With a starting lineup composed primarily of underclassmen, there was no doubt that the future was bright for Nutley’s wrestling program after some rough years following Covid.
Saturday’s NJSIAA District 9 Tournament served as the latest example that these Maroon Raiders aren’t waiting to bring the program back to levels it hasn’t enjoyed in nearly a decade.
Despite falling just short of a team title, Saturday was nothing short of a banner day for the host school as Nutley crowned four district champions, the most it’s had since 2016. All four are underclassmen.
Louis DellaVolpe continued his incredible freshman season with a 22-10 major decision over Gov. Livingston’s Vincent Capone to cap off a dominant day of wrestling for the phenom.
Sophomore Antonio Maiden took first place at 144 pounds, one year after falling in the district final at 132 pounds, by defeating Livingston’s Christopher Taddeo by a 4-2 decision. Fellow sophomore Jack Finkelstein, a third place finisher last year at 113, took first in the same weight class on Saturday when he needed just 39 seconds to pin West Morris’ Mark Montuore for the title.
Sophomore Aidan Rotbaum, who fell one win short of qualifying for regions a season ago, left no doubt this time around. He won all three of his matches by pin fall, the last, a 37 second victory over West Orange’s Aedan Lopez for the 157 pound title.
In total, eight Nutley wrestlers finished in the top three in their weight class and advanced to the Region 3 tournament this Friday and Saturday in West Orange.
Junior Christopher Cifelli, a District champ at 106 pounds last year, took second at 126 this year to qualify for regions for the third year in a row.
Sophomore Nolan Brewer took second place at 285 pounds. Junior Sean Vilchez is heading to the regions for the second year in a row after finishing third at 190. Senior Damiano Farro continued his breakout season after sitting out last year by taking third place at 215 pounds.
In total, the eight regional qualifiers is the most for Nutley since 2020.
As a team, Nutley took second place with a score of 183.5, just 21 points behind champion West Morris. Kearny claimed eighth place with 51.5 points and Belleville took ninth with 44 points.
Sophomore Matthew Pagan was the lone Kardinal to advance as he took second place at 106 pounds to earn a second trip to the regionals after finishing third a year ago.
Two Belleville wrestlers advanced as Jirrard Ferrer took third place at 106 pounds and Sophomore Lorenzo Tiankee took third at 120. It is Tiankee’s second trip to the regionals.
At District 9 in Randolph, while national power Delbarton dominated by winning all 14 weight classes, both the Bloomfield and Lyndhurst-North Arlington program had strong showings with six and four regional qualifiers respectively.
For Lyndhurst-North Arlington, Junior Nate Boyd took second place at 126 to earn a second consecutive trip to regionals. Senior Abraham Martinez also finished in second place at 157 pounds.
Senior Evan McNeil earned his second consecutive trip to regionals after taking third at 120 pounds. Sophomore Dean Silva, who missed all, but the final week of the regular season, took third place at 165 pounds.
Bloomfield had a trio of second place finishers in freshman Aidan Matias at 120 and seniors Alejandro Valencia (190) and Gabriel McCulloch (285). For McCulloch, it is his fourth trip to the regionals as he seeks to qualify for the state championships in Atlantic City for the third year in a row. Valencia is also a two-time regional qualifier.
Senior Anthony Lizama makes his second trip to regionals in three years after finishing third at 126 pounds. Sophomore James Haverick (106 pounds) and junior Matthew Miller (138) took third in their weight classes to advance.
In total, 21 Observer-area wrestlers will be competing at Region 3 next weekend in West Orange.
On Sunday, at the NJSIAA Girls Wrestling Regional Championships, eight Observer-area wrestlers punched their tickets to Atlantic City for the State Championships, March 6-8.
In the North 2 Region at Union, Bloomfield once again had an impressive showing with five qualifiers, led by junior Saharia Quamina, who won the 235 pound title after defeating Rahway’s Yasmin Garcia by pin at 3:12. It is the third state championship appearance for Quamina, who took fifth place in the state last year.
Four other Bengals, Madelyn McLaughlin (126), Leanna Noel (132), Reno Prochillo and Lesly Sanchez (185) took second place in their weight classes to advance. For Noel, who took fifth last year at 145 pounds and McLaughlin, it is their second consecutive trips to Atlantic City.
In the North 1 Region in Vernon, Nutley’s Carina Rivera took second place at 185 pounds. Rivera, a senior, finished seventh in the state at 165 last year.
Heading to Atlantic City for the first time will be Nutley freshman Michelle Gavilanes who took third at 138 pounds.
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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.)