On Wednesday, January 14th, Colonia High School defeated J.P. Stevens in a wrestling match at 6:00pm at Colonia.
Going into the match, Colonia’s record is three wins and five losses. The wrestling team entered the match with their confidence high knowing they defeated J.P. Stevens last year and that their current record is four wins and nine losses. Despite Colonia’s not-so-stellar win/loss record, a few of the wrestlers are having a great season. Leading the team with the most wins is Freshman Luke Pero with 14 wins and 2 losses, followed by Keion Cherry with 11 wins and 4 losses, and Senior Sam Pero who is currently undefeated with 10 wins under his belt.
The match started out with a loss in the 106 pound weight class with Matt Sternesky being pinned. At 113 pounds, Azam Naqvi kicked off the winning momentum with the close win by two points in overtime. This was by far the most exciting match of the day. At 120 pounds, Luke Pero wins his match with an easy pin, adding to his team-leading record. Nick Coppa has a big win, a major decision (winning by at least 8 points) at 126 pounds. At 132 pounds, Keion Cherry wins his match by 4 points. Mahmoud Bachir barely pulls off the win at 138 pounds, ending the match with a score of 2 to 0. Mike Calcedo had one of the toughest matches of the night, wrestling at 145 pounds, he fought of being pinned for almost the full 6 minutes, until eventually succumbing to his opponent and was pinned. 152 pound wrestler, Zack Farawell, gets the quick pin, followed by Abdal Abrahim being pinned at 160 pounds. Next at the 170 pound weight-class, Coach Dan Grasso’s strategy put in Pete Gelmine for the easy forfeit, and bumped up Sam Pero to 182, who got the easy win, adding to his undefeated record. Joe Wolfe then took the win with a pin at the 195 pound weight class. At 220 pounds and heavy-weight, Abdul Hasnat and Dave Rezes were both pinned.
The match ended with Colonia winning with 43 points to J.P. Stevens 30 points, making this Colonia’s fourth win of the season.
