Seidenberg wins Region VI title at 171 pounds BY DOUG McKENZIE Correspondent Raritan High School junior Dan Seidenberg is on a mission; one that he hopes to wrap up on Sunday evening. PHOTOS BY CHRIS KELLY staff Above: Raritan's Chris VanFechtman tries to score a takedown against Long Branch's Scott Festejo during their 119-pound quarterfinal match at the NJSIAA Region VI tournament, held at the Ritacco Center, Toms River, Feb. 29. Below: Middletown North's Justin Persico muscles Toms River South's Mike Schumann for backpoints during their 171-pound bout. Shortly after the talented wrestler took second place in the state last year, he announced his intention to get back to the finals this season, and win the title that eluded him. And all he's done in the interim is win every match he's competed in, picking up a district and Region VI title along the way. The Region VI title, his first, came quite a bit easier than he had anticipated. After dominating St. John Vianney'sMike Kevlin, 16-1, in the quarterfinals, and looking even better in beating Brick Memorial's Mike Kiley, 15-0, in the semifinals, Seidenberg was ready and anxious to take on Point Boro's Skylar Engelken, who is also undefeated. Only it didn't happen. Engelken injured his left ankle with about 25 seconds left in his semifinal bout with Middletown North's Justin Persico, using every bit of determination he had to gut out the final seconds and hold on for a 9- 7 win. The win improved Engelken to 39-0 on the season, and guaranteed hima spot in this weekend's tournament inAtlantic City. With his spot locked up, Engelken's coaches and parents stopped him from wrestling in the final, ending the build-up for what had been one of the Region's most anticipated finals. For Seidenberg, it was simply another step on the road to the ultimate goal- the state championship. He will enter this weekend's tournament as one of the top seeds in the 171-pound bracket, as will Engleken, who was not credited with his first loss despite the forfeit on Saturday. You can bet both Seidenberg and Engelken, being the competitors they are, would love to meet at some point in Atlantic City this weekend. Seidenberg was not the only local grappler to advance.After his tough loss to Engelken in the semifinals, Persico came back to earn his trip toAC with an 8-0 win over Kiley in the consolation finals. It marked the end of an excellent tournament for the Lion senior, who opened up with a pin of Jackson's Nick Petro in the prequarterfinals. He followed that up with another pin, beating Toms River South's Mike Schumann in just 2:36. Then, after falling to Engelken, Persico beat Toms River East's Bryan Sternlieb via (what else?) a pin, in 2:20, setting up his consolation bout with Kiley. After winning a district title, CBA's Joe Favia entered the Region VI tournament looking to prove he belonged with the top 160-pounders in the state in Atlantic City. He then went out and beat SJV's Tom Kevlin, 2-0, in the quarterfinals, before falling to the state's best wrestler, Jackson Memorial's ScottWinston, 19-7, in the semifinals. Winston went on to win his third Region VI title to improve to 133-0 for his career. Favia, meanwhile, bounced back with an 8-4 win over Toms River North's Mark deRouvielle to earn another shot at SJV's Kevlin in the third-place consolation final, where he again beat the Lancer, 5-3. Kevlin responded to his first loss to Favia by beating Southern's Manny Jorge with a pin in 5:43 and Brick Memorial's Cody Oliviero with a pin in 2:46. Many of the Shore grapplers who qualified forAC will be preparing together this week with workouts at Howell High School. It should give them an advantage given the competitiveness and talent throughout the group. Although last year's incredible showing at the State Championships in Atlantic City will certainly be tough to duplicate, there will be another strong contingent of Shore Conference grapplers making the trip down the Garden State Parkway on Friday. Led by Winston and defending state champion Nick Menditto of Ocean Township, there will be 29 Shore wrestlers looking to earn the top spot on the podium this weekend. The seeding for this weekend's action was to be set on Monday, with wrestlers who finished first or second in the region tournaments getting seeded first, with second-place finishers in the opposite bracket of the champions. The third-place region qualifiers are then randomly placed in the bracket, opposite champions. While Winston and Menditto may be the only favorites out of the Shore to emerge victorious, last year's showing should lend caution to anyone taking one of our local grapplers lightly. There are a number of great wrestlers throughout the Shore whose records are not perfect simply because of the presence of greatness right in their own backyards. They are those wrestlers who, if given a favorable draw, could find themselves wrestling well into the weekend and becoming this year's carriers of the torch. The best wrestling in the state can be found right here in Central New Jersey.