The West Orange High School wrestling team has gotten off to a 2-0 dual meet start with emphatic conquests of Cedar Grove and Millburn, and the Mountaineers aren't even at 100 percent.
West Orange routed Millburn 51-16 Thursday night, winning nine bouts — six by fall. The Mountaineers will be off until Tuesday when they will be out to successfully defend their team title at the Walter Woods Tournament at Middletown South High School.
Coach Steve Zichella is very happy with the way his team is competing, and is looking forward to having junior 189-pounder Anthony Angelone and senior 285-pounder Emiliano Betancourt back in the lineup sometime next month. Both wrestlers advanced to the NJSIAA State Tournament last year with Betancort placing fourth in Atlantic City.
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The Mountaineers areeagerly waiting for their return, and are competing very well.
"What I'm happy about is our ability to pin, that's important," said Zichella. "We've picked up a lot of pins in the tournament (Dover Tournament Saturday) and in the two dual meets. I'd categorize us as being inexperienced, but we're competing at levels I didn't think we'd be at at this point in the season. There were some question marks about some of the kids, but we've been pleasantly surprised."
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Sophomore Nikolas Holandez (103 pounds), senior Dallas Sellers (112), senior Dawit Rutty (125), junior Desalegne Fried (130), junior Nigel Brown (135) and junior Connor Vanderhoff (145) had the pins. Holandez, Sellers, Rutty, Brown and Vanderhoof had first-period falls.
Senior 215-pounder George Christian had a major decision win and sophomore 189 pounder Joseph Bibbo and senior 171 pounder Louis Pascal won by decision.
"Our light and middle weights have carried us so far," said Zichella. "We'll be receiving a boost when the other two come back."
Angelone and Betancor won Walter Wood Tournament titles last season when the Mountaineers beat Toms River South 134-125 ½ for the team title. Louis and Fried were fourth.
"We're not necessarily looking to win," as a team, Zichella said. "But the idea is to get as deep in the tournament as we can. We're hoping our kids compete well and continue to do what they've been doing."
The tournament is made up of 16 schools, mostly from the Shore Conference.
