Bloomfield senior Gabriel McCulloch is shown after taking fourth place in the 285-pound weight class at the Region 3 tournament at West Orange on Saturday, March 1.
BLOOMFIELD/WEST ORANGE, NJ — Gabriel McCulloch is once again going back to Atlantic City.
The Bloomfield High School senior took fourth place in the 285-pound heavyweight class at the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association’s Region 3 tournament at West Orange High School, Friday and Saturday, Feb. 28-March 1.
For the third straight year, McCulloch punched his ticket to the NJSIAA’s state individual championships at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, Thursday to Saturday, March 6-8.
McCulloch, the No. 3 seed, recorded two straight pins in 2 minutes, 38 seconds; and 3:27 to reach the semifinals, where he lost to No. 2 seed Thomas Borgia, of West Morris, in 1:01.
McCulloch then pinned No. 8 seed John Stockelberg, of Verona, in 1:31, to advance to the third-place bout, where he lost to No. 5 seed Isiah Rodriguez, of Cliffside Park/Ridgefield, in 2:32.
The top-four finishers in each weight class at the eight region tournaments advanced to the state championships.
The Bengals had four other competitors at the region tournament.
Freshman Aidan Matias (120 pounds) and senior Alejandro Valencia (190) each went 2-3 and finished in sixth place in their respective weight classes, while senior Anthony Lizama (126) went 1-2 and junior Matthew Miller (138) lost in the first round. The region tournament consisted of the top-three finishers in each weight class from districts 9-12. BHS competed in District 9.
McCulloch, who won the Essex County Tournament title at 285 and later won his 100th career match this season, lost both of his matches in 2023 and went 1-2 last year at the state championships.
The girls state championships will also take place at Boardwalk Hall on March 6-8. The BHS girls wrestlers who qualified for the state championships are seniors Reno Prochilo and Madelyn McLaughlin, juniors Saharia Quamina and Leanna Noel, and sophomore Lesly Sanchez.
Photos Courtesy of Bloomfield HS Wrestling
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