Verona High School wrestling went to Bloomfield for the Danny Gray Cup quad meet on Saturday and came away with team wins in two of its three match-ups. The meet is in honor of a wrestler who was a 1994 graduate of Bloomfield High School and who passed away from cancer in 2014.
Verona was strongest in its 54-24 win over Columbia. There were pins for Matt Steitz (106), Derek Bernardino (120), Dean Palmer (132), Nick Handler (145) and Jaden Czupak (152).
In the 39-27 win over Cedar Grove, PJ Shaw (126) pinned Michael Matos in just 34 seconds. There were also pins for Tyler DaCosta (152), Ryan Huze (170), and John Pavia (182). Nick Handler scored a 9-7 decision over Nicholas Catalano.
But Verona came up at the short end of a 51-27 match with Bloomfield. Even so, Derek Bernardino got an 11-7 decision on Ernesto McRae and Dean Palmer pinned Justin Stephens after a long three minutes. It took Nick Handler almost that long to pin Ramin B-Razavi. Jack Huze (160) pinned Darren Delgado and John Pavia pinned Alex Soja.
Verona wrestling is 6-10 overall and 4-6 in conference this season. The boys will be back in action on Monday night for the varsity sectionals.
Photos copyright Joanna Breitenbach. Used by permission.
