Colts Neck's Tyler Fraley. Photo courtesy of Mike Malinconico.
Freehold's Josh Davis. Photo courtesy of Mike Malinconico.
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This past weekend, three Shore Conference wrestlers placed in the top eight to cement their status as All-Americans at the Freestyle and Greco-Roman National Tournament in Fargo, North Dakota.
Colts Neck sophomore Tyler Fraley led the way by winning a freestyle national championship at 98 pounds in the junior division and also finishing as the runner up in the greco-roman competition, also at 98 pounds in the junior division. Freehold junior Josh Davis was the freestyle runner-up at 215 pounds in the cadet division and Toms River East senior Vinnie DelleFave placed fourth at 119 pounds in th junior division.
In capturing his national title, Fraley went 7-0 with two technical falls and two pins, including a fall in the final. In finishing second in the greco-roman tournament, Fraley went 5-1 with two technical falls. Fraley was also wrestling up a division from the cadet class to the junior class, which is comprised of mostly high school juniors and seniors.
"He had an amazing tournament, he was just putting it on people," said Mike Malinconico, who trains Fraley at Rhino Wrestling in Wall. "He has a greco-roman background and that really helped him, and I think the poise he showed was incredible. He was getting beat up in the finals and he headlocked the kid and pinned him."
Davis placed eighth last year and went 7-1 at 215 pounds to finish second and earn All-American status for the second straight year. He had a technical fall and two pins on his road to the final.
"The experience helped him, you have no idea," said Malinconico, who also trains Davis and was with him in Fargo. "He has so much work to do but the kid wrestled out of his shoes and was so much better because of his confidence."
DelleFave, the NJSIAA 119-pound state champion, went 7-3 and finished fourth. Also placing in the top eight was recent Howell graduate Cody Fobes, who was fourth at 130 pounds in the junior division of the greco-roman tournament.
Check the video player below for high school highlights from Davis, DelleFave and Fobes.
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