Nutley’s Izzy Timonera and Izabella Luna of Belleville made history a year ago when they were among the champions of the inaugural Essex County Girls Wrestling Tournament.
But as the Tournament moved to its second year and with much more notoriety paid to it, an even greater challenge came to the two – repeating as champions.
“I definitely was more nervous this year because I was trying to hold my title,” said Timonera, a junior. “But I also put in more work, so I knew that I could keep it. I was just trying to calm my nerves, but it was good.”
Last Thursday at Essex County College, both Timonera and Luna once again left as county champions.
Timonera at 100 pounds and Luna at 152 pounds made quick work of their respective competition to repeat as champions in the same weight classes as the prior year.
Additionally, Nutley’s star freshman Michelle Gavilanes was also crowned champion at 145 pounds.
For Timonera, any nerves were quickly settled down when she needed just 17 seconds to pin Millburn’s Joan Liu to reach the final. One day later, Timonera again made quick work of her opponent, pinning Columbia’s Cayce Wang in 59 seconds in the final.
“Finishing the first match in 17 seconds definitely gave me confidence,” Timonera said. “It soothed my nerves. I was very nervous the first day, but after winning that first match and getting the adrenaline going and remembering I put in the hard work helped me for my second match.”
“Izzy came in very confident after winning it last year at 100 pounds and it was a goal of hers to go back-to-back,” said Nutley head coach Mike DiPiano. “Now that goals have changed. She wants to make the state tournament this year.”
Gavilanes, however, didn’t feel such nerves going into the two-day event. While it was her first time in the tournament, Gavilanes already has an extensive wrestling resume which included competing in Fargo, ND for one of the biggest national tournaments over the summer.
“I was not nervous at all for this tournament,” said Gavilanes. “I’ve been working on fixing my mindset before competing because that’s what it comes down to.
“I knew I was capable of doing everything physically. I just have to allow myself to compete at my best.”
Gavilanes was also dominant on the mats as he pinned Bloomfield’s Aubrey Gamboa in just 1:08 to reach the final. There, Gavilanes topped Belleville’s Cassandra Cross with a 13-1 major decision.
“Michele’s had some big wins this year,” said DiPiano. “She’s beaten a returning state champ in Shea Aretz from Buea High School. She has a couple other ranked wins, but we’re getting Michelle ready to peak at the right time. Her goal is to be on the podium in Atlantic City so this is the first stepping stone towards this.”
Luna’s path to a title was a little different. With fewer wrestlers in her weight class, the Belleville senior earned a bye to the final. There, she pinned Jailynn Robinson in 2:50 to repeat as champion.
Like Timonera, the success from a year ago has only further motivated Luna heading into the stretch run of this season.
“There was definitely some confidence built from the previous season based on her accolades and accomplishments,” Belleville head coach Joe Pizzi said. “She put a lot of work in during the offseason, going to tournaments and going to clubs and getting workouts and kind of perfecting her craft.”
In total, both Belleville and Nutley had four medal winners. For the Bucs, Cross took second at 152 pounds and Tiffany Guanoquiza Restrepo finished second at 132. Shilah Dickerson had a third place finish at 138.
Nutley’s Carina Rivera, a state medalist last year, took second place at 165 pounds and Carla Soto finished third at 114.
In the team competition, Nutley took fourth place in the 16-team field with 100 points and Belleville was fifth with 84.
Bloomfield repeated as team champs, led by its six county champions in Saharia Quamina (235 pounds), Lesly Sanchez (185), Reno Prochilo (165), Leanna Noel (132), Madelyn McLaughlin (126) and Natalie Lopez (107). Quamina, McLaughlin and Noel were repeat winners.
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Jason Bernstein | Observer Sports Writer
Jason Bernstein joined The Observer as its sports writer in March 2022, following the retirement of Jim Hague. He has a wealth of sports-writing experience, including for NJ Advance Media (nj.com, The Jersey Journal, The Star-Ledger.)