For area high school swimmers, wrestlers and basketball players, it is go time.
While there are the state tournaments at the end of the season, the Essex County tournaments bragging rights between neighbors—and often rivals—are on the line.
With the inception of the Super Essex Conference this year, sports like swimming will crown a county and conference champion.
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The best wrestlers in Essex County began grappling in the preliminary rounds Friday night at West Orange High School. The tournament will continue today with semifinal and championship rounds.
The preliminary rounds of the Essex County boys and girls basketball tournaments also begin today.
Find out what's happening in Livingstonfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
James Caldwell High School will host a doubleheader, starting with the No. 15-seeded girls basketball team hosting No. 18 Cedar Grove at noon, followed by the No. 15 boys team hosting No. 18 Livingston at 2 p.m.
The Caldwell boys basketball team beat Livingston 47-41 on Jan. 12. The winner will play second-seeded East Side, which received an opening round bye, in Newark next weekend.
Of the area boys teams, Newark Academy has the highest seed at sixth and will host No. 27 Glen Ridge.
The West Essex boys team is seeded No. 26 and will travel to face seventh-seeded Newark Central at 1 p.m.
On the girls side, Mount Saint Dominic is seeded sixth and received an opening round bye. The Lions will host the winner of No. 11 Irvington and No. 22 Arts High School on Feb. 6.
The West Essex girls are seeded seventh and will host No. 26 Technology today at 1 p.m.
The Livingston girls team, seeded No. 25, lost its opening round game to No. 8 West Orange 58-23 on Thursday.
On the mats, West Essex wrestlers could contend for the title. The Knights will be aided by the withdrawal of Bloomfield, because of a contagious skin condition to one of its wrestlers who could have been exposed to other teammates.
Other teams vying for the team championship will be Seton Hall Prep, West Orange and Nutley. Livingston could also do well.
Four area wrestlers garnered top seeds for this weekend's meet. A pair of Livingston wrestlers grabbed No. 1 seeds in Brandon Bright at 145 pounds and Jason Estevez at 112. One of the top wrestlers in the area and perhaps even in the state is West Essex's Anthony Perrotti, who is the top seed at 119. Caldwell's Andrew Kratsch looks for gold in the county at 140 as the top seed.
In the pool, the boys and girls swimming championships will begin today at 9 a.m. at Seton Hall University.
After finishing third at last year's county championship, the Mount Saint Dominic's team seems primed to contend for this year's title after beating defending champion Montclair and Millburn in dual meets this season. However, the Mount's aware that dual-meet success doesn't always translate to championship meets.
The Mount's Lauren Buckworth and Caldwell's Katherine Canavan are two of the premier swimmers in the competition.
On the boys side, Livingston, Caldwell and West Essex will be gunning for Seton Hall Prep. The Pirates have won 13 straight county team titles.
