Just one year after going 16-8 with two Passaic County champions, the West Milford Highlanders’ Wrestling Team has gone into rebuilding mode. The team lost three of the top wrestlers in the county. Spencer Ribitzki and Colin Menier both placed first in the Passaic County Tournament, and Ben Marchetto placed third in the County Tournament.
The team lost seven seniors to graduation and will lose another eight after this season, but the Highlanders have many underclassmen preparing to take over next year.
As the season is coming to a close, the black and gold have a 8-17 record. They beat Monroe in their fourth match of the year, and won eight of their last twelve matches, including two different three-match winning streaks. Senior Jesse Araujo tore through the 132-pound weight class and captured first place in the Passaic County Coaches Tournament. Junior Nick Triverio placed second in the Tournament’s 157-pound weight class, falling to Passaic Tech’s James Conklin in the finals. Lastly, sophomore Tyler Martinez placed fourth in the 113-pound division of the tournament.
Now the Highlander’s focus is on the District Tournament on February 22 at Kittatinny High School. Team members are hoping that their county champion , as well as a few others, make it deep into the tournament.

“I was trying to keep myself calm, think about what I go over in practice, what I do best. Scoring off of his attacks, getting to my attacks, basically [making] it as big of a gap as I could. It feels good. It’s definitely a great feeling. It feels like my hard work, all the hours I put into the sport payed off. The last couple of seconds on the clock running down I looked up to my teammates, started smiling. It was just one of the best feelings I’ve ever had in that sport. Definitely great.”

-Senior Jesse Araujo on winning the county tournament

The girls wrestling team has been gaining more and more attention from people across the county.
The team was formed last season when then freshman Jackie Sloan and Maddie Hammett joined the wrestling team. This season, two more girls have joined the team, freshmen Taylor Keegan and Ariana Canipe, and they are leaving their hearts on the mat.
The girls have had a successful season. Through January 30th, Jackie had a record of 15-5, Taylor’s was 12-4, while Maddie was 8-5 ,and Ariana was 6-6. Girls have Regions Sunday, February 23 at Vernon High School.
The final event the team hosts here at the high school is March 1, which is the Region 1 Tournament.
Good luck to both the girls and boys as their seasons come to a close.