Bloomfield High's Adam Lutick, right,took second place at the Essex County Tournament. With him on the podium are Montclair champion Sam Mellow, middle, and Caldwell's Steve Murphy, who took third. Photo by Steve Ellmore..
BLOOMFIELD, NJ – The 2016-17 season has been rather disappointing for the wrestling team at Bloomfield High School, but a bright spot has been the performance of senior Adam Lutick. Last Friday at the Essex County Tournament finals at Codey Arena in West Orange, Lutick again came through for head coach Sam Fusaro’s Bengals.
Lutick, who earlier this winter won a title at the Mount Olive tournament and placed second at the Roselle Park tournament, earned a second-place finish in the 220-pound weight class. In the championship bout, Lutick fell by a 5-2 count to Montclair’s Sam Mellow.
The Bloomfield standout is pointed toward the districts on Feb. 18. Lutick then hopes to go on to the Regions in late February and the state tournament in early March. A year ago, Lutick placed second in the Regions.
Two other Bloomfield wrestlers also did well in last week’s county tournament. Senior Angel Mercado placed third at 113 pounds, and senior Barak Pipkins placed third at 170. Fusaro said Mercado’s finish was probably the best effort of his career. Pipkins’ performance was exceptional too, because Fusaro felt the 170-pound class was the most difficult weight class. Bloomfield,which took a 3-9 record into competition this week, will wrestle at West Orange on Wednesday, Jan. 25, and host a tough Caldwell squad on Friday, Jan. 27.
“We have to get better in practice sessions,” said Fusaro, “if we want to compete at a high level in tournament competition. All of our kids have to be more determined when they are out there on the mats.”
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