Trevor Frantantoni
BLOOMFIELD, NJ — Bloomfield High School head wrestling coach Ryan Smircich is excited about the upcoming season.
Though the Bengals will have a young team and lost several graduated seniors, including four-time girls state champion Kira Pipkins, there are strong numbers in the program.
“We graduated seven seniors from our starting lineup last year, so we will have a very young team,” Smircich said. “The good news is participation is through the roof, as we had almost 90 kids try out for the team. We have settled in on 59 boys and 14 girls. We will wrestle five dual meets for the girls this year. That is a first for us.”
On the girls side, Bloomfield returns three state medalists – Reno Prochilo, Ahlexa Montalvo and Saharia Quamina. In addition, state qualifier Madelyn McLaughlin and a very talented Leanna Noel are also back.
For the boys, the following are returners – junior Anthony Lizama, who will vie at 120 and 126 pounds, sophomore Matt Miller, another 120- and 126-pound competitor; senior 175-pound Trevor Frantantoni, senior 190-pound Will Cordero and junior heavyweight Gabe McCulloch, who took third place in the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Associaton’s District 9 state tournament and took fourth place in the NJSIAA’s Region 3 state tournament to qualify for the NJSIAA’s state tournament in Atlantic City.
Last season, Lizama took third place in the district tournament to qualify for the region tournament and Frantantoni took fourth place in the district.
The depth on the team is encouraging.
“We will have a lot of kids competing for jobs and a lot of new faces in the lineup,” Smircich said.
The Bengals will begin the season on Saturday, Dec. 16, at the annual Kearny tournament. They will host Montclair and Secaucus on Tuesday, Dec. 19, at 5 p.m.
Bloomfield will host its annual girls tournament on Sunday, Dec. 17, at 8 a.m.
Photos Courtesy of Jerry Simon
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