Negron wins county title, leads BHS wrestling team

By Joe Ragozzino Sports Editor

The Belleville High School wrestling team, under head coach Joseph Pizzi, enjoyed a stellar outing at the Essex County Tournament on Wednesday and Thursday, Jan. 25-26, at Richard J. Codey Arena in West Orange.

The Buccaneers took ninth place overall out of 22 high schools.

Here are the top BHS results:

Rocco Negron, a junior, took first place in the 132-pound weight class. He won three matches before defeating Matthew Farley Jr. of Seton Hall Prep by a 5-2 decision in the final. SHP is located in West Orange.

Leo Tiankee, a junior, took third place in the 120-pound weight class, defeating Jesse Wagner of Verona High School in the third place–fourth place consolation bout by pin in 5 minutes, 45 seconds.

Fernando Collado, a senior, took third place in the 165-pound weight class, defeating Damian Torres of Bloomfield High School by a 6-3 decision in the third place–fourth place consolation.

Sterling Fernandez, a senior, took fourth place in the 215-pound weight class, losing to Kenneth Yu of Caldwell High School by a 4-3 decision in the third place–fourth place consolation.

Belleville, which finished 12-11 in the regular season, was scheduled to compete in the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association’s District 9 state tournament at Nutley High School on Saturday, Feb. 18, after press time. The top-three finishers in each weight class advanced to the Region 3 state tournament at West Orange High School on Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 24-25.

The top-four finishers in each weight class in the region tournaments qualified for the state individual finals at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, Thursday through Saturday, March 2-4.