NUTLEY, NJ — The Nutley High School boys wrestling team continued its rich tradition of success this season.
The Raiders, under longtime head coach Mike DiPiano Jr., finished the regular season with a stellar 24-7 record.
DiPiano was named the District 10 and Region 3 Coach of the Year. At the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association’s state championship, DiPiano also was named the NJSIAA’s New Jersey Coach of the Year.
As the host school, the Raiders finished in second place overall at the NJSIAA’s District 10 tournament on Feb. 28.
Nutley boasted six champions out of 14 weight classes.
Senior Patrick Chell (132 pounds), senior Christopher Cifelli (138), junior Aidan Rotbaum (157), junior Antonio Maiden (165), senior Sean Vilchez (215) and junior Nolan Brewer (285) won their weight classes. Sophomore Evan Blanchard took second place at the 120-pound weight class.
Junior Valen Delaney (106) and freshman Luke Finkelstein (113) each took third place in their weight classes.
The nine NHS wrestlers qualified for the NJSIAA’s Region 3 tournament at West Orange High School, March 6-7. The top three finishers in each weight class from districts 10-13 earned berths for the Region 4 tournament.
Senior Adam Youssef (126) and freshman Jesse Quinn (150) each finished in fourth place in their weight classes for NHS at the district tournament.
At the region tournament, Maiden and Brewer placed fourth in their same weight classes, qualifying for the NJSIAA state championships at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, March 12-14.
The top four finishers in each weight class from the eight region tournaments earned berths for the state championships.
Maiden, the No. 2 seed who earned a first-round bye, won by technical fall over No. 7 seed Dennis Joshua (Newark Collegiate Charter) 23-7 in 5:40 in the quarterfinals. Maiden won by technical fall over No. 3 seed Evan Curnow (Morristown) 17-2 in 4:34 in the semifinals.
In the final, Maiden lost to No. 1 seed Jayden James (Delbarton) by a 19-4 technical fall in 1:22 to move to a 35-6 record on the season.
Brewer, the No. 3 seed, went 2-2 in the region. After receiving a first-round bye, Brewer won by a 3-2 tiebreaker over No. 11 seed Lucas Andrade (Hanover Park) in the quarterfinals.
Brewer lost a 7-5 decision to No. 2 seed August Moser (Delbarton) in the semifinals.
Brewer won by a 4-3 decision over No. 13 seed Christopher Montana (West Morris Mendham) in the consolation semifinals.
In the third-place bout, Brewer dropped a 2-0 decision to No. 7 seed Max Georges (DePaul) to move to 33-11 record on the season.
Cifelli and Rotbaum each took fifth place, and Delaney finished in sixth place in their weight classes.
DiPiano gave special credit to his dedicated coaching staff for his region coach of the year award.
“I look at it as a ‘Coaching Staff of the Year,’ ” said Di-
Piano, who earned his 400th career win earlier this season. “We are who we are because of (Nutley assistant coaches) Nicky Ritacco, Sabino Coppola, Neil Picillo, Aaron Dunn and Frankie DeMaio. We are a family that just happens to coach together.”
At the state championships, Maiden and Brewer made good runs. Maiden, the No. 18 seed, lost in the first round to Joseph Paretti (St. Joseph Montvale) by pin in 1:13. Maiden then won by sudden victory over Cristian Rodriguez (Red Bank Catholic) 4-1 in the consolation first round. Maiden lost by pin to Cameron Pote (Delsea) in 2:50 in the consolation second round to finish the season with a stellar 36-8 record.
Brewer, the No. 29 seed, lost to Jared Martini (Mount Olive) by pin in 1:09 in the first round, but regrouped to win the next two consolation rounds. Brewer posted a 7-1 decision victory over Ronell Muns Grullon (Pennsauken) in the consolation first round and posted an 8-5 decision win over Jaraiya Jean (Neptune) in the consolation second round. But Brewer lost a 4-2 decision to August Moser (Delbarton) in the consolation third round to finish with a solid 35-13 record.
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