Hanover Park’s Vincenzo LaValle and West Morris’ Tommy Borgia are two of Morris County’s best hopes to gain medals among the upper weights in Atlantic City at the state wrestling tournament next weekend.

When the two set foot on the mats at Boardwalk Hall, they will have taken different paths.

LaValle and Borgia have used different matches to their advantage.

LaValle (190), a two-time state third-place finisher and a two-time Morris County Tournament champion, lost in the MCT finals to Mount Olive’s Tyler Bienus. That loss seemed to kick LaValle’s training into a higher gear in the Hornets wrestling room – just in time for the postseason.

In the Region 3 finals, he beat Bergen Catholic’s Pantaleo Varga, 8-3. LaValle took control early and didn’t sit on his lead with a third-period takedown even though he was comfortably ahead. He’ll need to continue that approach in AC. LaValle (36-4), seeded third, will open up with a match against Westfield’s Jake Zemsky (19-6)

“190 is one of the toughest weights,” Hanover coach Tyler Branham said. “Vincenzo is wrestling at his best right now and he’ll need to continue doing that at that weight.”

LaValle placed third as a freshman two years ago two years ago and then wrestled back for third last year, which wasn’t easy. He lost in the states semifinals to St. Peter’s Prep’s Anthony Harris, 3-2, but bounced back to win three straight matches in the wrestlebacks to place third, which is a staggering accomplishment when you consider the heartache of just missing out on reaching a state final. 

“It’s tough coming back because it is such a setback,” LaValle said. “You have to stay mentally strong and that is how I am wired. I’ve always been that way.”

“What he did last year took mental toughness,” Branham added. You cannot dwell on losses, even though that can be difficult.”

That is what he has done after losing to Bienus in the MCT finals.

“I trust my coaches and I put in the work to get better since then,” LaValle said. “I’m in a good weight class now and I expect to be right in the middle of everything.” 

LaValle finished off his three District 12 opponents in the first minute before excelling at West Orange.

The 215-pound Borgia, meanwhile, used a pin over Butler’s talented Luca Toriello (1:37) earlier this month to build up his confidence, which is now at an all-time high. He beat Bergen Catholic’s Mason Marck, 4-3, to win the Region 3 crown.

“He is getting confidence in his abilities,” West Morris coach Chris Marold said. “At one time, he didn’t have this confidence but we were always telling him, ‘You can do it.’”

Things started changing when he pinned Toriello on Feb. 10.

Borgia has been coming to West Orange to watch the regions for awhile and has witnessed the exploits of West Morris standouts through the years such as Michael Campanaro, Colin Loughney, Justin LeMay, Marco Gaita, and his cousin Matt Borgia.

“You see those guys wrestle and you want to do the same thing,” Borgia said. “You want to do what they do.”

And now that means going to AC and making a name for himself. Borgia (34-5), seeded 13th, will face Colts Neck’s Amir Shakhnavazov (31-7).

“I want to get onto that podium,” Borgia said. “I’d like to go right now and get started.”

Region 3 takeaways

1. Morris Knolls wanted to host the MCT next year, but it appears that it’ll remain at Mount Olive, which has proven to be a terrific host. No sense in messing with a good thing.
2. It appears Delbarton will not return to the MCT. The Green Wave have won the last 15 team championships, a record that will likely never be broken. Two thoughts on Delbarton in the MCT: Yes, it was great to see New Jersey’s best program and some of the best individuals up close. But the Green Wave took away all of the excitement from the MCT because they have simply become too good. Most of the matches with Delbarton wrestlers has become anti-climactic. Back in the day, the MCT had a lot of excitement when several different public schools were vying for the team title. An all-star team of Morris County wrestlers still couldn’t touch Delbarton.
3. The MCT will likely return to a 6 p.m. final round next year, with the third- and fifth-place matches earlier in the afternoon. Region 3’s finals were shared with consolations for third and fifth. Tournament director Stephan Zichella’s reasoning for that was that last year’s Region 3 finals seemed almost anticlimactic because a lot of fans were gone halfway through the final round. But with the finals and consolation bouts going on at the same time, the buzz remained in the West Orange gym right up until the last bouts. But on the negative side, the best kids in the region shouldn’t share the mats with the others.
4. The state tournament welcomes the top four finishers from each region, but we are hearing rumblings that it might return to the top three beginning next year. Stay tuned.
5. Nutley heavyweight Brandon Toranzo was voted Outstanding Wrestler at Region 3 after beating Bergen Catholic’s returning state fourth-place finisher Benjamin Shue, 4-2. I don’t have a problem with him winning OW, but I do have a problem with coaches filling out their OW ballot and then leaving before all of the finals are completed. In one of the final few weight classes, Morristown’s Jack Myers pinned his opponent in 48 seconds, which is certainly OW worthy. But some votes went to Toranzo before Myers took the mat. Myers’ win was not as good as Toranzo beating a returning state fourth-placer, but certainly worthy of consideration. At the Morris County Tournament, Myers was named OW in a very close vote, but a lot of coaches left before Mount Olive’s Tyler Bienus beat Hanover Park’s two-time returning MCT champion and two-time state third-place finisher Vincenzo LaValle. Nothing against Myers, but I thought Bienus was the clear OW, but some of the coaches left after Myers won – but before Bienus won. Ballots are basically worthless if a coach doesn’t stick around for the entire finals. Those ballots should be tossed in the trash!

Here is the coaches Final Top 25:

1. Delbarton 17-4

2. St. Joes- Montvale 12-1

3. St. Peters Prep 16-5

4. CBA 15-2

5. Southern 18-2

6. Phillipsburg 18-1

7. St. John Vianney 17-4

8. Camden Catholic15-2

9. Don Bosco 14-5

10. Paramus Catholic 10-3

11. Paulsboro 22-2

12. Del Valley 20-2

13. Hunterdon Central 21-3

14. Rumson Fair Haven 18-1

15. Ridge 21-2

16. Mount Olive 16-5

17. Kingsway15-2

18. Delsea 19-4

19. Bergen Catholic 7-7

20. St. Joes – Metuchen 20-5

21. Caldwell 23-2

22. Cranford 19-3

23. Washington Twp 17-3

24. Red Bank Catholic15-5

25. West Essex 10-2