Bush, Filipe Still Impressive As State Wrestling Championships Begin

Shore Regional High School senior Luke Bush and Long Branch High School senior Luis Filipe are still competing in the state wrestling finals at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, although both will have a long road ahead if they want to end their weekends on the medal stand.

Filipe, coming off of a Region VI championship at 135, earned a first-round bye and faced Conor Melde of Bergen Catholic. Melde also was a region champion,  coming out of Region II, and had a 36-2 record entering the tournament. By the time their match had ended, Melde had worked his way to a 7-2 win, sending Filipe into the consolations.

Filipe will face Garrett Scrivani of Kittatinny who took second in the Region I Tournament. He also held a 31-2 record entering Friday night's action.

For Bush, his night started with a match against Desmond Townes of Morristown in the preliminary round. After taking third in region competition last week, Bush prevailed in his opener, 3-1. His next opponent, Pelal Deep of Passaic Tech proved just too strong as he beat Bush with a 17-2 technical  fall. Deep was no slouch himself as he entered the night with a 27-2 record.

Bush will face Daniel Pettit of Ocean City on Saturday. Having taken second in Region VIII, Petit had a 30-4 record before the wrestling began on Friday night. He dropped into the consolations with a 23-8 loss to James Green of Willingboro.

Check back with Patch on Saturday to see how the two wrestlers do as they work their way toward the medal stand.