Colts Neck Wrestlers Claim First-Ever
District and Region Championships
At the annual District 22 tournament, Colts Neck wrestlers claimed 10
medals, with ve Cougars taking individual titles. In addition, the squad
captured the rst District team championship of the program’s history.
The squad then advanced to the Region 6 tourney where the wrestlers topped
a eld of 36 schools to claim their rst-ever Region championship.
Leading the way was Luke Rada who gained the third District crown of
his career. He clinched the title with a 26-11 match-stopping technical fall
over Middletown North’s Gabe Lubrano in the 182-pound nal.
The Regions are the next level of competition, where District champions
and top nishers compete. Last season at the Region 6 Tournament, the Harvard
bound senior was the rst Cougar in nine years to take a championship.
Rada duplicated that feat this year, turning back two-time
District 23 champion Jason Sherlock, of Point Pleasant
Beach, via a 12-6 decision in the bracket nale.
Rada completed his high school career nishing
second statewide. At the NJSIAA States at Atlantic
City, he gained four victories to reach the 182-pound
championship bout where he was ultimately stopped
by John Poznanski, of Colonia. He is only the second
Colts Neck wrestler to nish in the top three at the state
level; Tyler Fraley took second place at the states at 103
pounds in 2010.
Kenneth Koenig picked up silver at the Districts
last season and came back to take gold this year at 195
pounds. Koenig pinned Trenton Central’s Jayson Williams
at 2:49 in the seminal match to reach the nal
where he was awarded the title via a forfeit.
Koenig, like Rada, found more success when moving
onto the Region 6 tourney.He defeated District 23
champion Patrick O’Dwyer, of Long Branch, in the semi
by a close 3-1 decision to punch his ticket to the nal.
24 APRIL 2020 | TheJournalNJ.com
BY LES PIERCE
He went on to claim the title via a 2-0 decision
over 30-bout winner Aidan Meyler-McAuliff, of Red
Bank Catholic.
Koenig joins an elite group of Cougar wrestlers
who have won Region championships: Jimmy
Somma (2008), Tyler Fraley (2010) and Luke Rada
(2019 and 2020). He will wrestle for Stevens Institute
of Technology next year.
Logan Waller arrived at the tourney with a 35-1
record on the season. He continued his win streak
in the 138-pound title match and took the championship
with an 18-3 technical fall of Notre Dames’s
Mason Louderback. The junior is a repeat District
champion. He went on to earn silver at the Regions.
Thomas Lidondici recorded two of the fastest
pins on the tournament as he cruised through the
brackets en route to the 285-pound title. In the
quarternal, he pinned Middletown North’s John
Cutrtell in a mere 14 seconds. He required just 34
seconds to dispatch 24-bout winner Michael Mc-
Leod, of Notre Dame, in the semi.
Lidondici turned back Red Bank Catholic’s
Luke Rada – three time
District champion
Matthew Cody by a 7-2 decision in the nal. The senior is the rst heavyweight
District champion in the school’s history. He went on to earn bronze at the
Regions and will pursue football at Pace University in the fall.
The fth Cougar gold medal winner, Michael Lyristis, topped the
106-pound competition with consecutive rst-period pins. In the semi, he put
Red Bank Catholic’s Trevor Learn on his back at 1:32. He logged in just 1:25 of
mat time before pinning Colin, Oden of Middletown North, in the nal.
Garnering silver medals here were Nick Moldaver (132), Ford Zajac (152)
and Ray Santiago (220). Eli Novoselov (126) and Joseph Barsky (160) took
home bronze medals.
Kenneth Koenig – District 22 and
Region 6 champion
/TheJournalNJ.com