Nutley HS senior Brandon Toranzo beams after taking third place at the state indivicual championships at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City on Saturday, March 2.
NUTLEY, NJ — Brandon Toranzo capped off one of the greatest careers in Nutley High School wrestling program history.
On the biggest stage in high school wrestling, the senior won the third-place medal in the 285-pound heavyweight division at the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association’s state individual championships at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City.
Toranzo, the No. 2 seed in the field of 32 wrestlers, entered the semifinals with an undefeated record at 44-0 on Friday night, March 1. He met No. 6 seed Connor Martin of Delbarton. Unfortunately, Toranzo was pinned in 54 seconds for his first loss of the season.
But the next morning, Toranzo was determined to end his season on a high note. In the consolation semifinals, he decisioned No. 5 seed Daniel Elyash of Paramus, 4-3. That put him in the third-place medal bout later that morning, where he posted a 3-2 decision over No. 3 seed Benjamin Shue of Bergen Catholic to end his glorious season with a sensational 46-1 record.
Toranzo’s bronze-medal performance was the best in the NHS program history since John Monaco won the 158-pound gold medal in 1981. Monaco is the lone NHS wrestler to win a state title and the first state medalist in NHS history.
Toranzo, who came to NHS as a junior after transferring from St. Joseph Regional in Montvale, also became the second-best medalist in NHS wrestling’s 60-year history. No other NHS wrestler finished second or third in the state ever before Toranzo’s third-place finish.
Toranzo is also the first NHS state medalist since Darwin Pena won the fourth-place medal at the 144-pound weight class in 2016.
On the first day of the tournament on Thursday, Feb. 29, Toranzo, who was the lone NHS competitor in the tournament, pinned No. 31 seed Nick Levach of Bordentown/Florence in 51 seconds in the preliminaries and then posted a 14-7 decision over No. 15 seed Christopher Oliver of Ridge in the pre-quarterfinals.
On Friday, March 1, Toranzo earned a 3-2 decision over No. 7 seed Lorenzo Portella of Red Bank Catholic in the quarterfinals in the morning. Later that night, he fell to Martin.
Toranzo this season won his second straight Essex County and District 10 titles. He then won the Region 3 title at West Orange HS to advance to Atlantic City.
It was a remarkable comeback season for Toranzo, who last season suffered a season-ending ACL injury in the Region 3 semifinals loss to John Wargo of Phillisburgh at West Orange HS, thus denying his chance to go to Atlantic City. Toranzo was undefeated on the season going into that match.
But Toranzo made the most of this season and cemented his status as a Raiders wrestling great.
The following is a Q&A with Toranzo:
Q: What is the best thing about wrestling for Nutley HS?
A: I would say how everyone treats you like family. For example, even when I transferred in last year, they brought me in with open arms and just helped me get to work and get my best self out of me.
Q: Who are some of your mentors?
A: My brother, Mike Toranzo, also my dad, Joel Toranzo and the whole Nutley coaches staff – Neal Picillo, Anthony Montes, Mike DiPiano, Nicky Ritacco, Sabino Coppola and Aaron Dunn.
Q: What are your goals for the future?
A: My main goal is to wrestle at the Division 1 level and just keep building my way up as I go through my college career.
Photo Courtesy of Brandon Toranzo
Editor’s note: This article was upated to include the Q&A
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