2 High Point wrestlers going to state tournament

Arik Hums and Nick Clayton of High Point Regional High School are headed to Atlantic City.

Hums, a senior, reached the 285-pound final, and Clayton, a sophomore, finished fourth at 120 pounds to lead the High Point contingent at the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) Region 1 championships Feb. 24-25 at West Milford High School.

Hums (28-10) scored a 2:21 fall over Bradley Maines of Sparta in the quarterfinal round before defeating JJ Wohlers, 8-2, in the semifinal round. Hums then suffered a 28-second fall to Jim Mullen of St. Joseph of Montvale in the heavyweight final.

Clayton (28-12) won his first-round match over Jefferson’s Max Alonso by tech fall (16-0, 3:30) before pinning Ryan Messick of Emerson/Park Ridge in 5:20 in the quarterfinal round. Clayton bowed to Santino Rodriguez, 13-4, in the semifinals to land in the wrestleback bracket. There, he defeated Anthony Cadicina of Ramsey, 6-0, before being edged by Sowzrawca Tsay of Wayne Hills, 6-5, in the third-place match.

Hums and Clayton each will take part in the NJSIAA state tournament March 2-4 at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City. The top four place-winners in each weight class at each of the eight statewide regions advanced to Atlantic City.

Other competitors for High Point at Region 1 included John Barron (106 pounds), Ty Woods (138), Shane Woolf (fifth at 157) and Mason Mericle (190).

Vernon High School sent three wrestlers to Region 1 in West Milford but none advanced past the first round. They included True DiGuiseppe (24-9 at 157 pounds), Daniel Lovett (21-9 at 175) and Jeyss Abreu (18-12 at 215).

Vernon boys basketball

The winningest season in Vernon boys basketball history came to an end with a heart-breaking 49-46 overtime loss to 13th-seeded Westwood in the opening round of the NJSIAA North Jersey, Section 1, Group 2 tournament on Feb. 21 at home.

The Vikings trailed, 33-24, after three quarters, but Vernon closed with a 16-7 effort in the fourth to send the game to overtime.

The team held a 46-43 lead in the extra session, but Westwood scored the final six points of the contest.

Vernon (22-4), which established a school record for victories this winter, was led by EJ Mack, who had a game-high 21 points along with nine rebounds and two assists. Alex Fessel added 15 points and seven rebounds, three assists and two steals, and Ben Jurewicz totaled two points, 15 rebounds and two steals.

Fessel finished his sensational sophomore season with 71 three-pointers and a team-leading 14.3 scoring average.