It was a night on the mats that Nutley’s Izzy Timonera won’t soon forget.
During Thursday’s Essex County Girls Wrestling Championships, Timonera became Nutley’s all-time wins leader in girls wrestling and became a three-time County champion at 100 pounds.
]Nutley left West Orange’s Codey Arena, having crowned three county champions. Joining Timonera with a title was Michelle Gavilanes, who repeated as the 145 pound champion. On the boys side, junior Aidan Rotbaum won his elusive county title at 165 pounds after finishing second and fourth the previous two years at 150.
The Essex County Championships served as the latest milestone for Timonera in her recovery from an elbow injury that denied her the opportunity to compete in the state tournament last March.
Timonera, who returned just in time for the start of her senior season, improved to 19-4 on the year. After earning a first round bye, Timonera earned her spot in the record books when she pinned Belleville’s Ashly Sarceno in just 15 seconds in the semifinals.
In the final, Timonera endured probably the most awkward win of her career when she defeated her younger sister Janizza Timonera by pin at 2:40 to give her 81 career wins.
“Izzy made a goal to make it to Atlantic City. She’s had a great career, but she’s never made it to Atlantic City,” head coach Mike DiPiano said. “She’s focused and dialed in on that right now. She’s wrestling really well. The goal is to make it to Atlantic City and be on the medal stand. She believes she has a chance and we believe she has a chance.”
Janizza Timonera, a freshman, made the final after defeating Bloomfield’s Kasey Salgado by decision in the first round and pinning West Orange’s Alana Everett in just 28 seconds in the semifinals.
Gavilanes, a sophomore, met little resistance on Thursday, winning all three matches by pin in the first period. Gavilanes (19-3) needed just 51 seconds to pin West Orange’s Jean Primm in the first round, then defeated Airyon Mitchell of Columbia in 1:22. In the final, Gavilanes pinned Freddie Murray of Newark Collegiate in 1:19.
“She’s just a solid, solid wrestler,” said DiPiano. “There’s really nobody in the county at her weight right now (that can compete with her). But that doesn’t take away from the accomplishment. She’s wrestling tough.”
Also medalling for Nutley were Gracelyn Archuleta (4th, 107 pounds), Peyton Rotbaum (5th, 126 pounds) Laila Marsala (6th, 120 pounds).
Belleville had four medal winners, led by Sarceno (4th, 100 pounds) and Tiffany Guanoquiza Restrepo (4th, 126 pounds). Jessica Calle (5th, 120 pounds) and Isabella Chirino (6th, 107 pounds) also medalled on the day.
Bloomfield won the team title, crowning four individual champions in Adrienne Rodriguez (107), Natalie Lopez (120), Lesly Sanchez (185) and Saharia Quamina, a three-time champion at 235.
Rotbaum, the top seed at 165 pounds, earned a first round bye, then quickly punched his ticket into the semifinals with first period pins over Kyle Lam of Livingston and Micah Holt-Virgil of Bloomfield.
In the semifinals, Rotbaum pinned George Dakar of Cedar Grove in 4:21. Rotbaum took home the championship with a 13-3 major decision victory over St. Benedict’s Finn McKeon. It was the 20th win of the season for Rotbaum (20-4), including 12 consecutive matches.
“I meant a lot to him to be on that stage to be at the center mat. It’s another one of his goals,” DiPiano said. “He’s starting to hit his stride after his football injury. He’s really getting healthy right now, gotten a little lighter and it’s absolutely showing in his wrestling.”
Nutley’s Christopher Cifelli medalled for the third year in a row when he placed second at 138 pounds. The Maroon Raiders senior won three consecutive matches before losing in the final to Caldwell’s Solomon Soriente.
Nutley, which finished fifth in the team standings, sent nine wrestlers to the medal podium. Joining Rotbaum and Cifelli were Evan Blanchard (3rd, 120 pounds), Nolan Brewer (3rd, 285 pounds), Patrick Chell (4th, 132 pounds), Valen Delaney (5th, 106 pounds), Luke Finkelstein (7/8th, 113 pounds), Adam Youseff (7/8th, 126 pounds) and Michael Koster (7/8th, 144 pounds).
Belleville had three medalists as Jirrard Ferrer finished third at 106 pounds, Lorenzo Tiankee took fifth at 126 pounds and Raileigh Fernandez placed 7/8th at 157 pounds.
Bloomfield had seven medal winners, headlined by a trio of fourth place finishers in Jayden Morales (175), Terrence Taylor (215) and Ayden Fox (285).
On Jan. 18, at the Bergen County George Jockish Wrestling Tournament, Lyndhurst/North Arlington’s Dean Silva finished fifth at 190 pounds. Louis DellaVolpe, a Nutley native now at Don Bosco Prep, took fifth at 165 pounds.
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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.)