Wrestling: Hopatcong's Haines, Burgos Earn Trips to State Finals

After a wild weekend of wrestling in the Region 1 tournament at Wallkill Valley Regional High School, Hopatcong fell short of crowning a regional champion but placed two runner-ups, Dan Haines (125 pound) and Miguel Burgos (160 pound). Both earned an invitation to the state finals in Atlantic City next weekend.

Haines put up a game challenge in the finals, but Francavilla controlled him for three periods and ultimately won a 6-2 decision en route to becoming only the third person to ever win four Region 1 titles.

Haines and Francavilla started the match evenly as each wrestler worked for an advantageous position with no success until Francavilla scored a takedown with just three seconds left to take  a 2-0 lead at the end of the first period.

After Haines scored with a quick escape from the bottom early in the second, Francavilla took control of the match with another takedown and added one more in the third to seal the win.

Haines’ second-place finish earned him his fourth trip to states.

“He did a good job against me,” Haines said. “He pretty much controlled me the whole time.”

“We had our ups and downs in this tournament,” Chiefs head coach Eric Fajerman said. “Danny was not happy with his loss, but he lost to a two-time state champ. [Francavilla is] a champion for a reason."

Rather than dwell on his loss to Francavilla, Haines said he would use it as a learning experience for the state tournament.

“I just have to look at what I did wrong against Nick, and fix those problems in practice,” Hanes said. “This was the only time all season that someone was able to control me the whole match like Nick did. I figure if I correct the mistakes I made here, no one else is going to be able to control me like he did.”

“I’ll work on what I did wrong today. He’s a two time-state champ and ranked tops in the state, so if I work out what I did wrong today against Nick, I’m sure no one else is going to be able to beat me as bad as he did. I just have to work it out in practice this week and get ready for the state tournament.”

Miguel Burgos made it to the final round of the 160-pound division before dropping a 9-2 decision to Ryan Harrington of Mendham. But his second-place finish still earned him his first trip to Atlantic City.

Despite his loss in the finals, Burgos was excited to head to states.

“I feel good about my performance.” Burgos said. “Getting an invite to Atlantic City was one of my goals coming in. Harrington was a tough opponent. He was really strong and technically good.”

Burgos expects to place high in the tournament.

“I want to be wrestling on Sunday,” Burgos said. “I’m glad to be able to make it to the state finals, but I want to place.”

“Miguel did some of his best wrestling in this tournament,” Fajerman said. “For a kid that started wrestling in eighth grade to make it to the regional finals is impressive.”

Giancarlo Cruz finished fourth at 112 pounds after a 5-2 loss to Justin Bellis (High Point) in the third-place consolation round.

Finals

189: Mike Amada (MO) dec John Mallon (HP) 3-1

215: Taylor Bernstein (Mont) maj Brandon Hull (P-burg) 10-2

285: Billy Smith (HP) dec Evan Chrustic (N) 6-0

103: Jan Rosenburg (MK) maj Nick Lizza (Mont) 16-5

112: Ryan Nicotra (Hack) dec Joe Mazza (Rox) 6-0

119: Dante Porrazzo  (DP) dec Billy Hagany (HP) 5-3

125: Nick Francavilla (HP) dec Dan Haines (Hop) 6-1

130: Matt Lane (P-burg) dec R.J. DeGoerge (Peq) 3-2

135: Dillon Artigliere (Rox) fall Garrett Scrivani (K) :24

140: Drew Wagenhoffer (HP) dec Kevin Collins(Ran) 5-2

145: Joe Gaccione (HP) dec Clarke Moynihan (K) 6-3

152: Mike Monarque (J) dec Dan Brockerhoff (P-burg) 8-6

160: Ryan Harrington (Men) dec Miguel Burgos 9-2

171: Ethan Orr (HP) dec Mike LaBell (LV) 9-0

3^rd place

112: Justin Bellis (HP) dec Giancarlo Cruz 5-2