West Orange HS wrestling team finishes second at District 14 Tournament

WEST ORANGE – The West Orange High School varsity wrestling team finished second overall among the nine teams at the District 14 Tournament at Livingston High School on Feb. 20.

The Mountaineers had 141 points. Nutley had 204.5 points to win the District 14 Tournament title for the fifth straight year.

Victor Lopez (113-pound weight class) and Brian Velez (285) won their weight class titles to lead the Mountaineers. In the finals, Lopez decisioned Livingston’s Anthony Petrilo, 3-2, in an ultimate tiebreaker; and Velez decisioned Livingston’s Paco Morales, 2-1, in double overtime.

Colin Morgan (126), Abraham Dada (145), and Sebastian Rawls (170) each finished second and Noah Tandy (195) took third for WOHS. In the finals, Morgan lost to Bloomfield’s Pablo Estevez by major decision, 9-0; Dada lost by technical fall against Nutley’s Joe DiPasquale, 19-3, in 4:35; and Rawls lost to Bloomfield’s Barak Pipkins by major decision, 14-5.

In the third-place consolation, Tandy won by technical fall over East Side’s Ibys Corchado, 28-8, in 5:57.

The six WOHS wrestlers will advance to the Region 4 Tournament at WOHS, Feb. 24, 26-27.

Victor Kuga finished fourth in the 220-pound class for WOHS, losing to Livingston’s Casey Kimmel, 1-0, in the consolation.