WEST ORANGE – West Orange High School wrestlers Brian Velez and Victor Lopez finished in the top three in their respective weight classes at the Region 4 Tournament at WOHS.
Velez and Lopez both qualified for the state tournament at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, March 4-6. The top three finishers in each weight class qualified for the state tournament.
Velez, a senior, finished second in the 285-pound weight class. In the final, Velez lost to Union City’s Jonathan Beltre, 4-0, to move to a 25-10 record.
Lopez, a junior, finished in third place in the 113-pound weight class. Lopez reached the semifinals, but lost to Anthony Petrillo of Livingston, 6-4, for just his second loss of the season. But Lopez regrouped to win in the wrestlebacks semifinals before beating Enrique Sanchez of Queen of Peace, 13-7, in the third-place consolation to move to a stellar 33-2 record.
The Region tournament consisted of the top three finishers in each weight class from the district tournaments.
Colin Morgan (126-pound weight class) and Sebastian Rawls (170) also had good showings for WOHS at the Region Tournament.
Rawls, a sophomore, finished in fourth place, just missed qualifying for the state tournament. Rawls lost to eventual champion Jala’a Darwish of Passaic Valley in the quarterfinals. Rawls won in both the wrestlebacks quarterfinals and wrestlebacks semifinals before losing to Christian Dalla Riva of Caldwell, 9-3, in the third-place consolation to finish with a strong 23-11 record.
Morgan, a freshman, lost in the quarterfinals. He won in the wrestlebacks quarterfinals but lost in the wrestlebacks semifinals to finish with a solid 22-13 record.
REGION 4 TOURNAMENT
WOHS RESULTS
Feb. 24
Preliminary round
126: Colin Morgan, West Orange, pinned Trevor Fleet, Passaic County Tech, 4:56.
170: Sebastian Rawls, West Orange, pinned Lukasz Glazewski, Kearny, 1:02;
Feb. 26
Quarterfinals
113: Victor Lopez, West Orange, technical fall over Jimmy Loudon, Verona, 15-0, 5:49.
126: Naseem Elayan, Cliffside Park, technical fall over Colin Morgan, West Orange, 15-0, 4:59.
170: Jala’a Darwish, Passaic Valley, pinned Sebastian Rawls, West Orange, 4:54.
285: Brian Velez, West Orange, decisioned Thomas Marretta, Passaic Valley, 3-2.
Feb. 27
Wrestlebacks quarterfinals
126: Colin Morgan, West Orange, pinned Marco Macrino, West Essex, 4:31
170: Sebastian Rawls, West Orange, won by forfeit over Kenny Pena, Cliffside Park;
Semifinals
113: Anthony Petrillo, Livingston dec. Victor Lopez, West Orange, 6-4.
285: Brian Velez, West Orange, pinned Jacob Abill, Clifton, 2:47.
Wrestlebacks semifinals
113: Victor Lopez, West Orange, decisioned Michael Simonetti, St. Peter’s Prep, 5-1.
126: John Iurato, Hasbrouck Heights, pinned Colin Morgan, West Orange, 4:51.
170: Sebastian Rawls, West Orange, pinned Daniel Diprenda, Cedar Grove, 7:21.
Third-place consolations
113: Victor Lopez, West Orange, decisioned Enrique Sanchez, Queen of Peace, 13-7.
170: Christian Dalla Riva, Caldwell, decisioned Sebastian Rawls, West Orange, 9-3.
Finals
285: Jonathan Beltre, Union City, decisioned Brian Velez, West Orange, 4-0
About the Author
