The NJSIAA District wrestling championships were held last weekend and several local wrestlers earned district gold.
St. Peter’s Prep won the team title once again at District 16 and crowned four champions. Kevin Innis, the state’s top-ranked wrestler at 215 pounds, won his third straight district title. Alex Richardson (125) and Tony Pafumi (160) each won for a second time and Francisco Colom won at 140.
North Bergen also crowned four champs. Julian Quintero (130) also won his third district crown, with Jorge Reyes (119), Chris Duran (152) and Francisco Yanis (189) also taking home a district gold medal.
Secaucus’ Adam Swift (112) also won his second District 16 title, while Hudson Catholic’s Hector Garcia won the heavyweight title, becoming one of only a handful of district champs from the school.
And then there’s the other area district champ that somehow gets lost in the shuffle, except here.
Enrique “Kiki” Romero won the District 7 championship at Leonia High School last Saturday, claiming the top prize there at 130 pounds. Romero is a senior at Weehawken High School and competes for the Bogota/Weehawken wrestling cooperative.
Romero became Weehawken’s first district wrestling champion since 1986.
Since Weehawken doesn’t have enough wrestlers to field its own team, it’s been competing as part of a co-op for the last 15 years or so. Most of that time, the co-op was with neighboring Secaucus, but the Patriots have enough participants to put a team out on their own.
So for the last three seasons, a handful of Weehawken students like Romero – seven in all this year – get on a bus after school is over and trudge their way up to Bogota for wrestling practice. It’s a huge sacrifice and commitment for a high school kid to make, simply to wrestle.
“It really is demanding,” Romero said. “We usually don’t get home until 9:30 or 10 at night. It’s a huge commitment. It’s extremely difficult to do schoolwork coming home like that. There were times my grades suffered, but I worked hard to bring them back. It’s not the easy way to do it, but if you want to wrestle, it’s what you have to do.”
Romero said that he got interested in wrestling when he was a freshman.
“It was a brand new thing to me then,” Romero said. “I had a friend who was on the team and he encouraged me to come. Back then, we went to Secaucus every day. I liked the competition and liked the action. I got so much enjoyment out of wrestling. I wanted to stay active all year.”
Romero also plays football in the fall and is a member of the Weehawken golf team in the spring.
“It was extremely tough for me when I first started, because I didn’t know anything,” Romero said.
Romero won only six matches as a freshman, but improved to a 24-win wrestler as a sophomore, his first year competing with the Bogota wrestlers. Last year, Romero was 28-10 and was second at District 7. This year, he’s the 130-pound champ.
“It’s a huge accomplishment,” Romero said. “I love representing Weehawken in any way I can. It’s always a part of who I am. This is a great feeling, almost a surreal feeling.”
Romero will head to the Region 2 tournament this weekend in Hackensack, hoping to earn a trip to the state tournament in Atlantic City. The rest of the aforementioned wrestlers will compete at Region 4 in West Orange, also with the hopes of moving on to Atlantic City, where wrestling dreams are made…
Speaking of dreams, St. Peter’s Prep sprinter Najee Glass won the NJSIAA Non-Public A indoor track 400-meter run championship last weekend at the Bennett Center in Toms River. The sensational sophomore Glass blazed the track in 48.77, setting a new meet record, breaking the record of former Seton Hall Prep great Clayton Parros last year. And Parros was considered the best sprinter in the state last year. Glass has a very good chance to win the overall Meet of Champions title this weekend…
For all those who believe that former St. Anthony All-American Mike Rosario was leaving Rutgers at the end of the season, guess again. He’s staying put. Despite whatever may happen to head coach Fred Hill, Rosario likes the idea of playing so close to home so his mother, sister, and friends can come see him play. The rumors of Rosario transferring elsewhere are completely false…
So what’s the deal with the new Union City football coach? Last week, it was believed to be a done deal, with a contract being drawn up and an official announcement to be made sometime this week. But now, there are rumors coming from the hierarchy that it’s not official and there are other things that have to take place.
Which likely means one thing: Someone else got in Mayor Brian Stack’s ear and has forced the process to either be delayed or thrown back into the hopper altogether. Stay tuned…
Hudson Reporter Boys’ High School Basketball Top Five: 1. St. Anthony (22-2). 2. St. Peter’s Prep (21-3). 3. North Bergen (20-3). 4. High Tech (17-7). 5. Marist (16-7).
Hudson Reporter Girls’ High School Basketball Top Five: 1. Bayonne (19-5). 2. Secaucus (19-3). 3. Lincoln (15-7). 4. Holy Family Academy (17-3). 5. St. Anthony (18-4)….
The Hudson County Tournament finals will be held on Saturday, with North Bergen trying to topple mighty St. Peter’s Prep in the boys’ final and upstart Lincoln trying to unseat top-seeded Bayonne in the girls’ finale. Can either happen? Not a chance. The Marauders win, despite Noel Allen’s best efforts (Allen had 35 in the semifinal win over Marist) and the Lady Bees win, despite Lincoln coach Tommy Best getting his girls to press and trap all over the floor. We’ll have more from the county finals next week… — Jim Hague
Jim Hague can be reached at OGSMAR@aol.com.