(a whole bunch) of Region 5 leftovers (your name might be here!)

So many stories happen at region tournaments, it's hard to fit them into one story Sunday, so here's some leftovers...

Franklin freshman 135-pounder Colin Hewitt is not only winning championships, but he's also notching outstanding wrestler awards as he goes along. He won the District 18 title and OW by beating Bound Brook's Nestor Taffur 13-2 last week, then he won the Region 5 title with a 6-2 win over Delaware Valley's Rich Gebert. Hewitt doesn't look like a wrestler. He's tall and rangy. He looks more like a basketball player, but the kid is solid and smart wrestler. He also has a sense of humor.

"Some of the kids (he has wrestled) look at me, laugh at me and then I just go out and kill em,'' said Hewitt, who estimates that he has wrestled 200 bouts in a season.

Hewitt went through a very difficult weight class. Gebert was a third-place finisher last year. Taffur rebounded to place third by beating Notre Dame's Dave Decamp, who came into the tournament with a 37-0 record and a second seed. DeCamp was also the District 17 Outstanding Wrestler. Taffur pinned Greater Middlesex Conference champ Dan Keiser to place third.

Montgomery's Erik Biago (103) and Tom Reynolds (119) became the Cougars first-ever state tournament qualifiers in back-to-back bouts on the same mat. Both were third. Biago hit a switch with 30 seconds left in regulation to beat Hunterdon Central sophomore Spencer Parcel 6-4. Reynolds, the sixth seed, beat Tony Fusco, the third-seed from North Hunterdon, to take third. Reynolds won 7-3 and also beat Fusco 4-2 in a quarterfinal round match.

Ridge senior 171-pounder John Lorio hit two milestones Saturday afternoon. By taking third, he became the first Red Devil to qualify for the state tournament since 1996 when Bruce Kim and Hosh Ishikawa did it. He also won his 37th bout of the season, which is a Red Devil record. He broke the former record of 36 set by two-time state champion John Welch.
Lorio scored a takedown 27 seconds into sudden death to beat North Hunterdon's Dan Shust to place third.

Mercer County schools had seven champions in the District 17 Tournament a week ago Saturday. Region 5 was an entirely different story. Hopewell Valley's 189-pounder George Saliba was the only Mercer County wrestler to place, taking third. Amazing.