Crime & Safety
Cranford Wrestlers Claim Championships
The township's P.A.L. Middle School League claimed the regular season title and the championship during a tournament on Feb. 12.
In only its second year competing in the Passaic County Youth Wrestling League, the Cranford Police Athletic League Middle School Wrestling Team pulled off a pretty impressive feat: they claimed both the regular season and tournament championships this past Sunday at Wayne Valley High School.
The team squared off against at least 18 other teams - 223 wrestlers in all, from all over northern New Jersey. The tournament marked the end of what has been asuccessful season for the local students.
According to Coach Jim Wozniak, "the stakes were high at the league tournament."
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"Heading into the weekend, Parsippany and Pompton Lakes/Butler were tied with Cranford with 8-1 regular season records. It was decided that total team
points at the tournament would determine the regular season champion," Wozniak said.
A total of seven wrestlers made it to the finals during the tournament, the coach said. Three of those young athletes claimed individual titles. In addition, 10 boys placed in the top six in their respective categories.
"With so many exceptionally performances, Cranford outdistanced second place Parsippany by 38.5 team points to claim both the regular season and tournament championships in one day," Wozniak said.
In addition to Wozniak, Cranford was coached by Phil Gunther, Jerry Capece, Don Scorese and Steve Chincharik.
“The great results were only possible because of the commitment and hard work put in by each of our wrestlers,” said Jim Wozniak. “This is an exceptionally competitive league. We could not be prouder of the results and sportsmanship of the team.”
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Cranford winners include:
First place
Chris Scorese (85 lbs)
Andrew Tompkins (124 lbs)
Mike DiFillippo (130 lbs)
Second place
Luke DiGiovanni (55 lbs)
Robert Howard (60 lbs)
Brian McGovern (100 lbs)
Vince Concina (118 lbs)
Third place
Anthony Capece (75 lbs)
Thomas DiGiovanni (80 lbs)
Fourth place
Chris Wozniak (65 lbs)
Mike Nigro (95 lbs)
Fifth place
TJ Calas (106 lbs)
Sixth place
Connor Halpin (70 lbs)
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