Wrestlers Come Out on Top; 11 Hawks Pin Opponents for First Win

Down in Delaware, 132-pounder Connor Melde and Johnny Sebastian (160) of Bergen Catholic each returned to Oradell with their heads held high following the Beast of the East tournament. Melde placed fourth while Sebastian came in second during the two-day wrestling competition. Check out videos of Sebastian from the first round, quarterfinals, semifinals, finals; and Tyler Casamenti in the first round; Carmine Goldsack in the third round; and Connor Melde in the semifinals.

In their first home meet of the season, River Dell wrestlers pinned their Tenafly opponents for a 70-12 victory. Dylan Mitchell (106) started things off with a manual defeat but the 11 following Golden Hawks won by a pin. Dj Tirelli (113), Danny Lynch (120), John McLaughlin (126), Brendan Campbell (132), Vincent Cariddi (138), Nick Siegel (145), Tyler Kallensee (152), Andrew Pohl (170), Nick Baranello (182), John Buller (195) and Lenny Smith (220) each pinned a Tiger for the win.

The River Dell Lady Hawks b-ball team spent the weekend at Bergenfield High School for the second annual Dr. Steven Kaminsky Hoops 4 Hope Challenge (all proceeds raised from ticket sales were donated to the Lustgarten Foundation for pancreatic cancer research). As one of four premium games, the Lady Hawks drew Paramus Catholic Lady Paladins for their match-up but heavy double-teaming on Kate Brock (15) points and an explosive Paladins offense in the second half led to River Dell's first loss early in the season, 62-41. Jordan Bastable added 10 points, Katelyn Lee had 9, Emily McGovern with 2 and Kayla McGovern with 5. River Dell then dropped a 46-39 decision to the Lady T-Birds from Mahwah on Tuesday night. The Lady Hawks trailed 23 to 16 by the half and even though the team continued to fight could not overcome the tough Mahwah defense. Brock netted a team high 15 points while Cassidy Verrier swooshed a pair of three-pointers.

Two days after defeating St. Augustine Prep on the ice, Bergen Catholic hockey fell to the mighty Hermits at home, 2-0. While David Gerity made 27 saves between the posts, Hermits' Connor Crowe and William Manuella each found the back of the net to revenge their prior loss.

The Lady Rams proved to be no contest in the pool as the River Dell/Westwood girls swimming team picked up a 104-66 win with first place finishes in the 200 Medley Relay, 200 Free, 200 IM, 50 Free, 100 Free, 500 Free, 100 Backstroke, 100 breaststroke and 400 Free Relay. The boys swimming team almost picked up their first win of the season in a tight 86-83 loss to Ramsey. Liam Oberlander (200 Free, 100 Fly),  Albert Figueirdeo (50 Free, 100 Backstroke), Brian Seeber (100 Free), and the 200 Free Relay team (Seeber, Matt Starace, Figueiredo, Oberlander) each took first place spots.

Indoor track season began with teams from across New Jersey and Rockland County, NY heading to the Armory Track Center in New York City for the Holiday Festival Invitational. Athletes from River Dell that competed included the Golden Hawks boys' 4-x-400 relay (5th place finish in 3:39.9), Matt Koh (Shot Put, 3rd place with 48-4 3/4), Austin Berninger (Shot Put, 5th place 45-9 1/4), Brandon Jurasin (High Jump, 4th place 6-0), Calvin Hartman (Pole Vault, 3rd place, 11-6), Lucas Kaeter (Pole Vault, 5th place 11-6), Bridgette Bradley (Pole Vault, 2nd Place 9-6). The lone Bergen Catholic finisher was Ted D'Amico (Pole Vault, 1st place 12-6). Days later, River Dell's Austin Beringer took fifth place at the Garfield High Jump-Shot Put with a throw of 47-9.

River Dell girls and boys bowling both dropped 7-0 shutouts to Bergenfield recently with Max Barnett bowling a high game of 200. Crusaders bowling shut out Kennedy 7-0 behind Charles Log (high games 245, 210 and high series 625), Simon Lezaja (high series 215), Brian Hung (high series 204). BC rolled to a 6-1 victory over Hackensack with Long's high games (245, 232, 216 for a high series of 639). The Golden Hawks fell to Pascack Valley towards the end of the week with the boys being shut out 7-0 while the girls battled in their 5-2 loss. Barnett had high games of 246, 227, and 226 for an overall high series of 699.

BC bowling shut out DePaul, 7-0 at the end of the week. Charles Long had a high game of 654 (series of 247, 216), Simon Lezaja's high game of 248, and Brian Hund's high games 229 and 200.

The young Golden Hawks b-ball squad picked up their of the season, a 51-41 victory over rival Mahwah. Junior Tim Barnes (12 points) scored six of the Hawks’ 11 second-quarter points, Ben Orth (16) hit three timely three-pointers, and Sean Boland rung up 15 of his team-high 17 points in the second half. Just before the holiday break, River Dell rolled to a 54-47 decision over a tough Ramapo Raiders squad with Sean Boland's 15 points and Tim Barnes' netting 12.

Last year Crusaders basketball could not overcome their Rt. 17 rival Paramus Catholic in the but this week, Bergen got a boost of confidence as they overcame the Paladins 62-58. Squaring off, both parochial powerhouses were evenly matched and traded the lead back and forth but a strong second period and a fighting attitude propelled the Crusaders to the win. Richie Deluca led all Crusaders with 19 points (with four three-pointers) followed by PJ Reed's 13 points.