Trovato Repeats at Atlantic City for Fifth Place

Paramus High School sophomore Joe Trovato reclaimed his fifth place title at 120-pounds after the State Wrestling Championships in Atlantic City. Joined by Alex Sebahie and Brandon LoPresti at the meet, Trovato was the lone Spartan to medal this year.

Trovato had early wins on the first day by defeating Matthew Russo (Jackson Liber­ty), 14-7 and then stunned Monroe’s Sal Profaci, 4-3 with a late takedown. Heading into the quarterfinals, he drew eventual second-place finisher Brenden Calas and ultimately fell 2-1. 

Dropping into the consolation rounds, Trovato met with Russo for the second time and once again escaped with a 2-0 decision. He would then breeze past Delbarton's Christian Innarella, 2-1 to complete against Cherokee's Alex Baider for a fifth place medal. Trovato snagged a late takedown with less than a minute left in regulation at 120 to score a 4-2 comeback and reclaim his fifth place title.

Teammates Sebahie and LoPresti struggled in the first round and both found themselves sent to the wrestlebacks early. Sebahie, a freshman, was pinned in 58 seconds by Alex Huxford in his opening match and then defeated 13-2 by Ridgewood's Joseph Oliva in the first round of wrestlebacks.

LoPresti was sent to the consolation rounds after a 10-3 decision by John Balboni (Brearley/Dayton) and then faltered 3-1 to Cesar Balmaceda (Atlantic Cty).

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