Washington

Washington Township knocks off No. 3 Kingsway, but Minutemen aren’t satisfied

Published

2 years ago

January 10, 2024

Washington Township knocks off No. 3 Kingsway, but Minutemen aren’t satisfied

WASHINGTON TWP. – Knocking off the No. 3-ranked team in South Jersey would have sent shockwaves through the stands for the Washington Township High School wrestling team in most years.

Not Wednesday.

Instead, the Minutemen kept their celebration pretty low key for the achievement. And head coach Eric Ring certainly noticed.

“I was pretty excited how the guys reacted afterwards, they didn’t act like they had just won the Super Bowl,” Ring said. “They know there’s more to it now. It’s a fun dual meet, but as we saw last year, things can change come playoff time.”

More: Two new teams wrestle their way into the latest South Jersey Mean 15 rankings for Jan. 9

Sixth-ranked Washington Township won seven bouts, including a pair of pins and two more with one-point decisions, en route to a 31-27 victory over previously unbeaten Kingsway in a Tri-County Conference Royal Division meet.

If the scenario sounds familiar to the Minutemen, it’s because they’ve traveled the same territory before. Washington Township delivered a 38-32 statement win over Kingsway last winter, but suffered a 39-22 setback against Kingsway in the South Jersey Group 5 playoffs.

Sophomore Colton Hagerty said Wednesday’s victory felt good, but there’re a bigger goal in a few weeks.

“There’s more things we have to take care of this year,” Hagerty said. “We have more plans for the postseason. We will likely have to beat them again. We want to make it to (defending sectional champion) Southern this year.”

What it means

There’s a very good possibility that the two squads meet again when the team tournament begins on Feb. 5.

Ring knows things can change over the course of four weeks, but he’s thinks the Minutemen (5-0) will be focused on the challenge ahead.

“We’re a different team this year,” Ring said. “We were very senior-driven last year. But from the start of this season to now, we’ve definitely made some gains and that’s the plan, just to get better every day.

“I really liked our effort (Wednesday). We won some of those 50-50 situations when it comes down to grit.”

Kingsway (5-1) appeared to take the loss in stride. The Dragons know better days are ahead.

“We’re disappointed, we don’t like losing this one, but knowing there’s a high likelihood that we’ll see them again, it takes a little of the sting out of the loss,” Kingsway head coach Mike Barikian said.

Kingsway will certainly be a different team in a few weeks.

The Dragons are expected to welcome back senior Luke Van Brill at this weekend’s Buc Classic. A district champ and fifth-place finisher at Region 8 last year, Van Brill had to sit 30 days following his transfer back to Kingsway. He played football during the fall at Roman Catholic in Philadelphia.

Senior Nathan Taylor is working his way back from an ACL injury. The three-time district and three-time region champion should be in the lineup when the Dragons line up against Delsea on Jan. 24.

“Nate’s in the room Nate working out and looks pretty good right now,” Barikian said.

Meet notes

Township’s Michael Horn delivered a clutch pin at 138, putting the Minutemen in prime position to lock up the meet.

Senior Jackson Hoopes rolled his right ankle during his bout at 150, but fought through the injury for a 6-5 decision over Sean Kirwin to clinch the win for the Minutemen.

Township freshman Gabe Palaganas won for the third time in his last four bouts with a 6-3 decision at 190 while Kingsway freshman Aston Ford scored a late takedown at 126 for a victory.

Kingsway’s Joe Leone, who weighed in at 175, bumped all the way up to 215 and earned an impressive 11-5 decision. The junior was down 4-0 after the first period before battling back.

The Results

Washington Township 31, Kingsway 27

165: Ben Dryden, K, p. Jacob Gledhill, 4:26; 175: Cole DeNick, K, tech. fall Piotr Bochenski, 19-4, 5:46; 190: Gabe Palaganas, WT, d. Cristian Davis, 6-3; 215: Joe Leone, K, d. Andrew Osborn, 11-5; 285: Mitchell Lando, WT, d. John McEntee, 2-1; 106: Dylan Hetzel, WT, forfeit; 113: Colton Hagerty, WT, md. Jason Meola, 14-3; 120: Christian Hoopes, WT, p. Tyler Capra, 4:35; 126: Ashton Ford, K, d. Mark Simmons, 6-4; 132: Ramon Alfonso Arroyo, md. Aiden Hardy, 12-1; 138: Michael Horn, WT, p. Nicholas Markizon, 3:24; 144: Tommy DiPietro, K, md. Chaz Melton, 10-0; 150: Jackson Hoopes, WT, d. Sean Kirwin, 6-5; 157: Chase Helder, K, d. Raymond McFall, 7-3.

Tom McGurk is a regional sports reporter for the Courier-Post, The Daily Journal and Burlington County Times, covering South Jersey sports for over 30 years. If you have a sports story that needs to be told, contact him at (856) 486-2420 or email tmcgurk@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @McGurkSports. Help support local journalism with a digital subscription.

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Washington

Holdout Democrats leave WA House support for income tax in doubt

Published

2 hours ago

March 5, 2026

Press Room

Holdout Democrats leave WA House support for income tax in doubt

The votes weren’t there yet late Wednesday for Democrats’ income tax bill in the Washington state House.Democratic members are withholding support for the proposed income tax on millionaires, saying they want to see if a new version of the controversial legislation, possibly due out Thursday, will satisfy their concerns.

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Washington

Bill strengthening Washington child sex abuse material laws focuses on consciousness, AI

Published

15 hours ago

March 4, 2026

Press Room

Bill strengthening Washington child sex abuse material laws focuses on consciousness, AI

SEATTLE — A bill aimed at tightening Washington’s laws on child sex abuse material is headed to Gov. Bob Ferguson’s desk after clearing the Legislature unanimously.

King County Prosecuting Attorney Leesa Manion said 2ESSB 5105 passed the House unanimously Tuesday night after the Senate unanimously approved it on Jan. 28, 2026.

SEE ALSO | Washington exempts clergy from reporting abuse learned in confession after settlement

Manion called the measure one of her public safety legislative priorities.

“People who peddle in the misery of sexually abused children must be held accountable,” Manion said. “I am grateful for the work of Senior Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Laura Harmon – both in prosecuting these cases and advocating for these legal fixes – and Senators Tina Orwall and Manka Dhingra for championing this legislation.”

Manion’s office said the current state law has gaps that can prevent prosecutors from holding offenders accountable in some cases.

Under current law, prosecutors cannot charge defendants for creating images of child sex abuse unless the child victim was conscious or knew they were being recorded.

The office also said that possessing sexually explicit fabricated (AI) images of non-identifiable minors is not considered child sex abuse material under Washington law.

The bill would update RCW 9.68A.040 to remove the requirement that a child be aware of an abusive recording. It would also update the definition of child sex abuse material to include fabricated (AI) images of non-identifiable minors.

The legislation would also increase the statute of limitations to 10 years for depiction crimes. Manion’s office said the current statute of limitations is three years, and argued that because the images can remain online indefinitely, victims can be re-traumatized for decades.

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Washington

Utah Starts Road Trip with Win in Washington | Utah Mammoth

Published

1 day ago

March 4, 2026

Press Room

Utah Starts Road Trip with Win in Washington | Utah Mammoth

Both of Utah’s power play units scored in the win. Sergachev scored his 10^th goal of the season on the power play 13 and a half minutes into the first period. Peterka scored his 21^st of the season, on the man-advantage, in the final two minutes of the middle frame.

Peterka has three power play goals in the 2025-26 campaign while Sergachev has matched a career-high with five power play goals this season. Overall, Utah’s power play has scored six goals in the last six games. That output matches the Mammoth’s total from their previous 18 games (per Mammoth PR). Tourigny discussed what’s changed with the team’s performance in recent games.

“(The) puck gets in,” Tourigny laughed. “But, no, I think there’s a number of things. The most important thing is we’re aggressive. We’re attacking.

“…If you look at our goal, the first one, it’s a direct play to the net and then on the loose puck recovery we take a shot with traffic and we score,” Tourigny continued. “On the second one, it’s a slot pass, a great shot by (Peterka). I think we had that attack mindset.”

Guenther, who is on the Mammoth’s top power play unit, agreed with Tourigny’s assessment of attacking more.

“I think just attacking, less predictable,” Guenther explained. “Shooting it more, I think (it is) just work really. Trying to play like a 5-on-5 mindset but on the (power play).”

The Mammoth made several line changes for tonight’s game and the new lines started to find chemistry, despite it being the first game with these changes.

“I like them,” Tourigny said of the changes. “Obviously (Guenther) got a goal, but Cooley’s line was really good. I was looking at the expected goals at the end, I think they were above 90%. So that’s pretty, pretty awesome. Then I think (Barrett Hayton’s) line worked really hard. They’re heavy on pucks and they play well defensively. I did like (Michael Carcone’s) line in (the) previous three games, and I did like them again tonight.”

When Washington pushed back with a power play goal and multiple close chances in the third period, Utah fought hard against the momentum swing to secure the win.

“I thought we did a pretty good job,” Keller explained. “Weathering the storm as much as we could. They’re a great veteran team. They made it hard on us. They pressured us all over the ice, but I was proud of the way we fought there towards the end.”

Utah’s bench was positive and calm throughout the game, especially late in the third. This helped the Mammoth through the momentum swings. Keller, who had two assists in the win, was one of the key voices for the Mammoth.

“He’s one of the guys who was really positive on the bench,” Tourigny explained. “(All the players) were but (Keller) was really vocal. He was really good energy on the bench. So that was really good.”

Additional Notes from Tonight (per Mammoth PR)

Guenther had two points in the win (1G, 1A) and the forward has earned a team-high nine points (5G, 4A) through six road games in 2026. He has become the third Mammoth skater to reach the 50-point mark this season (28G, 23A) and established a new career-high in goals.

Sergachev has 18 power play points this season (5G, 13A) and is tied with Keller for the team lead this season.

Keller has recorded multiple primary assists in a game for the seventh time this season and the 27^th time in his NHL career. He has now tallied multiple points in four of his last six contests (2G, 8A), with three multi-assist outings over that span.

The Mammoth continue their five-game road trip in Philadelphia on Thursday night. Game time is 5 p.m. MT and available to watch on Mammoth+ and Utah16.

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