DiPaolo Pins Her Way to West Morris History with NJSIAA Bronze

West Morris Central junior Marisa DiPaolo pinned her way to school history Saturday at the NJSIAA Girls State Wrestling Championship, bringing home bronze for the Wolfpack at 215 lbs.

A first-time wrestler and first-ever WMC female wrestling competitor, the Fencing team captain had a season for the ages.

“The coaches and me are extremely proud of Marisa,” said Coach Ken Rossi. “She is the first State Medalist in West Morris Girls Wrestling which is a tremendous feat. It was a pleasure coaching her and taking part in her journey.”

DiPaolo opened the tournament, based at Phillipsburg High School, pinning Evelyn Santana of Cherry Hill West, the South Region bronze medalist. But then the 2nd-seeded South Region champion Mia Lazarus defeated DiPaolo in the semifinals on her way to winning the State Championship.

DiPaolo’s third place finish is the highest of any Wolfpack wrestler in almost a half century, since Greg Cholish won silver in 1972. This century, Shane Metzler (2015) and Dillon Landi (2006) placed fourth, Metzler (2016) and Marco Gaita (2018) placed fifth, Nick Matthews (2013) sixth, Metzler (2017) and Justin LeMay (2019) seventh, and Colin Loughney (2020) eighth.

Fittingly, the only two wrestlers to beat DiPaolo all year finished 1-2 in the State, while DiPaolo needed to beat the 4-seed Lacey Hums in the consolation finals for bronze – DiPaolo’s third victory over Hums this season. Gianna Faura of Bloomfield won silver.

Rossi proved prescient last week after DiPaolo won silver at the North Regions, saying “She is improving quickly, and I believe she can place in the top three at the state tournament.”

After falling to Lazarus, DiPaolo pinned her way through the consolation bracket to place third – ending her storied season with her hand raised at the State Championship after a convincing 41 second pin.

Among all 128 competitors in all weight classes, DiPaolo finished fifth in “most pins, least time” with her three pinfalls in a combined 6 minutes and nine seconds. Only seven wrestlers total logged three pins.

Rossi also conjectured last week that DiPaolo, who improved rapidly in her first season, may have been ready to defeat Faura should they meet for the third time, but we will never know. Faura won by pin in their first match earlier in the year, then won again by 3-0 the second time.

Contributing writer David Yaskulka’s day job is CEO of Nature’s Logic 100% Natural pet food. He’s also Board Chair of Greater Good Charities, and a Pet Sustainability Coalition Board member.