Jiampetti, Schwartz Join Teammates in Quarterfinals

Mike Jiampetti looked and wrestled like he was mad that he even had to compete Wednesday night in the first round of the Region 8 Wrestling Tournament at Egg Harbor Township High School.

The Absegami High School junior pinned Winslow Township's Robert McNeil in 37 seconds in the 119-pound opening round match to advance into Friday night's quarterfinals.

Braves heavyweight Steve Schwartz also advanced with a pin in his preliminary match.

The quarterfinals, which begin at 5:30 p.m., will feature Wednesday night’s winners and district champions, who received first-round byes. The top three finishers in each of the 14 weight classes advance into the NJSIAA State Wrestling Championships.

Jiampetti finished second at the District 32 Tournament, which wasn't good enough for him.

"It gave me a lot of motivation," Jiampetti said. "I had it in my head that I really wanted to win districts. I didn't, and it kind of got me mad, but it also gave me motivation to make it to the region finals, and get another shot at (Buena's Bill Ward)."

"He is focused," said Absegami coach Shawn Scannell. "That loss in the district finals is unsettling because he goes into the match believing he can win. He came up short, but he is pretty intense right now and looking for another crack at it."

Jiampetti went right after McNeil from the start, taking a 5-0 lead before finishing him off.

"I know what I'm going to do every match before I go out," Jiampetti explained. "I don't want to hesitate. I just wrestle the way I want to wrestle."

Schwartz flattened Deptford's Mike Hayes in two minutes, 52 seconds. The Braves senior took a 2-0 lead after the first period before catching Hayes.

"I'm trying to take it less serious, I'm trying to have more fun," Schwartz said. " I'm trying to calm down a little bit."

Scannell likes his heavyweight's mindset.

"That's a good philosophy," Scannell said. "When you’re too tight, you hold back, and if you hold back you regret things. You don't want to live with regrets. When you let fly, and let loose—we talk about it all the time—you have no regrets. That's a good strategy."

Like Jiampetti, Schwartz was upset about losing in the district finals.

"Losing last week was an eye opener," Schwartz said. "I don't want that to happen again."

Absegami's district champs Nate Ross (140), Chris Hahn (152), Alex Gong (171) and Kevin Stadtmueller (215) will wrestle Friday for the first time. Where they are seeded and who they will wrestle will be determined at Thursday's seeding meeting.