UNION, NJ — Belleville High School junior Alisa Safforld took third place in the 100-pound weight class at the North Region girls wrestling tournament at Union HS on Feb. 23.
After receiving a first-round bye, Safforld pinned Darlyn Silverio of New Brunswick in 2:41 in the second round before losing to Isabella Santos of Elizabeth in the quarterfinals by pin in 1:59. Safforld then pinned Aaliyah Payne-Parris of Newton in 3:29 and pinned Brianna Cervantes of Secaucus in 1:24 in the wrestleback rounds to advance to the third-place consolation where she won by an 18-1 technical fall in 5:32 over Evelyn Andrade of Hunterdon Central.
Safforld advanced to the state tournament at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City on March 5-7. The top three finishers in each weight class qualified for the state tournament.
Sophomore Soraya Safforld, at 114, and senior Asmaa Embaby, at 121, were the other Belleville competitors in the North Region tournament. Embaby won in the first and second rounds before losing in the quarterfinals to Katy Ayala of New Brunswick by a 17-2 technical fall. She then lost to Noran Elmahroukey of New Providence in the wrestlebacks by pin in 1:02 to become eliminated.
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