Hopatcong Wrestler Wins NCAA Heavyweight Championship

Zach Rey flexed, pointed into the stands and bounded off the mat.

The Hopatcong native was finally champion.

Rey won the NCAA wrestling heavyweight title Saturday night at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. The first-seeded Lehigh University junior beat American University's third-seeded Ryan Flores, 2-1, in the finals.

Rey finished third in the tournament last year.

He went ahead, 1-0, on Flores, who handed Rey his season's only loss in March, with a second-period escape. But he found trouble in the third period while trying to corral Flores, who nearly nailed a reversal.

"[I was ] just focused on trying to roll him through," Rey said. "But I found a leg and held onto it and added to my riding time and got a national championship."

Rey cut Flores with about 10 seconds remaining in the bout. But Rey had accumulated more than a minute's riding time, which gave him a point at match's end to seal it.

Rey, who won two heavyweight state titles at , had made a collegiate career out of close bouts. He defeated No. 5 Dominique Bradley of Missouri, 2-1, on riding time in the semis.

Rey credited his national title to "staying in good position, not giving up stupid points and fighting."

The pair wrestled a scoreless first period. It stayed that way until Rey earned an easy escape with 1:50 left in the second for a 1-0 advantage.

Rey graduated from Hopatcong in 2007.