Thanks to their performance at the District 13 finals in West Essex over the weekend, VHS will have seven wrestlers in Regions, which is the next stop on the way to the state championship in Atlantic City. Mark Riggio took first at 182 pounds after besting Matthew Tirritili of West Essex 4-3 in the semifinals and Ryan Schaffer of Caldwell 5-3 in the finals. But there’s tough competition at that weight in the broader Regions, and Riggio goes to West Orange as the #4 seed in Region 4.
In his opening match in Districts, sophomore Jimmy Loudon (106) pinned Passaic Valley’s Kenny Kerwin in 2:21. But in the finals, he lost to Gerald Jones of Caldwell and finished in second place. He goes to Regions as the #6 seed at 106.
Frank Gabriele (120) defeated Shawn Rooney of Cedar Grove 13-5 in his first match. He finished second after losing to Dean Caravela of Caldwell, 7-3, and goes to Regions as the #8 seed at 120. His twin brother John Gabriele also took second at Districts. Wrestling at 132, he defeated Noah Struss of West Essex 7-5 in the semis before falling to John Schultz of Cedar Grove in the finals. John Gabriele will be the #10 seed at Regions.
Joe Ballantyne (126) fell to Chris Zaccaria of West Essex 4-1 in the semifinals at Districts. But he went on to pin Corrado Fazio of Cedar Grove to take third. He’ll be the #10 seed at 126 in Regions.
Billy Czupak goes to Regions as he #10 seed at 160, after going up against Christian Dalla Riva of Caldwell and Matthew Matturro of West Essex in Districts. The #4 seed at 160 is Stephen Kellner, a Verona resident who attends St. Peter’s Prep. Patrick Paluszek (220) was at the short end of an 11-4 semifinal match at Districts with Gianni Palumbo of Passaic Valley. He rallied to defeat Younas Ibrahim of Paterson Kennedy 4-2 and goes to Regions as the #8 seed at 220.
The first round of Regions will be Wednesday February 25 West Orange High School at 6 p.m. The quarterfinals are Friday February 27 at 6 p.m. The semifinals start at 9 a.m. on Saturday, with the consolation finals at 4:30 p.m.
and the finals at 6 p.m.
Photos copyright Donna Giuliano. Used by permission.
