Crusaders Clinch Non-Public Wrestling Title

It was a stunning weekend on the mat for the (16-5) who squeezed by the St. Peter's Prep Marauders in Jersey City on Friday night for a North Non Public A sectional title and then secured a Non-Public A championship on Sunday over Christian Brothers Academy (19-6-2). Harrison Utters' 8-2 decision gave Bergen the group title as the Crusaders finished 36-19. Bergen split their matches 7-7 with the Marauders but came out on top based on the fifth criteria (number of pins) and luckily a second period pin (the only one of the night) was secured by Johnny Sebastian at 160 pounds for the sectional title, 28-27.

Facing a tough Wayne Valley squad, the Golden Hawks fell 45-24 on their home mats. Danny Lynch took Dave Petretta to the mat in 1:48; Brenden Campbell had a 11-5 decision over Vincent Rigoglioso; Cenzo Cariddi pinned Sal Castigilia in 5:17; Nick Baranello came out with a 5-4 decision against Nick Dellaferra; and Lenny Smith pinned Pat Wagner in 4:51.

The Lady Hawks earned a 5th seed in the North 1 Division A state swimming tournament and outstanding efforts by Eilish Devine and Emily Reynolds were not enough to advance River Dell past Morris Knolls. Swimming fell 98-72. Devine took the 200 freestyle in2:02.53 and the 500 freestyle in 5:37.87 with Reynolds securing the 100 breaststroke in 1:17.69.

The Bergen Catholic Crusaders ran into a problem on Thursday night when the DePaul Spartans outshot BC from the posts, 73-69. Both sides were even from behind the arc picking up approximately seven treys apiece. Even though the Crusaders were led on the court by Chucky Wingate (18 points, 4 treys) and Richie Deluca (13 points, 3 treys), the high powered offense from the Spartans was to much to handle.

The Tigers roared on the court behind Chris Orozco's 27 points and Kyle Hioki's 21 as the fell 69-50 on the court. Trailing by just a few points in the first half, Tenafly dominated in the second and pulled ahead for the win. Tim Barnes was limited to 15 points for the Hawks followed by Sean Boland's 12. But the Hawks rebounded over the weekend at the Bergen Invitational with a late fourth quarter comeback to advance 50-43 over Waldwick. Barnes led with 22 points, Boland had 12.

The Lady Hawks faired better against the Tenafly Lady Tigers pushing through overtime in a 44-36 win. Having sat out for the bulk of the season with concussion symptoms, Kristen Hartwick came off the bench on Thursday night and added a trey to help lead River Dell to victory. Kate Brock netted 18 points with Kayla McGovern contributing 8 and Jordan Bastable's 7.

A third period goal by Niko Mosca kept the Golden Hawks from being shut out on the ice by Bernads, 6-1. Matthew Candrilli advanced the puck down the ice to Brendan O'Sullivan who fed Mosca to sneak it past goalie Ryan Warn. Chris Detitta made 16 saves between the posts but the Mountaineers continued to outshoot the Hawks. River Dell kept the Ridgewood Maroons off their feet for the first period and in a tight match came close to beating their rival. The Hawks netted a pair of shots to trail 3-2 by Ryan Callahan and Zach Rosenoff. Connor O'Reilly in his second appearance in goal since returning to the ice finished with 25 saves.

Max Barnett rolled his way to the State Boys Bowling tournament with a 710 and a third place finish for River Dell. He will compete in the boys indi­vidual tournament on Wednes­day, 12:30pm at Carolier Lanes. The Hawks had an overall fourth place finish in Group 3 with 2,602 points. In Group 4, the Bergen Catholic team wound up in fifth place with 2,758 points.