There were encouraging showings for Colonial Valley Conference wrestlers in several tournaments that wrapped up on Saturday night. Leading the way were Hightstown and Notre Dame, which both came in second in the team standings at their respective tournaments. As the scheduling luck would have it, both the Rams and Irish will square off in a key CVC Colonial Division match on Monday afternoon in a quad meet at Ewing that also includes Robbinsville. KEARNY TOURNAMENT Notre Dame was second in the15-team tournament with 237 points, not far behind host Kearny’s 255. Finishing first on what appears to be an improved Notre Dame squad were Sebastian Molina at 126 and Mike Mulray at 190. Taking thirds for the Irish were  KJ Honnig at 174 and Jake Mulray at 120. It was the first time in a long time Notre Dame finished this high in a tournament and makes it understandable why coach EJ Nemeth seemed so optimistic during the pre-season. HAMMMONTON TOURNAMENT Second-place Hightstown showed balance throughout its lineup to finish with 191 points. Middle Township won the eight-team tournament. Seneca was third and Delran came in last. Taking home gold for Mike Russo’s Hightstown squad were Chris Cropanese at 138 and Jacob Kramer at 175. On course to become Highstown’s all-time winningest wrestler, Cropanese beat Hammonton’s Luca Giagunto, 2 -1, in his final. When you throw in seconds by Nery Cristanio at 190 and Iker Reyes at 215, and a third by heavyweight Branden Martinezm, then it certainly appears Hightstown is looking solid in the upper weights. TCNJ PRIDE TOURNAMENT In the 11-team competition held at Robbinsville High that was won by Lacey Township, Allentown did the best of the locals with a fifth-place finish. Steinert was seventh and Robbinsville was 10th. The fact Allentown finished tied with Brick Memorial and Steinert was only four points behind those two teams was  a positive development. Individual champions from the CVC were Robbinsville’s Vincent Grippo (106) and Allentown’s Charles Case (126). Thiago Maldonaldo was first at 144 pounds for Rancocas Valley. Among the local wrestlers finishing second were Steinert’s Anthony Giglio (190), Robbinsville’s Andrew O’Reilly (150), and Allentown’s Tanner Wilson (157). In his final, Gidlo lost by technical fall in the first period, but keep in mind that was against Brick Memorial’s state champion destroyer Harvey Ludington.