Six New Jersey wrestlers reached the semifinals, but only Jayden James of Delbarton came away with a title at the Doc Buchanan Invitational on Saturday night at Clovis West High in Fresno, Calif.
James was the champion at 168 pounds, while Delbarton teammate Cameron Sontz (123) lost in the finals of the 60-team, two-day tournament.
Four Garden State wrestlers lost in the semifinals earlier in the day: Nick Shwartz (153) and C.J. Betz (193) of Delbarton, and St. Peter’s Prep’s Josh Piparo (168) and Sal Borrometi (135).
The top-seeded James, a Penn State commit who is ranked No. 1 nationally at 165, earned his second major title of the season, to go with first-place finish at the Walsh Ironman in Ohio in early December.
The undefeated senior, who was the NJ.com Wrestler of the Year last season, dominated the final with his third straight tech fall, an 18-2 victory in 4:22 over unseeded Slava Shahbayzan of Birmingham (CA).
In the semifinals, James won by tech fall, 20-5, over fourth-seeded James Curoso, a sophomore from Clovis.
Shahbayzan reached the final when second-seeded Josh Piparo of St. Peter’s Prep was forced to forfeit in the semifinals.
Sontz, seeded second, was pinned in 5:02 in the title match by top-seeded Rocklin Zinkin of Buchanan (CA), an Oklahoma State commit.
Sontz reached the final with an 11-0 major decision over sixth-seeded Darlon Johson, a sophomore from West Linn (Utah).
In other semifinal bouts:
Schwartz, seeded fifth, dropped a 6-2 decision to top-seeded Joe Bachman of Faith Christian (PA).
Betz, who was the top seed, dropped a 1-0 decision to fifth-seeded Ladd Holman of Juab (Utah).
The fifth-seeded Borrometi was pinned by top seed Ashton Besmer of Buchanan in 5:08.
