St. Joe’s Regional Downs #2 St. Peter’s Prep, Advances to Non-Public A Finals

by NJ Athletics February 13, 2025

coverage by: Antonio Morales

After some early-season losses at the Catholic Duals, St. Joe’s Regional got their spot back in the top of the rankings when it matters most, delivering a 39-21 upset over the No. 2-seeded Marauders in the Non-Public A semifinals. The Green Knights took control in the later matchups, flipping the script on a team that had dominated all season.

St. Peter’s Prep came out strong, quickly jumping to a 15-0 lead with dominant performances in the middle weights:

Joey Ruiz (150) started things off with a pin in 1:02 over Angelo Paino.
Max Nevlin (157) followed with another first-period pin (0:32) over Henry Pollio.
Josh Piparo (165) kept the momentum going with a 7-2 decision over Joe Paretti.

At that point, St. Joe’s Regional needed a spark, and they got just that from their upper weights. Team captain, Ryan Burton (175) got SJR on the board with a massive 24-second pin over Julian Contreras. St. Peter's Prep chose to bump Anthony Verdi up to 190 where he picked up the SV win over Kaleb Jackson.

As the Green Knights trailed by 12, former team member Anthony Harris returned to the Barn as the opposition and looked to get things going. In doing so, he picked up a pin over Carmen Marano cutting the lead to 6 and kicking off the rally. St. Joe’s used this momentum shift to rattle off seven straight wins, completely flipping the dual in their favor.

As the match moved into the lightweights, St. Joe’s depth took over:

Jojo Burke (106) worked a quick pin over Braedan Ruiz
Charles Esposito (113) and Robby Rodriguez head into overtime where Esposito walks away with the 4-1 victory
John Mcginty (120) catches Anthony Borrometi with a cradle to give the Knights a comfortable lead

Another marquee match up featured a battle between two State Champions in Caedyn Ricciardi and Adrian Dejesus, who recently returned from an early season neck injury. Caedyn took control of the match early on scoring the first two takedowns with ease. Dejesus battled back with one of his own and looked to tie it up toward the end. However Ricciardi was able to work in his own off of Dejesus attempts and walk away with an 11-4 victory.

With their biggest win of the season, St. Joe’s Regional is now one step away from a state title. After knocking off the No. 2 seed, the Green Knights have all the momentum heading into the Non-Public A Final, where they’ll look to complete their championship run against Delbarton. This is the third time in a row both these teams with challenge for the title.

We caught up with Harris and Burton after the match to hear more about their win. "It's amazing to be back.. I was prepared for this (the boos) being back, but we stayed focus and got the job done" states Harris. With Delbarton ahead Burton is focused on the work ahead "as the senior captain of this team, I want to be the guy that gets the guarentee win and get the energy up"