Bengals Have Perfect Night at Region IV

You couldn’t do better than the Bloomfield High School wrestling team did Tuesday night at the Region IV quarterfinals.

The Bengals went 4-for-4 in bouts at West Orange High School with a fifth wrestler, , already in Friday night’s quarterfinal after winning the District 14 title at 189 pounds last Saturday.

All four pre-quarterfinal victories came via the bonus point route. Senior 112 pounder Chris Rosetti (31-4), junior 119-pounder Michael-John Costantino (29-9), junior 145-pounder Ian Chauncey (21-12) and senior 152-pounder Cavan Penberthy (20-9) advanced.

The tournament resumes Friday night at 6 p.m. with the quarterfinal rounds. The semifinals are 9 a.m. Saturday and wrestling continues throughout the day. The top three finishers in the 14 weight classes advance to the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association Wrestling Tournament March 4, 5 and 6 at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City.

Rosetti, a third-place region finisher last year at 103 and state tournament qualifier, beat Passaic junior Tykker Womack 18-6, a major decision win. Costantino beat North Bergen sophomore Rick Gonzalez, 14-0, another major decision. Chauncey beat Ridgefield Park senior Kevin Melley by technical fall, 16-1 at 2:49. Penberthy ended the season of Kearny senior Miguel Matos in a fall at 2:39.

One Bengal won a region title last year – 112-pounder Chris Lantz, who went on to place fifth in the state tournament.