As far back as Adrian DeJesus can remember, he’s always had a keen interest in superheroes. A fascination with the concept of good-natured and unremarkable individuals who transform into their alter-egos that save the world with special powers. The DePaul sophomore, who transferred from St. Peter's Prep over the summer, owns a collection of superhero comic books, and his bedroom is filled with all kinds of Lego sets, including those of the superhero genre. “I guess you could say I’m a bit of a nerd based on my hobbies and interests," DeJesus said. "But it’s good to have something else in your life. Too much of the same thing doesn’t give you the opportunity to see the rest of the world."
DeJesus is on the precipice of becoming a superhero in New Jersey high school wrestling lore. After winning a hallowed state title as a freshman, the plot thickened after he chose to chase his second title at a new school. Ahead of this weekend's Region 2 tournament, he has his sights set on becoming the eighth DePaul wrestler to claim state gold.
Early Success at St. Peter's Prep
Last March, DeJesus captured the 106-pound state crown at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City to become St. Peter's Prep's first champion in seven years. As the top seed, he only allowed four points in five matches. He finished the year with a 25-3 record and a district title. He was one of three freshmen to claim gold and just the eighth Hudson County based wrestler ever to accomplish the feat.
“It was an exciting run and very fulfilling, especially after coming up short of winning a region title the week before,” said DeJesus, who finished second in Region 4 last February. “I was able to clear my head going into the [state] tournament. Winning it all gave me a lot of confidence. Over the last year, I’ve been able to build on it.”
The State Championship Victory
Top-seeded Adrian DeJesus of St. Peter’s Prep outlasted fellow freshman Patrick O’Keefe of St. John Vianney, grinding out a narrow 3-2 decision to secure the 106-pound state title at the NJSIAA/Rothman Orthopaedics Wrestling Championships at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City. Third-seeded O’Keefe took control of the momentum early on in the bout, scoring a takedown in the first period. DeJesus was able to score a reversal to even things up at two apiece after one.
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DeJesus started the second period on bottom and recorded an early escape to take a 3-2 lead. The St. Peter’s Prep freshman nearly scored a takedown to end the period, but O’Keefe was able to resist the attempt. DeJesus would ride it out for the third period as O’Keefe nearly scored an escape or even a reversal in the clutch moments as desperation set in, ultimately unable to make something happen as the final seconds ticked off the clock.
While freshmen are oftentimes unable to secure a state championship in their first appearance under the bright lights of Boardwalk Hall, the moment was not too big for DeJesus, who admittedly was feeling some nerves as the house lights went down and the spotlight shined on him during wrestler introductions. “There was so many things going through my mind,” said DeJesus on his thoughts during the moments before the match. “The nerves, the excitement, literally getting flashbacks to all the hard times in the practice room, all the times I’ve succeeded. I was just thinking, ‘this is it. This is my time, all the hard work. This is why I did it.’”
Despite being a bit overwhelmed emotionally prior to the opening whistle, it didn’t take long for DeJesus to settle in. “The nerves went away the moment I stepped on the mat,” said DeJesus on the mental shift. “Over the years, the mat has become like a second home. I’ve spent so many years practicing, so much time, so many hours devoted to improving.”
The final pairing was a rematch of a bout from earlier this season at the Escape the Rock Tournament, with DeJesus, the No. 5 wrestler in the division in the country according to FloWrestling, eking out a 3-2 decision over O’Keefe in the consolation rounds. “I tried doing mostly everything that I did originally,” said DeJesus on the rematch. “I definitely adjusted to what he did in our match before, from bottom and from neutral, I definitely tried tweaking my own moves and adjusting, trying to do what I had to do to win.”
DeJesus’s path to the title was highlighted by some truly impressive performances. After a second-period tech fall in the opening round, the St. Peter’s Prep freshman earned a trio of one-sided decisions, beating Chase Quenault of Delbarton 4-0 before taking down Bergen Catholic’s Brian Melamud in the quarterfinals, 9-2. DeJesus then showed off his defensive prowess, earning a 2-0 semifinal victory over fourth-seeded Aidan Carmody of Livingston to set up the rematch in the championship round against O’Keefe.
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After losing to Malvern Prep (PA)’s Anthony Mutarelli at Escape the Rock in January, DeJesus went on a run of 17 consecutive victories, a streak that was ended by Logan Wadle in the Region 4 championship round, as the North Hunterdon junior grinded out a 7-6 decision. With the title win, DeJesus finishes his freshman campaign year with a 25-3 record and will look to kick off a four-time state-championship winning career, a feat most recently accomplished in 2016 by Bergen Catholic’s Nick Suriano and in 2013 by South Plainfield’s Anthony Ashnault, both of whom went on to win NCAA national championships in college.
“It would be a great honor to be mentioned among those two great wrestlers,” said DeJesus on having a shot at earning the illustrious four-peat. “So far, it hasn’t really gone through my mind that much. I tried my best to work hard to win this year to hopefully get my name out there, get some colleges looking at me -- to hopefully pave a better path for my future, create a better future for myself.”
When asked whether he had any big plans to celebrate the state title victory, DeJesus’s attitude was representative of his hard-working, no-nonsense attitude on the mat and in training. “Right now, my plan is to stay here and support some of my club teammates that are in the finals,” said DeJesus. “One of those wrestlers being (132-pound finalist) Tyler Vazquez (of Delbarton). I’ve trained with him for years and I know how hard we’ve worked, so I’m really looking forward to watching him wrestle. After that, I’m just planning on going out with my family, eat a nice dinner, relax and hopefully recover.”
DeJesus clearly has his energy intensely focused on improving as a wrestler. After putting together a hard-fought gold-medal performance and with his focus seemingly on nothing besides getting even better on the mat, the St.
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Transfer to DePaul
In the summer, DeJesus decided to transfer to Wayne-based DePaul after consulting with his family. The daily commute to Jersey City, which involved taking a train, coupled with the lack of time needed to dedicate to his studies and family, was a driving factor behind his decision. “It was challenging and there was a lot of sacrifice involved for my family,” DeJesus said. “St. Peter’s is a great school and I can’t say enough good things about the school, coaches, and teammates. But I was getting home really late at night and there wasn’t much time to eat and do homework. I was barely getting sleep.”
DeJesus has hit the ground running since transferring to DePaul, just a 25-minute commute from his home in Parsippany. After sitting out the first 30 days of the season due to transfer rules, he claimed his first Passaic County title last month at his new weight of 120 pounds, and last weekend captured his second straight district title. "Adrian is a jumpstart to this program," said coach AJ Mott, who won four Passaic County titles at DePaul and is now in his second tenure as the Spartans' coach. "We've taken a hit as a program in recent years. To have a high-level wrestler and competitor like Adrian in our workout room and around the team, has been a great experience. He makes everyone around him better."
Another Transfer: St. Joseph (Montvale)
Adrian DeJesus is on the move again. The two-time New Jersey state medalist, who won a 2022 state title for St. Peter's Prep and placed third in 2023 for DePaul, is in the process of transferring to St. Joseph (Montvale) for the upcoming school year, according to a source close to the program. Monday will be the first day of classes at the school.
DeJesus, a Parsippany resident, is expected to make an immediate impact on the Green Knights' already-star-studded lineup. Last year, the Montvale parochial school captured the Non-Public A state title, stunning previous No. 1 Delbarton in the championship final to finish with a 17-2 record and the state’s No. 1 ranking. Last winter, DeJesus placed third in the state at 120 pounds and turned in a 30-2 record. He reached the state semifinals before dropping a 18-5 major decision to eventual two-time state champion Anthony Knox (St. John Vianney). DeJesus also captured a Passaic County title and his second straight district crown.
Prior to transferring to DePaul, DeJesus became St. Peter's Prep's first state champion in seven years when he defeated Patrick O'Keefe (St. John Vianney), 3-2, in the 106-pound final as a freshman. The top-seeded DeJesus dominated the field in Boardwalk Hall by allowing only four points in five matches. He finished the 2022 season with a 25-3 record and a district title in his name.
St. Joseph is expected to return 10 of 14 starters this winter, already positioning the Green Knights as an early contender to repeat in Non-Public A. DeJesus will fit somewhere in the middle of the lineup.
The Green Knights produced two individual state champions last March in Atlantic City: three-time winner Jimmy Mullen (285 pounds) and first-time champ Michael Dellagatta (190 pounds). Cory Cooperman sprung out of his seat before his star wrestler even hit the mat.
The Terrifying Injury at Beast of the East
Adrian DeJesus was hoisted high by Myles Grossman of Gettysburg (PA) early in the first period of his third-round bout at the Beast of the East Tournament in Delaware in December. It was a terrifying moment for the two-time state champion. He was rarely - if ever - in a position like that. And it only amplified when he came crashing down to the mat on his head.
“Oh my God, did I just get paralyzed?” DeJesus asked himself. “It was a moment of shock. I was terrified of what the outcome would be. Will I be able to walk? Was my career over? Thankfully, I felt no tingling throughout my body. I was able to get up and walk off the mat.”
Being able to walk was the first hurdle. DeJesus' attention then turned to the outlook of his season. Was he going to wrestle again? Would he get the chance to compete for a third state title? Would he even reach the podium in Atlantic City if he made it back?
“I’ve been coaching for a long time and that’s the scariest injury I’ve ever seen,” Cooperman, St. Joseph’s assistant coach, said. “It put things into perspective for me as a father. Normally, you’d be landing on the back of your head or on your back [on that kind of mat return]. He landed on the top of his head. It was one of those situations where I wasn’t even thinking about wrestling. I was just hoping he could walk again.”
DeJesus' dad, Jose, took Adrian to a local hospital near the University of Delaware where they told him they were unable to treat him because they didn’t have an MRI machine. He then drove Adrian up to Hackensack University Medical Center where his mom, Lorena, works as a nurse. The 138-pounder spent three nights there for fractured C5 and C6 vertebrae. The diagnosis recommended a check-up following six weeks of rest. His season was over, doctors said.
“I had six weeks with the collar and I was confined to doing almost nothing,” he said. “My workouts were walks. I couldn’t weight lift or do my normal cardio. It killed me on the inside. You never know how much you miss something until it’s ripped away from you. I always complain about having 2-3 workouts per day every day. I would complain about being tired and not wanting to go to practice. When I got put in that collar, I missed it. I needed to do something.”
When the six weeks were up, he felt healthy enough to wrestle, and he persuaded doctors to let him on the mat. “I didn’t want to go out like that,” DeJesus said. “I’m a fighter. My dad has taught me so many life lessons and teachings about how strong I am. I haven’t gotten an injury this bad, but I’ve battled through certain injuries every year. I knew I would get past it.”
The Comeback and Final Season
Getting past the injury wasn’t easy for the Parsippany native. He returned just before the end of the regular season and picked up a pair of second-period pins against Tenafly and Northern Highlands. Then came the first day of the Non-Public A Tournament.
DeJesus defeated Seton Hall Prep’s Tyler Yildiz by 12-6 decision, and then later in the day, Christian Brothers state medalist Bobby Duffy wrestled up a weight at 138 and put DeJesus in a cradle for the first time in his entire life. The Cornell commit couldn’t get out of it. The ref slapped the mat, Duffy roared in excitement, and even though St. Joseph had dominated the match and avenged a previous loss to the Colts, that was the story of the night. DeJesus, for the first time since a loss to four-time state champion Anthony Knox in the 2023 state semifinals, looked human.
His road only got more challenging. Then came matchups later in the Non-Public A postseason with two-time state champion Caedyn Ricciardi of St. Peter’s Prep and two-time state medalist Chase Quenault of Delbarton. DeJesus lost both of them by lopsided scores.
Ricciardi took it to him in an 11-4 decision, and he battled with Quenault on the big stage at Rutgers at the team state championships before Quenault took him down and turned him in the third period to win 9-2. DeJesus had lost three times in a row. The dominant wrestler that everyone had grown accustomed to seemed gone.
“You could just see something was not right,” St. Joseph head coach Tom Farinaro said. “He was not 100 percent. He wasn’t the Adrian he was before the injury, but he wanted to come back for a number of reasons. He wanted to get us through the team sectionals. He wanted to help the team win a title.
“I was wrestling with a lot of pain,” DeJesus added. “Even when I got that collar off, I knew I wasn’t even close to 100 percent. When I came back, I was maybe at 50 percent. I was very rusty and everyone was at their midseason conditioning. I wasn’t even close to that. I tried doing what I could and my body wasn’t fully cooperating.”
DeJesus found himself compensating for his neck injury with the rest of his upper body and in the bout against Quenault, an attempt at a first-period throw strained his trapezius muscle, sprained his collarbone, and made him lose feeling in his left arm. He writhed in pain after the bout and laid on the mat for several minutes. When he got to his feet, the fans on hand in Piscataway who knew what he had dealt with all season gave him a round of applause.
DeJesus wore the collar again on the bench during the rest of the match. His teammates danced all over Jersey Mike’s Arena with the Non-Public A championship trophy and he lagged behind with tears in his eyes. His season was back in jeopardy.
“My heart is broken for him,” an emotional Farinaro said following St. Joseph’s championship win. “I have a lot of love for that kid.
“Adrian has the heart of a warrior and I will forever be moved by what he did,” teammate and two-time state champion Ryan Burton added. “It was one of the most unselfish things I have ever witnessed. He put the team first in every aspect and that’s what the brotherhood is all about. He was putting everything on the line physically for his brothers and it really touched us as a team. To see what this meant to him made it easy for everyone else to do their part.”
DeJesus responded well in practice in the following days and Farinaro told NJ Advance Media that he would be a “game-time decision” ahead of the District 5 Tournament at Passaic Valley.
DeJesus took the mat in Little Falls and won three times in matches that didn’t make it the full six minutes. At the Region 2 Tournament at Mount Olive a week later, DeJesus defeated Fair Lawn’s Jayden Bonaccorso by fall (1:33), Mount Olive’s Brandon Beres by 4-0 decision and then Immaculata’s Landan Riddell by 10-1 major decision.
The win over Riddell was the 100th of his career. Experiencing that moment was one of the many reasons why he wanted to wrestle again. “During that weekend, I felt great,” DeJesus said. “I was getting even closer to 100 percent. My conditioning was better. I went for that last push because it was my last year, I wanted to get 100 wins, and I knew the fight I had in me.”
Next stop: Atlantic City and an eye on a third state championship. He defeated Westfield’s Yehia Abdelrahman by fall (2:43) and then beat Beres by an even wider margin than he did the week prior (7-0). In the quarterfinals, he overwhelmed state-ranked Jackson Liberty junior Armani McCann by 12-1 major decision, but looming in the semifinals was Ricciardi again.
The Navy commit beat DeJesus for the second time, the latest being a 6-1 decision that he led only 1-0 until late in the second period. “I gave it my all in that one,” DeJesus said of his loss in the state semifinals. “I tried to get back in the match, but he was keeping a strong defense. Ricciardi is an amazing wrestler and I have a lot of respect for him. He was just a better wrestler that day. I believe that we are both at the same level.”
DeJesus took the mat on Saturday for one last time at Boardwalk Hall and got put to his back by Lower Cape May three-time state medalist Chase Hansen in the consolation semifinals. He hurt his shoulder again during that bout and his trainer, his parents, and SJR’s coaching staff recommended he forfeited the fifth-place match.
He wasn’t finishing his career like that. Like he did in late-January, DeJesus popped some Advil, spread Biofreeze on his shoulder, put on two braces, and took the mat on his own terms one last time. He ended his high school career with one more win - a 7-0 decision over Southern senior Scottie Sari.
DeJesus then jogged over to the loading dock where he shared hugs with several people, including his dad, and Farinaro. The hug with his dad lasted the longest of all. The two cried and took a moment to consider all they had been through this winter. The embrace with Farinaro was important too, because for once in his high school career, Farinaro made DeJesus feel at home.
Reflections on Transfers and Legacy
DeJesus spent his freshman season at St. Peter’s Prep, where he won his first state championship, and then transferred to nearby DePaul for an easy commute and improved sleep schedule. He then went to St. Joseph when he was a junior and he fell in love with the Bergen County school.
Kids who transfer are often misunderstood, and that’s where DeJesus found himself. All he was looking for was the right fit. He found it in Montvale. “St. Peter’s was an amazing program, but it was too far for me,” DeJesus said. “I was always in high honors classes because my parents are always on top of me with my grades. I was getting 2-3 hours of sleep per night. It was taxing on me physically, mentally and emotionally. DePaul promised they would build a program around me, but things unfortunately didn’t work out that way. For my junior year, I was going to go to Parsippany, but I checked out St. Joe’s and from the first practice, I knew it was the right place for me.”
DeJesus showed how much he loved St. Joe’s by wrestling through injury his entire senior season. He made another sacrifice before the year by choosing not to wrestle off with senior 132-pounder Vinny Paino for the better of the team.