NEWTON, NJ (January 23, 2025) – Sussex County Community College dominated the competition with commanding wins over Northampton Community College and Bergen Community College on Wednesday night by scores of 39-11 and 52-0.
In their first action in a month, the Skylanders came out energized against Northampton. Both Roman Citro and Michael VanderMeulen notched points early with 15-0 tech fall victories at 125 and 141 over Jaden Figueroa and Derek Cruz.
However, the Spartans were able to bounce back as Diego Dominguez and Xavier Arner earned decision victories at 133 and 149 to stem the bleeding. Dominguez defeated Chris Casale 11-8 and Arner defeated Thaylor Sibblies 7-3, although Arner would be docked a point with an unsportsmanlike conduct violation.
With the score at 10-5 Sussex, the Skylanders would win five of the next six matches to run away with the match. Carlos Delgado and Aidan Hallowich pinned both their competition at 157 and 165, while Jose Alvarenga Giron earned an 18-1 tech fall victory over Victor Chapman at 174. After Northampton’s Luke Velekei broke that streak by pinning Shawn Pawlowski at 184, Mason Mericle and Ryan Flammer took the 197 and 285 matches by forfeit to lock in the 39-11 Sussex win.
Next up for the Skylanders was Bergen and they brought their game to another level, as the Bulldogs failed to score a single point. Citro, Casale, VanderMeulen, and Sibblies won the first four matches to give Sussex a 22-0 lead right out of the gate. VanderMeulen was the only one not to pin his opponent, but still finished with a 14-4 major decision win over Brian Vargas.
Both teams then double forfeited at 157, but this would be the first of five straight matches that the Bulldogs would forfeit to the Skylanders. Hallowich, Alvarenga Giron, Pawlowski, and Mericle all benefited from this, and Flammer capped off the shutout by pinning Diego Camargo to make the final score 52-0.
Sussex County now makes a quick turnaround for their next event, a tri match hosted by Rowan College of South Jersey. The event takes place Saturday afternoon on Jan. 25.
