic Tech<\/span> did the same thing for … and doing their best,\u00e2\u0080\u009d Passaic Tech<\/span> coach Eyad Abdelaziz said. \u00e2\u0080\u009cThey …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-96803","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","wpcat-1-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96803","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=96803"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96803\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=96803"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=96803"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=96803"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}