WOHS wrestling enjoys historic season

By Steve Carfagna
Staff Writer
Head coach Stephan Zichella had plenty of reason to be happy with this past season as his West Orange High School varsity wrestling team finished 13-2. Along the way, the Mountaineers went on to achieve many “firsts.”
For starters, the Mountaineer coach said his team set a school record by winning three tournaments - Dover, Middletown South and Essex County tournaments.
In addition, WOHS shared the Super Essex Conference-American Division regular-season title with Seton Hall Prep of West Orange. In the state team tournament, the Mountaineers continued to enjoy much success, beating Ridgewood and Randolph to advance to the championship for the second straight year. WOHS fell to Phillipsburg in the final.
“Those were all huge wins for our program,” said the coach, noting his team’s win over Seton Hall Prep earlier in the year was also another major highlight for the team this season.
Most of all, Zichella said he was especially pleased with his team’s efforts in claiming the ECT title.
“That was the second time in four years we’ve won this tournament and just the second time we’ve ever won it,” he said of the county title. “For us, to be dominant like we did, in winning it by about 60 points, was just an amazing achievement and it was certainly amongst the many highs.”
Looking forward, Zichella is excited with the group that was slated to return next year, led by sophomore Anthony Angelone and junior Emiliano Betancor, who both competed in the State championships in Atlantic City. Zichella said his team would need to replace a total of seven seniors.
“It’s sad to say good-bye to those seven graduating seniors,” he said. “Those guys have put in a lot of time in this program and they will be missed.”
Indeed, those wrestlers will be missed and Zichella is hopeful wrestlers like Betancor will help pick up the slack. In particular, Zichella said he will certainly be expecting big things out of Betancor, who earned a fourth-place finish in the state.
“Emo is a great kid with such a wonderful attitude,” he said. “He is a gentle giant and I just can’t say enough about him.”
And along with Angelone and Betancor, Zichella said his team would need the younger athletes to help compensate for the loss of the seven seniors.
“They need to be motivated to improve,” he said of his returning wrestlers. “We will have some tough kids thrown into the varsity scene next year, and in addition to that, we hope for other young guys to continue to develop as well.”

Worrall Community Newspapers

2009-10 All-Area Wrestling

Weight Name School Year
103 Bobby Trombetta Nutley Freshman
103 Chris Rosetti Bloomfield Junior
103 Nick Spitaletta Glen Ridge Freshman
103 Oscar Cabrera Belleville Senior
103 Khari Jarrett Columbia Soph.
112 Chris Lantz Bloomfield Senior
112 Justin Colon Belleville Sophomore
112 Harwin Wong West Orange Senior
119 Frank DeLorenzo Nutley Senior
119 Andrew Adams Columbia Junior
119 Rick Gencarelli Belleville Soph.
125 Michael Ferinde Nutley Junior
125 Desalegne Fried West Orange Soph.
125 Alex Lopez Columbia Junior
125 Alexander Reeves Irvington Junior
130 Michael Veneziano Bloomfield Freshman
130 Vin Scuttaro Nutley Senior
130 David Goldenberg Columbia Senior
135 John Grimaldi Glen Ridge Senior
135 Connor Chauncey Bloomfield Senior
135 Dante Montes Nutley Senior
135 Jake Drappi West Orange Senior
140 Fabian Rosario Bloomfield Senior
140 Jake Mulinge West Orange Senior
140 Brandon Keena Nutley Freshman
145 Romario Herbert Irvington Sophomore
145 Ian Chauncey Bloomfield Sophomore
145 Marc Corino Belleville Junior
145 Karim Singleton West Orange Senior
152 Cavan Penberthy Bloomfield Junior
152 Evan O’Keefe Glen Ridge Senior
152 Joseph Anello Belleville Sophomore
152 Hakim Williams West Orange Senior
160 Vinny Angelone West Orange Senior
160 Mark Borcan Bloomfield Senior
160 Nick Fruncillo Belleville Freshman
171 Joe Finkler Bloomfield Junior
171 Nick Gaeta Nutley Sophomore
171 Anthony Angelone West Orange Soph.
189 Emeka Ndichie Bloomfield Senior
189 Pascal Louis West Orange Junior
189 Omar Shabazz Columbia Junior
215 Chase Hamilton Belleville Senior
215 Aleks Berman West Orange Senior
HWT Christian Marinaro Bloomfield Senior
HWT Emiliano Betancor West Orange Junior
HWT James Goode Columbia Senior

Wrestlers of the Year: Chris Lantz, Bloomfield; Emiliano Betancor, West Orange
Coach of the Year: Stephan Zichella, West Orange
Editor’s note: The All-Area is selected by the Essex County sports staff of Worrall Community Newspapers and consists of schools in the WCN publishing area of Belleville, Bloomfield, East Orange, Glen Ridge, Irvington, Maplewood, Nutley, Orange, South Orange, West Orange and Vailsburg. The athletes chosen also must reside in those municipalities.