In a nutshell, the Roadrunner Wrestling team took quite a few steps forward during the 2025-2026 season. Never was this more evident when they competed in Saturday's NJCAA Gulf Atlantic District Championships at Lackawanna College.
And here's how it all worked out for the upstart Roadruuner team coached by Paul Toppin:
* The squad traveled to the tournament with sevem wrestlers, compared with just three last season, and emerged with four NJCAA DIII National Championship qualifiers -- Haji Saccoh (125 pounds, wild card), Chuck Perrin (149, wild card), Quinn Weismer (174, automatic berth), and Max Adelizzi (194, automatic berth).
* All seven RCSJ wrestlers won at least one match, with two additional Runners finishing as high as sixth place overall.
* Coach Toppin's team finished seventh overall among 11 teams and fifth among the Region 19 teams. Last season they did not qualify for the team scoring competition.
"We're excited about our finish in the Districts, but we also know we were just a whisker away from having six wrestlers qualify for Nationals instead of four,"
said Toppin. "And the four wrestlers who did qualify have made so much progress, and we're confident they will represent RCSJ and Region 19 well at Nationals.
The NJCAA DIII Wrestling Championships will be held in three weeks, March 6-7 in Council Bluffs, IA. RCSJ's representatives to the Nationals have all shown significant progress in recent weeks.
Adelizzi and Weismer in particular turned in solid tournament showings. Adelizzi overcame recent ankle injuries to place third overall at 184 pounds while Weismer continued his steady season-long improvement with a third place finish.
"Max (Adelizzi) and Quinn (Weismer) earned the automatic bids, and we expect them to be competitive in the National tournament," commented Toppin.
At 125 pounds, Saccoh finished sixth place overall but earned a wild card bid since he wrestled well in a tough bracket. The top five wrestlers in each weight class earn automatic berths to Nationals, with sixth place finishers entering a pool of potential wrestlers who are chosen for wild card berths.
"Haji has refined his style quite a bit -- and he's starting to see positive results," said Toppin. "He deserved to receive the wild card bid to Nationals."
Also receiving a wild card bid was Perrin at 149 pounds. Perrin was forced to drop out of the tournament after suffering a minor injury in a semifinal bout. He finished in sixth place, and the tournament coaches awarded him the wild card bid.
"Chuck's injury was minor, but we thought it would be better to pull him and not aggravate the injury," said Toppin. "We also gambled with the hopes he would receive a wild card bid."
In the team race, the Runners finished seventh overall and fifth among the Region 19 teams. Here are the final team standings:
1st – Garrett College (160) ***Gulf Atlantic District Champion***
2nd – Andrew College (155)
3rd – Lackawanna College (141.5) ***Region XIX Champion***
4th – Camden County (111)
5th – Union College (86.5)
6th – Bergen CC (73)
7th – RCSJ Gloucester (71.5)
8th – Thaddeus Stevens (47)
9th – Sussex County CC (45)
10th – Northampton CC (40)
11th – Penn Highlands CC (28)
Tournament Preview
Roadrunner Wrestling set for big weekend in Gulf Atlantic District Championships at Lackawanna College on Saturday, Feb. 14. Top performers will qualify for NJCAA National Championships!
Here is the tentative Roadrunner lineup once the actions kicks off at 10 am, at Lackawanna.
125 pounds -- Haji Saccoh
141 pounds -- Stephen Dmytryk
149 pounds -- Charles Perrin
165 pounds --Aidan Rhea
174 pounds -- Quinn Weismer
184 pounds -- Max Adelizzi
197 pounds -- Jordan Payne
Heavyweight-- Joseph Piazza
Click here to follow tournament results through weekend
NJCAA Wrestling Gulf Atlantic District Championships 2026 https://www.youtube.com/live/8tS0m-zlwIk?si=qFbcTSxhQwQuUuoV via @YouTube