WEST ORANGE, NJ — Last Wednesday, Jan. 26, the 46th Essex County Tournament for wrestling was held at Richard J. Codey Arena in West Orange. West Essex won its fourth team title, while Livinsgton finished in second place and Seton Hall Prep finished in third place.
The Pirates had three champions, two runners-up, one third-place finisher and three fifth-place finishers.
Joseph Sciarrone, Carlo Vanvolkenburgh and Stephen O’Neil Jr. were the SHP champions.
In the 113-pound weight class, Sciarrone pinned Barringer’s Miguel Reyes in 18 seconds in the quarterfinals; major-decisioned Ross Berkowitz, of Montclair, 11-3, in the semifinals; and decisioned Ethan Kerlin, of West Essex, 6-3, in the final.
In the 120-pound weight class, Vanvolkenburgh pinned Nicolae Stanescue, of Verona, in 58 seconds in the quarterfinals; decisioned Juan Millan, of Bloomfield, 8-3, in the semifinals; and decisioned Jason Quirk, of Livingston, 7-3, in the final.
In the 157-pound weight class, O’Neil Jr. pinned Damian Torres, of Bloomfield, in 26 seconds in the quarterfinals; decisioned Mike Maglione, of West Essex, 6-0, in the semifinals; and decisioned Sean Haas, of Caldwell, 2-1, in the final.
Logan Brzozowski and Brandon Bauer each took second place.
In the 106-pound weight class, Brzozowski pinned Sebastian Kristal, of Glen Ridge, in 3:20 in the quarterfinals and major-decisioned Jakob Ferrer, of Belleville, 11-2, in the semifinals. In the final, he lost to Livingston’s Aidan Carmody by a 3-0 decision.
In the 138-pound weight class, Bauer pinned Nutley’s Vincenzo Rizzuto in 1:51 in the second round; pinned Ernesto McRae, of Bloomfield, in 3:28 in the quarterfinals and pinned Bertan Kurtsoy, of Millburn, in 1:36 in the semifinals. In the final, Bauer lost by a 6-4 sudden-victory decision to Mike Pescatore, of West Essex.
Nicholas Orejola took third place in the 144-pound weight class. He pinned Michael DeRosa, of Caldwell, in 1:28 in the second round; pinned Grant Sanders, of Millburn, in 51 seconds in the quarterfinals; and lost to Nicholas Coletta, of Cedar Grove, by a 6-4 decision in the semifinals. In the third-place consolation, Orejola decisioned Justin Barr, of West Orange, 6-0.
The following are the fifth-place finishers for SHP:
- Cody Aniche-Farrell took fifth place in the 150-pound weight class. He pinned Izaiah Gonzalez, of Newark Collegiate, in 5:44 in the second round and lost by pin in 1:48 to Livingston’s Zachary Vera. He major-decisioned Joel Gonzalez, of Verona, 18-5, and decisioned Chris Babcock, of Cedar Grove, 3-1, to take fifth place.
- Anthony Cerreto, at 165, also took fifth place in his weight class: versus Fernando Collado, of Belleville, won by pin in 3:10; versus Max Lee, of Livingston, lost by major decision, 9-1; versus Demo Clenord, of Irvington, won by 5-3 decision; versus Matt Regateiro, of West Orange, won by 7-2 decision.
- Jack Tierney took fifth place at 285-pound heavyweight: versus Azel Bishop, of Livingston, won by 5-1 decision; versus Luca Salvatoriello, of West Essex, lost by 3-2 sudden-victory decision; versus Mark Ratel, of Cedar Grove, won by 8-5 decision; versus Gabriel McCulloch, of Bloomfield, won by 8-1 decision.
Chase Carroll took sixth place at 132, and Joel Walker took eighth place at 215 for SHP.
Following the championship round, the three Seton Hall Prep champions were asked how it feels to win a county title.
Senior Joseph Sciarrone said, “It feels great. I looked at it as the missing jewel in my career, except for the state title. It also feels great to win a county title because we did not get an opportunity to have the tournament last year. Having nine wrestlers placed in the top five is great for our program and shows we are a deep team — and a young team, as I am the only senior place winner.”
Junior Stephen O’Neil Jr. added, “It feels really good, because I wanted to place my name in the great wrestling tradition of Seton Hall Prep wrestling. I have a lot more to show in the districts, regions, and states.” Sophomore Carlo Vanvolkenburgh commented, “This victory is a result of all my hard work in the room every day.”
Photos Courtesy of Rich Morris/SHP
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