Belleville wrestling coach Joe Pizzi is used to being greeted with an eager, yet inexperienced group of first year wrestlers who enter the room at the start of every preseason.
While it often comes with its fair share of growing pains and struggles in dual matches, the start of this season has been a nice reminder of the growth that the Bucs have received with more experience.
“We’re 4-1 right now, which is something that we really had to work for,” said Pizzi of the team’s best start since 2018. “I didn’t think we were going to be a very strong dual team because of the lack of experience we had in a lot of spots. They really have persevered through that and really stepped up to answer the call.”
Leading the way has been a pair of supremely talented lower weight wrestlers in Jirrard Ferrer and Lorenzo Tiankee, both of whom were regional qualifiers and combined to win 60 matches last season.
Ferrer, a 106 pound sophomore, has been brilliant to start the season, going 11-0 with titles at 106 in the Kearny Holiday Tournament in December and this past Saturday at the annual Belleville Buccaneer Classic. Ferrer was named Outstanding Wrestler at the Belleville Buccaneer Classic after going 3-0 with two pins and tech fall.
He’s been so dominant, some teams have elected to forfeit the weight rather than send an opponent for Ferrer.
“He doesn’t sulk when they don’t throw somebody out. He understands the name of the game,” Pizzi said. “When he does wrestle, he makes sure he gets bonus points for and he does his job.”
Tiankee, a 126 pound junior, is 8-3 on the season, highlighted by a title at the Kearny Holiday Tournament.
“He’s one of our leaders,” said Pizzi. “He’s a very tough and aggressive and hard wrestler. A lot of the kids look up to him.”
The lower weights have long been a strength for Belleville over the years and while Ferrer and Tiankee are the latest in that group, they are hardly the only ones in that area contributing, particularly in dual meets. Junior Anthony McKinney is 4-3 at 120 pounds and fellow junior David Celi is 7-5 at 132 pounds after going just 9-21 a season ago. Senior Rocco Russomanno at 138 pounds, is another wrestler hovering around .500 and is on the verge of matching his win total from last season.
Freshman Joseiah Irias has wrestled his way into the starting spot at 144 pounds. Sophomore Daniel Apuy (6-5) starts at 150 pounds, but has kicked up to 157 at times. Raileigh Fernandez, a junior, is the main guy at 157 pounds and has been competitive there and at 165.
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Jason Bernstein | Observer Sports Writer
Jason Bernstein joined The Observer as its sports writer in March 2022, following the retirement of Jim Hague. He has a wealth of sports-writing experience, including for NJ Advance Media (nj.com, The Jersey Journal, The Star-Ledger.)