He may not have gotten out of the ‘blood round’ during wrestlebacks in last year’s NJSIAA state tournament; however, nothing was going to slow down West Essex’s Reid Clausi in terms of having the ultra-determination to keep improving as one of New Jersey’s high school grapplers on the rise as he entered his junior season.
Now, more than three months into the 2025-2026 winter campaign, the Knights’ 165-pound standout has emerged as a definite wrestler to watch as the ultimate tournament of every season gets set to commence starting Thursday at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City.
Clausi is one of four West Essex standouts heading to AC, while Super Essex Conference and ECT champion Seton Hall Prep has seven of its Pirate matmen headed to AC, and neighboring rival Caldwell has six team members set for the trip south on the Parkway and headed to historic Boardwalk Hall for this weekend’s (March 12-14) state tourney,
Clausi (40-2), who was the Outstanding Wrestler in the recent (Feb. 28) District 8 Tournament at West Essex, and then had two pins and won by decision in the 165-pound final in Region 2 at Mount Olive, is the Parisi Fairfield, Sideline Chatter Athlete of the Week.
The Knights’ junior standout is undefeated in New Jersey with his only two setbacks this season coming to out-of-state opponents in the highly-regarded ‘Escape The Rock’ early-season tournament in Pennsylvania.
“As good as Reid was as a freshman and sophomore for us, I think how last season ended left a bad taste in his mouth,” said West Essex ninth-year head coach Mike Markey. “He took a closer look at his style, made a few technical changes, and has been committed all year long to getting even better, while going up against the best competition he could find during his freestyle season.
“He’s having just an outstanding season for us and we are confident about him having a strong state tournament this weekend!”
Clausi, who has focused solely on wrestling as his sport since the sixth grade, already has a wealth of experience as he prepares for his third trip to the state tourney, and he is fully aware of what to expect.
“Everybody is the same there, 0-0 going in, you have to stay focused right from the start, and then remain that way no matter what each day and each match brings,” said the well-rounded West Essex star, who carries a 4.4 grade point average. “I feel that I’m a lot more prepared, and I’ve pushed myself harder since last season, and I believe that I’m a better wrestler, whether it’s just defending my legs, re-attacking, or defending so much better; and I feel that I have a lot more options on offense so I’m not one-dimensional.”
During the off-season Clausi along with some of his West Essex teammates put in a great deal of work, including traveling to get in work at the highly-regarded KD Training Centers in Westchester County, N.Y., and on Long Island, and also continuing to traint locally at the Ruthless Wrestling Club in Pine Brook.
“KD is one of the best clubs out there, and our West Essex captains (Clausi and seniors Christian Basstante, Kole Corcoran and Dante D’Achille), all encouraged our teammates to get in extra work both there and at Ruthless, which is another great place to train, and I think our whole team has benefitted from that off-season work.”
That strong off-season translated right into the wrestling room at West Essex in November once the 2025-2026 pre-season was underway, and the results have been outstanding team-wise as the Knights went on to finish 20-5, including 11-1 at home, while also capturing the North 2, Group 3 state sectional title.
