BLOOMFIELD, NJ (updated Monday Feb. 27, 12:05 p.m.) – Bloomfield High School wrestler Adam Lutick finished in fourth place in the 220-pound weight class at the Region 3 tournament held at West Orange High School to advance to the NJSIAA state tournament at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, March 3-5.
The top four finishers in each weight class advanced to the state tournament.
Lutick, a senior, wrestled in the third-place consolation bout on Saturday, Feb. 25, losing to Delbarton’s Trey Zgombic in a tough 1-0 decision.
Meanwhile, BHS senior teammate Barak Pipkins nearly advanced to Atlantic City as he finished in fifth place in the 170-pound class.
In the first round on Wednesday, Feb. 22, Lutick pinned Hanover Park’s Daniel Jimenez in 4:44. On Friday, Feb. 24, Lutick pinned Becton/Wallington’s Luis Pontier in 1:52 in the quarterfinals. On Saturday, Lutick lost by pin against Montclair’s Sam Mellow in 2:33. Lutick then pinned Secaucus’ DeJesus Duran in 3:42 in the wrestleback semifinals to advance to the third-place consolation.
Pipkins, who received a first-round bye, won by major decision over Secaucus’ Robinson Reyes, 11-3, in the quarterfinals on Friday. But in the semifinals on Saturday, Pipkins dropped a tough 8-6 decision to Warren Hills’ Jarod Ostir. Pipkins then lost a heartbreaking 2-1 decision in the tiebreaker session against Delbarton’s Cole Kresphane in the wrestleback semifinals. A victory would have put Pipkins in the third-place consolation and a guaranteed berth in the state tournament. Instead, Pipkins was placed in the fifth-place consolation where he won a 3-2 decision in the tiebreaker session against Caldwell’s Kyle Schaffer.
BHS head coach Sam Fusaro was proud of Lutick and Pipkins.
“Both kids really wrestled well for us,” said Fusaro. “We’re very proud that Adam has a chance to compete in the state tournament. He is just going to take it one match at a time and see how far he can go.”
David Broderick was the other BHS wrestler in the region tournament. The 195-pounder lost in the first round.
The following is the schedule for the state tournament:
Friday, March 3
Preliminaries and pre-quarterfinals, 2:30 p.m.
Saturday, March 4
Wrestlebacks 1, 2, 3 rounds, beginning 9 a.m..
Quarterfinals, noon
Semifinals, wrestlebacks 4 and 5 rounds, beginning 6 p.m.
Sunday, March 5
Wrestlebacks round 6, followed by third- through eighth-place consolations, beginning 10 a.m.
Awards and presentations, 2 p.m.
Parade of placewinners, 2:30 p.m.
Finals, 3 p.m.
Rick Bliwise contributed to this article.
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