WEST ORANGE, NJ – In several exciting matches, the West Orange High School wrestlers placed second in the NJSIAA District 10, Final Round at Nutley High School on Feb. 18. The Mountaineers placed second overall behind third-ranked in the state Delbarton. Nutley, Verona, and Becton rounded out the top five.
West Orange senior Victor Lopez took an 11-4 decision against Delbarton’s Alex Strashinsky, and became West Orange’s first-ever four-time district champion, clinching his 131st career victory in the process. Lopez wrestled in the 113-pound class.
“In quite possibly the night’s most exciting match, WOHS junior Noah Tandy beat Anthony Siragusa of Delbarton in a 4-1 decision in triple overtime,” said WOHS head coach Stephan Zichella. Tandy became district champion in the 195-pound class.
Also placing top three for the Mountaineers were junior Sebastian Rawls (second-place, 170-pound class), sophomore Edgar Moreno (third-place, 120 pounds), freshman Michael Charles (third-place, 126 pounds), senior Abraham Dada (third-place, 152 pounds), and senior Victor Kuga (third-place, 285 pounds).
“All seven wrestlers will compete at this week’s Region 3 state individual wrestling tournament,” stated Zichella.
The Region 3 tournament will be held in Tarnoff Gym at West Orange High School as follows:
Feb. 22 and 25: Doors open for fans at 4:30 p.m. and the tournament begins at 6 p.m.
Feb. 26: Doors open for fans at 7:30 a.m. and the tournament begins at 9 a.m. and ending at 3:30 p.m..
There will be small charge at the door and refreshments will be available throughout the tournament.
The top four finishers in each weight class will advance to the NJSIAA state tournament at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, March 3-5. This year, the NJSIAA expanded the number of NJSIAA state tournament qualifiers from three to four finishers in each weight class in the regions.
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