Absegami's Yanni Patsaros Advances, Roman Rudisill Falls at Region 8 Tournament

Absegami High School freshman Yanni Patsaros will join his teammate in the quarterfinal round of the Region 8 wrestling tournament at Egg Harbor Township following his win in the opening round Wednesday night, Feb. 27.

Patsaros, the No. 5 seed in the 113 pound weight class, advanced with an opening round pinfall victory over Williamstown freshman Jonathan Figueroa, according to wrestlingtrack.com. Patsaros scored the win in 34 seconds to improve to 23-13. Figueroa, the 12th seed, completed the season 16-23.

Up next for Patsaros is No. 4 seed Luis Rivera, of Buena. Rivera (22-10) received a first-round bye.

Others advancing in Patsaros’ bracket included:

* No. 8 Zach Hicks (27-9, Lower Cape May), who defeated Dustin Zuzulock (19-15, West Deptford), 9-5. Hicks will face top-seeded John Amato (30-2, Timber Creek) on Friday night;

* No. 6 Tom Carney (24-10, Delsea), who pinned Dillon Prendergast (19-14, Highland) to move on to a Friday night meeting with No. 3 Steven Bergamo (14-2, Vineland); and

* No. 7 Matt Sparks (36-3, Gateway/Woodbury), who defeated No. 10 Will Weber (22-12, Pennsville), 3-1, to set up a Friday night matchup with No. 2 Jodeci Robinson (27-1, Clayton/Glassboro).

Patsaros joins Jack Willette (24-7) the No. 3 seed who won the District 32 145-pound championship. Willette received a bye in the first round, and will face No. 6 Adrian Feliciano (28-5, Pennsville), a 10-8 winner over No. 11 Dominick Demarco (13-11, Delsea).

Undefeated John Vanbrill (34-0, Clearview) is the top seed in the bracket, and faces Washington Township’s Kevin Keppler (24-10) on Friday night. Keppler defeated No. 9 Ty Altieri (15-9, Lower Cape May), 6-4, on Wednesday night.

Woodstown’s Patrick McCurdy (35-1, Woodstown) is the No. 2 seed, and will face No. 10 Zach Richard (11-5, Paulsboro), who upset No. 7 Bill Milward (28-7, Clayton/Glassboro), 7-2, on Wednesday night.

Rounding out that bracket is No. 4 seed Joe Rodano (27-3. Highland) vs. No. 5 Brandon Virgilio (20-6, Timber Creek). Both received first-round byes.

Junior Roman Rudisill’s season came to an end Wednesday night following his loss to No. 6 Ray Ellis, of Holy Spirit. Ellis pinned Rudisill in 55 seconds. Rudisill finished the season with a record of 21-14.