Traverso is 7th twice at Meet of Champions

Senior Noah Traverso placed seventh at the triple jump with an effort of 43-8 and seventh in long jump with a personal best leap of 21-6.50 to pace West Milford High School at the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) Meet of Champions at the Ocean Breeze Track and Field Facility in Staten Island, N.Y.

Chloe Brijbag, also a senior, placed 24th in the girls shot put with a throw of 34-1.

Here’s how other West Milford teams fared last week:

Wrestling

Senior Benjamin Marchetto went 2-2 in a solid showing at the NJSIAA state tournament at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City during the weekend.

Marchetto, seeded eighth at 144 pounds, won his opening match Thursday, Feb. 29, earning a 3-1 overtime victory over Jackson Obe of Montgomery before bowing to ninth-seeded Donovan DiStefano of Wall, 8-3, in the pre-quarterfinal round.

Marchetto then dropped down to the consolation bracket and earned a 7-4 decision over Kristian Lenny of Chery Hill West in the second round of wrestlebacks Friday, March 1. His season concluded when he was pinned by Jackson Memorial’s Cael Huxford in 1:29 in the third round of wrestlebacks.

Marchetto, who finished his season at 34-3, had qualified for the states by winning the Region 1 championship Feb. 24. He also won the District 4 title Feb. 17.

Ice hockey

The West Milford-Pequannock-Pompton Lakes tri-op squad, seeded fifth, saw its season end with a 5-0 loss to top-seeded Tenafly in the semifinal round of the NJSIAA Public North Co-Op Tournament on Wednesday, Feb. 28 at Codey Arena in West Orange.

The game was the only time this season that the Highlanders were held scoreless.

West Milford (15-8-1) trailed by just one goal before Tenafly struck for four third-period goals. Senior goalie Nick Lombardo finished with 29 saves.

The team was paced this year offensively by Aiden Lindgren (23 goals, 22 assists), Kyle Gregory (15 goals, 26 assists), John Biegel (11 goals, 17 assists), Sean Hughes (11 goals, 16 assists), Joe Barroquerio (16 goals, 10 assists), Jake Pedicone (four goals, 19 assists), Timmy Riche (13 goals, 10 assists), Brayden Treloar (three goals, 10 assists), Matthew Watt (one goal, eight assists), Raymond Goetz (two goals, six assists), Anthony Weisse (four goals, one assist) and Carson McGuire (two goals, two assists).

Lombardo finished with 517 saves, good for a .907 save percentage.

Girls basketball

The Highlanders, seeded 10th, suffered a 45-31 loss to second-seeded Mahwah in the quarterfinal round of the NJSIAA North Jersey, Section 1, Group 2 tournament there Feb. 26.

Laurel Space had a team-high 13 points to lead West Milford, which finished its season at 14-11.

The team was led this season by Avery Vacca (11.2 points per game, 42 three-pointers), Space (8.3 ppg), Adison Arciniega (6.2 ppg) and Sarah Benowitz (8.6 ppg, 50 three-pointers).