Matt DeMarco understood the disappointment Aitana Lozano and Leia Lumba felt as they left the Bergen County Girls Wrestling Tournament on Saturday in Ramsey. But the Lyndhurst-North Arlington wrestling coach was only going to let his two standouts stay that way for long.
Both Lozano and Lumba made history by taking second place in their respective weight classes. It marked the highest finish by any Lyndhurst-North Arlington wrestler in the tournament’s history.
“We’re super happy with the way both of them wrestled their matches yesterday and you were able to see throughout the matches that they were gaining confidence,” DeMarco said. “After the (losses in the finals) they were more hungry and disappointed in the results rather than happy and proud of themselves. I let them have their 10, 15 minutes of being upset and then I needed them to realize how great of an accomplishment it was and how great they did wrestle and turn it into a positive because it was a great day of wrestling for them.”
At 107 pounds was Lozano, who defeated Cassie Kerber of Pascack Valley by injury default in the first round, followed by a first period pin over Garfield’s Emilia Tylki in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, Lozano downed Ramsey’s Isabella Santonocito by a 13-3 major decision. In the final, Lozano was pinned by Fair Lawn’s Gianna Bonaccorso
For Lozano it’s been a bounceback season for the Lyndhurst junior. She burst onto the scene as a freshman winning 15-plus matches, but struggled as a sophomore.
“She’s been super hungry. She’s been putting in so much work in the offseason. During the season, she’s been going to club from our practice, she goes on our days off,” said DeMarco. “Sometimes she harped on the losses she had and the girls that were ahead of her instead of realizing that she’s right in the mix and she can compete with these girls and that she is one of those top girls. She’s starting to understand that and it’s getting brought out of her each and every match this year so far.”
DeMarco describes Lozano as a “scrappy, tough wrestler,” for her aggressiveness in attacking her opponent, especially once she’s been taken down.
It’s a level of aggression that isn’t always typical in the lower weights and one DeMarco thinks is in some ways a byproduct of partnering against the bigger Lumba in practice.
Lumba, a junior at North Arlington, in her first year of wrestling. She joined the sport with an extensive jiu jitsu background.
Due to Lumba’s limited wrestling history, DeMarco wasn’t quite as sure what to expect from her on Saturday. Lumba quickly showed that she could compete with the best.
After earning a first round bye, Lumba won a pair of major decisions, defeating Ramsey’s Vanessa Colon, 15-1, in the quarterfinals and Jennifer Torres of Elmwood Park, 9-0, in the semifinals.
Lumba’s run ended in the final when Westwood’s Mia Spadavecchia pinned her at 2:18.
“She’s still adapting to what she can, can’t do, what works here and what might’ve worked over there,” DeMarco said about the transition to wrestling. “The biggest thing she brings is just toughness. She’s one of the toughest wrestlers I’ve ever seen.”
Both Lumba and Lozano will be representing Lyndhurst-North Arlington in the North 1 Region Individual Tournament this coming Sunday in Vernon.
Also set to compete in North 1 is Nutley where Izzy Timonera and Carina Rivera are returning state medalists. Freshman Michelle Gavilanes is ranked No. 5 in the state at 145 pounds as she looks to build on a season that has already seen her win 23 matches
Belleville, which is led by two-time Essex County champion Izabella Luna, Bloomfield and Kearny are set to wrestle at the North 2 Regional Individual Tournament on Sunday in Union.
Senior Cassandra Cross and sophomore Tiffany Guanoquiza Restrepo also have visions of making it to Atlantic City for Belleville after both medaled in the Essex County Tournament.
Kearny is led by promising freshmen Angelina De Araujo, Julia Cardoso and Mariah Pagan.
On Saturday, the boys individual wrestling tournaments begins with the NJSIAA District Championships.
Nutley and its talented core of underclassmen are the host site for District 11, which also features Belleville and Kearny. The Lyndhurst-North Arlington co-opt and Bloomfield are in District 9, which is held at Randolph.
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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.)