Newton, Kittatinny wrestlers going to state tournament

Thaylor Sibblies and Michael Melillo of Newton High School and Ethan Dalling and Reece Smith of Kittatinny Regional High School each punched their respective tickets to Atlantic City.

Sibblies, a senior, remained undefeated this season by winning the 157-pound championship over Dalling at the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) Region 1 championships Saturday afternoon, Feb. 25 in West Milford.

Melillo will join Sibblies in Atlantic City as the senior finished third at 138 pounds. Dalling, a sophomore, and Smith, who placed third at 144, also qualified for the trip south.

The top four place-winners in each weight class at each of eight statewide regions advance to the state tournament March 2-4 at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City.

Sibblies (27-0) was the top seed for the 157-pound weight class and defeated Joseph Rozynski of Pope John, 12-3, in the quarterfinal round before pinning Hunter Morton of Pascack Hills in 3:20. He then won by a 9-2 decision over Dalling in the final.

Melillo, a senior, was seeded fourth at 138 pounds, and reached the quarterfinal round, where he lost to Ramsey’s Christian Fojon, 5-1.

He rebounded to win twice in the wrestleback round, then avenged his earlier loss with a 4-3 tie-breaking victory over Fojon in the third-place bout.

Other Newton wrestlers competing at Region 1 included Mason Bucci (15-16 at 126 pounds), Aaron Stone (18-15 at 165), Brayden Nolan (20-12 at 175), Daniel Barry (21-13 at 190) and Brody Guerra (25-6 at 215).

Dalling was seeded third at 157 and defeated Gavin Seiler of Westwood, 3-1, in the quarterfinal round before edging second-seeded Gustavo Alarcon of Don Bosco Prep, 2-1, in the semis. Dalling (31-2) fell for just the second time this season with his loss to Sibblies.

Smith, a junior, won his quarterfinal match with Logan Hrenenko of Sparta, 2-1, in a tie-breaker before bowing 21-8 to Yannis Charles of St. Joseph of Montvale in the semis.

Smith then pinned Hrenenko in 3:40 in his third-place bout to improve to 25-6.

Other Kittatinny wrestlers at Region 1 were Jacob Savage (13-14 at 126 pounds), Chris Casale (16-16 at 132), Andrew Knutelsky (23-13 at 138), Bryce Coesfeld (29-5 at 150) and Tucker Lockburner (27-7 at 190).

Lenape Valley

Four Lenape Valley Regional High School wrestlers competed at the Region 2 championships at Mount Olive.

Sophomore Jakob Bell (27-11) pinned Osiris Harris of Dover in 3:38 in the first round of the 138-pound bracket before losing to Ryan Ford of Bergen Catholic in the quarterfinal round in a 29-second fall.

The remaining trio of Lenape Valley wrestlers included sophomore Marc Pavese (25-11 at 132), senior Eric Perez (25-9 at 190) and sophomore Gage Graziano (25-10 at 138).

Wrestling begins at 1 p.m. Thursday, March 2 with the preliminary and pre-quarterfinal round matches. It continues at 9 a.m. Friday, March 3 with wrestlebacks followed by the quarterfinals at noon and semifinals at 6 p.m.

The 2022-23 wrestling season concludes Saturday, March 4 beginning at 9 a.m. with the third, fifth and seventh place bouts. The championship finals are slated for 4 p.m.