Wrestling team places 4th in tournament

Jesse Araujo, Colin Menier and Spencer Ribitzki each won individual championships as the West Milford High School wrestling team finished fourth at the Dover Holiday Tournament on Saturday afternoon, Dec. 16.

West Milford amassed 140 points in the 10-team field behind West Orange (160.5 points), Roxbury (149) and Lenape Valley (145).

Araujo, a junior, won the 126-pound title with a pin in 2:47 over Justin Peterson of Lenape Valley, while Menier, a senior, also scored a fall in just 1:40 over Union’s Ariel Azeredo.

Ribitzki, a senior, earned a fall in just 1:23 over Summit/Chatham’s Sam Henry in the 285-pound final.

Other place-winners for the Highlanders included AJ DeFede (fifth place at 113 pounds), Andreas LaManna (fifth at 132), Daxton Keller (fifth at 144), Jake Pasek (sixth at 150), Nicholas Brandao (sixth at 157) and Ryan Tartarilla (second at 215).

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

Girls basketball

The Highlanders couldn’t have asked for a better start to the season.

In the opener Thursday, Dec. 14, West Milford defeated Paramus on the road, 46-30, behind 16 points from Avery Vacca and 12 points from Adison Arciniega.

Laurel Space and Sarah Benowitz each added eight points for the Highlanders, who led, 29-12, at the half.

On Saturday, West Milford played its home opener and rolled to a 50-7 decision over Clifton as Vacca and Arciniega each had 11 points, Benowitz added nine points and Aubrey Fritz dropped in eight points.

The team was set to play at DePaul at 4 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 21.

Boys basketball

The Highlanders suffered two losses to open the 2023-24 campaign.

On Dec. 14 at home, West Milford dropped a 76-59 decision to Paramus despite a team-high 20 points from Ognjen Ljusic and 11 points from Tyler Liguori.

On Saturday, West Milford suffered a 60-32 loss at Clifton.

The Highlanders were scheduled to play host to DePaul at 7 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 21 before playing at Ridgefield Park at 1 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 23.

Ice hockey

The Highlanders remained undefeated with two more big wins last week.

Timmy Riche and Aiden Lindgren each had two goals and an assist, Kyle Gregory had a goal and two assists, and Joe Barroquerio had a goal and an assist as West Milford earned a 6-2 victory over Mahwah on Friday, Dec. 15 at the Ice Vault Arena in Wayne.

On Sunday night, Dec. 17, Lindgren and Sean Hughes each had a goal and two assists; Riche, Barroquerio and Jake Pedicone also scored a goal; and Gregory and Brayden Treloar each added two assists as West Milford defeated Ramapo, 5-1, also at the Ice Vault.

Nick Lombardo, who had 17 saves against Mahwah, made 26 stops against Ramapo.

West Milford (4-0) is scheduled to play Lakeland at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 22 at the Ice Vault.

Bowling

The Highlanders won their first match of the season when they defeated Lakeland, 7-0, at Holiday Bowl in Oakland.

Mike McCloskey rolled a high series of 614, including a high game of 237, followed by Roberto Sanchez (557 series), Jaden Foster (405) and Mia Harrison (274).

West Milford (1-1) was scheduled to bowl against Wayne Hills at 3:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 21 at T-Bowl Lanes in Wayne.

Indoor track

West Milford was set to participate in the Paul Schwartz Invitational at 4:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 21 at Rockland Community College in Suffern, N.Y.