Victor Lopez, second from right, stands on the top of the podum after winning the Region 3 title.
WEST ORANGE, NJ (updated Monday Feb. 27, 1:18 p.m.) – West Orange High School wrestler Victor Lopez, who became the all-time winningest wrestler in WOHS history earlier this season, captured the 113-pound weight class at the Region 3 tournament held at WOHS.
Lopez advances to the NJSIAA state tournament for the second year in a row. The state tournament will take place March 3-5 at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City.
In the championship bout on Saturday, Feb. 25, Lopez decisioned Hanover Park’s Domenic Difrancescantio, 10-6.
After receiving a first-round bye on Wednesday, Feb. 22, Lopez wrestled in the quarterfinals on Friday, Feb. 24, and pinned Randolph’s Charlie Treston in 1:26.
On Saturday in the semifinals, Lopez pinned Queen of Peace’s Enrique Sanchez in overtime, 50 seconds into the extra session.
WOHS head coach Stephan Zichella was thrilled for Lopez.
“Lopez’s workouts have been intense and he’s opened it up. He has a stronger attack on his feet,” Zichella said.
Lopez continues to shatter West Orange High School records, winning his second region championship and extending his school record to 134 wins. Lopez is also the first wrestler in WOHS history to earn 30 wins in each of his four years. His record for the 2017 season is 32-1.
“Vic has never looked so good,” Zichella said. “He’s peaking at the right time and we’re happy with his development over the past few weeks.”
Noah Tandy also had a great run for WOHS. Tandy finished in fifth place in the 195-pound weight class, nearly advancing to Atlantic City. The top four finishers in each weight class qualified for the state tournament.
Tandy, who also had a first-round bye, pinned Hackettstown’s Kyle Connelly in 6:55 in the quarterfinals on Friday. On Saturday, Tandy lost to Whippany Park’s Thomas Rigas, 7-1, in the semifinals. Tandy then was pinned by North Bergen’s Cruz Donato in 2:51 in the wrestleback semifinals. A victory would have put Tandy in the third-place consolation. Instead, Tandy moved to the fifth-place consolation bout where he won by forfeit over Delbarton’s Anthony Siragusa.
Edgar Moreno (120-pound class), Michael Charles (126), Abraham Dada (152), Sebastian Rawls (170), and Victor Kruga (285 heavyweight) were the other WOHS wrestlers in the region tournament.
Moreno and Rawls each won in the first round, but they both lost in the quarterfinals and wrestleback quarterfinals to become eliminated. Charles, Dada, and Kruga each lost in the first round.
Last season, Lopez went 3-2 in the state tournament.
The following is the schedule for the state tournament:
March 3
Preliminaries and pre-quarterfinals, 2:30 p.m.
March 4
Wrestlebacks 1, 2, 3 rounds, beginning 9 a.m.
Quarterfinals, noon
Semifinals, Wrestlebacks 4 and 5 rounds, beginning 6 p.m.
March 5
Wrestlebacks round 6, followed by third- through eighth-place consolations, beginning 10 a.m.
Awards and presentations, 2 p.m.
Parade of placewinners, 2:30 p.m.
Finals, 3 p.m.
About the Author
