WEST ORANGE - Livingston's wrestling team didn't brought home any first place winners from Saturday's Region 4 Championships at West Orange High School, but five Lancers earned entry into the upcoming State Finals in Atlantic City.
Jason Estevez, Brandon Bright and Michael Silverberg will wrestle in the State Finals this coming week after each finished second in their weight classes on Saturday.
Estevez lost 3-1 to Chris Lantz of Bloomfield at 112 while Bright dropped a 1-0 decision to Passaic Valley's Frank Crocco at 145. Michael Silverberg was pinned at 215 in the first period by Kevin Innis of St. Peter's Prep.
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A couple of other Lancer wrestlers won their consolation matches to aslo earn entry into the State Finals (the top three in each weight class qualify). Both P.J. Farinella at 119 and Justin Estevez, Jason's brother, at 135 won close consolation final matches to grab third place. Farinella nipped Katon Washington of Montclair 3-2 while Justin Estevez tipped Rutherford's John Boyle 4-3.
Back to the second place finishers, one of the toughest losses of the meet came in the 145 final where Bright battled Crocco the entire bout before the Passaic Valley wrestler scored a single at the start of the third period.
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As the seconds were ticking off, Bright appeared to have scored a reversal, but the referees were not giving him the two points as the clock ran out.
"These refs are good," said Bright after the match. "I am just going to take this and learn from it. It will motivate me more down in the finals."
Bright added that since the two had faced each other before, he tried to change it up this time.
"He knew how I wrestled so I tried a couple of different shots," said Bright.
The two previsouly battled in the 145 final last year. In that bout, Bright came out on top 3-2. This time, though, the point went on the other side.
But for the Livingston senior, he is looking to Atlantic City, where he hopes to do better than last year when he came close to placing (the top eight place) in Atlantic City.
"I am way more experienced than last year," said Bright.
For Silverberg, it was disappointing to be pinned, but he is going to savor his trip to the State Finals.
"My goal was to get to the (regional) finals," said Silverberg. "I knew Innis was a very good wrestler … I'm going down there and leaving it all on the mat," said Silverberg, who is a junior. "My goal is to win at least one match down there (Atlantic City) and I have my senior year."
For Jason Estevez, it was a tough loss to Lantz, whom he battled evenly until late in the match when the Bloomfield wrestler scored a couple of points.
"I wanted to get first, but I will take it," said Estevez. "I lost my focus a little bit against him. He is a good wrestler." Estevez is only a freshman and still has a few years left to work toward the title.
Jason will be joining his brother, Justin, a senior, after he defeated Boyle in a critical bout that propelled Justin to the state finals. For Justin Estevez he was able to reach the consolation final after upsetting the third seed in the weight class, Dante Montes of Nutley, in the wrestleback.
P.J. Farinella, who was the fourth seed, defeated Washington in the 119 consolation final. To get to the consolation final, Farinella defeated Nutley's Frank DeLorenzo in the wrestleback.
Region 4 Wrestling finals
112: Chris Lantz, Bloomfield, defeated Jason Estevez, Livingston, 3-1
145: Frank Crocco, Passaic Valley, defeated Brandon Bright, Livingston, 1-0
215: Kevin Innis, St. Peter's Prep, pinned Michael Silverberg, Livingston, 1:58
Region 4 Wrestling consolations
119: P.J. Farinella, Livingston, defeated Katon Washington, Montclair, 3-2
135: Justin Estevez, Livingston, defeated John Boyle, Rutherford, 4-3
