This past Friday and Saturday, several Rutherford wrestlers competed in the Region 4 Tournament at West Orange High School. Among those that qualified were Bryan Brown, Robert Fecanin, Charles DeCarlo, and Nick Zurla. Jesse Kolich also qualified for the tournament, but lost in opening round.

Both Brown and DeCarlo dropped their matches on Friday night against place winners from Belleville and North Bergen. Brown tried his best to wrestle back on Saturday, but lost a tough fought 3 to 2 match against a Caldwell opponent. DeCarlo was unable to compete after his Friday night match. He will be graduating from the team this season, having earned a medal in the past three District 15 Tournaments.

Perhaps the most exciting and heartbreaking matches came from Rutherford senior co-captain’s Robert Fecanin and Nick Zurla. Combined this season both wrestlers have notched over 60 wins. However, only one Bulldog will be competing in the State Tournament in Atlantic City this year.

Fecanin competed in one of the toughest weight classes in the tournament at 130 lbs. His first match on Friday night pitted him against a tough Caldwell opponent. He won his match by one point despite dominating the action. Saturday morning put him inline to face off against Bob Dabal of North Bergen. Dabal a state place winner, and region champion was able to take Fecanin down and turn him to his back several times. Fecanin lost the bout, but went into the wrestle back round determined to earn a bid to AC. He won his first wrestle back in an impressive display of athleticism, but was unable to get through the tough defense of his second opponent in the consolation round. As a result, Fecanin took home a fourth place medal, but no ticket to the state tournament. Nevertheless, he leaves behind over 90 individual wins over his four years as a Bulldog and an example of fine leadership. His presence will be missed greatly next season.

On another note, Bulldog ace, Nick Zurla was able to lumber his way through a tough field of wrestlers at 189 lbs. to earn a chance at the number one seeded wrestler in his weight class. He registered a pin on Friday night, and a decision in Saturday’s semi-final round. He lost by virtue of a one-point decision in the final to a Bloomfield wrestler who is currently ranked number five in the state. Despite a very calm demeanor, it is fairly safe to say that Zurla is extremely excited to be able to get a chance to wrestle against the best that New Jersey has to offer. He will represent the town of Rutherford and Rutherford High School as he wrestles this coming Friday in Atlantic City. Over 330 wrestlers start the year in each weight class, and he is among the last 16 at 189 lbs.

Interestingly enough the Bulldogs have sent a wrestler to the State Tournament for the past nine seasons consecutively. Most recently Cory Dunn placed second and third, while former teammate Brad Marquart was a round from placing in 2005. Other trips to AC have been made by Matt Marquart (now an assistant coach at Hasbrouck Heights/WW), and Anthony Bachmann (now a volunteer assistant at St. Mary’s). Harry Marquez went down in the late nineties. Place winners Rich Lynch and Bill Somers were down in the early nineties.In the early eighties the Bulldogs had their first runner-up in Gary Lisanti.