District thoughts

Some thoughts about the district tournament and the regions ahead.

Nice job by Middlesex at District 12 where South Plainfield overshadowed the field by winning for the 23rd straight time.

Middlesex had winners in Joe Bozzomo (189) and Mike Dessino (152) and six Region 3 qualifiers in all. The Blue Jays were also the reason South Plainfield won't be sending 14 to the regions. Middlesex' Mike Gattuso beat Nick Pauls in the 125-pound consolation final 4-2.

Plainfield senior Dan Wilson will be the only Cardinal at Region 3. Wilson took third at 189 at District 12. He wrestled at Easton Area High last year, but transferred back to New Jersey and to Plainfield before the school year. Dan's brother Chris is the starting 215-pounder at Easton.

Scotch Plains-Fanwood's Joe Blaes, the fifth seed at 285 at District 11, wound up winning the title. Regular 285-pounder Johnny Loomis was out with a sprained ankle.

Senior 125-pounder Kris Sigafoos, Delaware Valley's first four-time District 17 champion, is considering Penn and Duke.

Couple possible interesting finals at Region 3 -- South Plainfield's Billy Ashnault against Delbarton's Trevor Melde at 135 and the Tigers' Mike Jakubik and Scotch Plains-Fanwood's Pat Mineo at 145. Melde was second in the state last year at 130. Ashnault was second in the state two years ago at 112 to Rahway's Ryan Wilson.

Nice job by District 18 and 17 for finishing quickly. The District 17 finals actually started at 2:40 -- 20 minutes earlier than the scheduled 3 p.m. start. Nobody complained.