Future Scarlet Knights Capture Beast of the East Titles

The future has long been bright for the Rutgers Wrestling program.

On Sunday, Connor O’Neill (DePaul Catholic, NJ ‘20), John Poznanski (Colonia, NJ ‘20), and Kyonte Hamilton (Georgetown Prep, MD ‘21) all captured Beast of the East titles, one of the most prestigious high school tournaments in the country. Dylan Shawver, (Elyria, OH ‘20) finished 3rd at 126 pounds.

We detailed O’Neill back in September of 2018 due to his early commitment to the Scarlet Knights and boy has his stock gone up since. Wrestling at 170 pounds, O’Neill is the favorite to capture an NJ State Title after losing to current freshman and future teammate Robert Kanniard, who is taking a redshirt year, in the 2019 finals. You can also find him in the Rutgers Wrestling room now practicing with the SKWC, run by Director of Operations Joe Pollard. (A fine club if I do say so myself). Check out more about the SWKC here.

Poznanski, who also finished 2nd at States last year, is the favorite at 182 pounds in 2020. Rutgers is getting a hammer here and I encourage you to read more about him in this great story written by Greg Tufaro.

Hamilton, currently ranked at No. 9 at 220 pounds in the country according to InterMat and No. 9 according to Flo Wrestling, still has two high school seasons to go. If he is this good now in the early goings of his junior season, there’s no telling how good he’s going to be once he reaches Piscataway. Right now, Hamilton projects as a college heavyweight due to potential growth. He could be Rutgers first four year starter at heavyweight since Billy Smith.

Shawver, who is a member of the incoming class of 2020, finished 3rd at 126 pounds to become the first 4x place winner in his high school’s history.