It has been one heck of a season on the mat for Wayne Valley.
On Saturday, it got even better.
Behind 10 medalists and two champions in seniors Noah Zindaki (138) and Adam Suzay (150), the Indians were team champions at the Passaic County Tournament for the first time since 2012 – the back half of a repeat. Wayne Valley generated 183.5 points, which was clear of Passaic Tech (163), DePaul (143), Passaic Valley (118) and Clifton (116).
“It’s been a while, but it feels good,” Wayne Valley head coach Todd Schroeder said. “It’s a great county and it’s deep. I’m happy for our seniors and they wrestled phenomenal. They worked so hard in the offseason and this was all about them today. This is still about getting ready for the postseason and bigger and better goals, but to win this means a lot.”
The wins are massive for both Zindaki and Suzay, who have put in more than just hard work in the room to make it happen. Zindaki defeated DePaul standout sophomore Isaias Hernandez by 17-8 major decision in the final as Suzay won by a major decision of his own – 14-4 – over Pompton Lakes sophomore Christian Murcia, who pinned him in last year’s 144-pound county championship.
Zindaki left it all on the line with serious case of cauliflower ear that bled throughout the day while Suzay had long been dreaming about how he would will his way to victory this time.
“Noah always ran into [Ryan] Langenmayr or a stud here for three years,” Schroeder said of Zindaki. “He really wanted to be a county champ. I’m happy he put together a solid tournament. That kid from DePaul is very tough. There were some phenomenal scrambles in that match.
“I was manifesting this,” Suzay added of his title. “I woke up today and I was like, ‘I want to get a county title.’ I knew that he [Murcia] wasn’t better than me. He’s a good wrestler, but I think I just wanted it more. I came out and wrestled my hardest. I go out there with the mentality that I’m going to wrestle my way. The main goal is to win and I wrestled the whole way through. I locked in.”
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Schroeder and company won their first-ever Big North Duals title earlier this month and the final came against Passaic Tech (39-28). The program has put a stranglehold on the county this season with a 4-0 record against the competition in dual meets, and Saturday called for individual domination.
Sophomore 106-pounder Alex Holdfeld took fourth, freshman 126-pounder Johnny Pignataro notched third, junior 132-pounder Dominic Lally placed third, senior 144-pounder Cole Perry went silver, senior 165-pounder Alex Perez collected third, senior 190-pounder Sean Van Dalinda was third, senior Adam Noufal was runner-up at 215, and junior heavyweight Benedetto Cooper landed in fourth to round out the rest of the team’s medals.
At 14-0, as the county champ, and as one of the best teams in Group 3, saying Wayne Valley is hot would be an understatement. This success has dated back to last season.
The Indians were Group 3 semifinalists after a run to the North 1, Group 3 title as the bracket’s No. 7 seed. This team has a lot of those same studs that took Wayne Valley one match shy of Jersey Mikes Arena for the state championship.
They want Saturday’s effort propelling them to even greater heights this winter.
“I think as a team, we really got tight,” Schroeder said of last season. “It was great catching fire late because they put a ton of work in the offseason. They really haven’t stopped – they wrestle really tough. We have to keep that train rolling.
“I love this team, I love my coaches, I love everyone here,” Suzay added. “I look up to my coaches and everything they say, I’ll do. It feels like a family. It’s amazing.”
Ryan Patti can be reached at rpatti@njadvancemedia.com or via direct message here.
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