After greeting a few old friends and colleagues, Benvenuti and his Hornets went about their business and made a statement to the opposition at this weekend’s Region IV Tournament in West Orange. Benvenuti’s return was nothing less than stellar as Passaic Valley captured the team title at this past weekend’s District XIII Tournament, outdistancing runner-up Caldwell, 158-131, while last year’s team winner West Orange (121) finished in third respectively.

A total of four wrestlers earned gold for the Hornets, while another five finished in second and third place in their respective weight classes to advance to this weekend’s Tournament at West Orange High School.

Passaic Valley sophomore Ryan Dunphy dominated at 140 pounds when he defeated Verona’s Chris Hardenberg, 17-6 to earn the tournament’s Most Outstanding Wrestler award. Dunphy repeated as champion after winning District XIII and Region IV crowns at 135 as a freshman last year.

Joining Dunphy was teammate Ricky Dellano, who held off Cedar Grove’s Ross Balassone, 5-2 at 119 pounds. At 130, Andrew Greco of Passaic Valley decisioned Rich Lavorato of Caldwell, 3-0, while Joe Wassel edged West Orange’s Jeff Petigrow, 10-6.

In addition to the four Hornet wrestlers who are headed to the Region IV Tournament this weekend at West Orange High School, Aslan Bachkhaz (135) and Frank Crocco (145) also qualified after finishing second in their respective weight classes. Third-place finishers for Passaic Valley included Miguel Perez (160), John Irwin (215) and Tom Romeo (Hwt.)

After winning three District 9 titles while at Delbarton, DePaul senior transfer Trevor Melde captured his fourth District championship when he claimed the 140-pound title in the District IV Tournament at West Milford High School.

The championship victory was especially rewarding for the defending state champion, who hails from West Milford and had the opportunity to showcase his talent in front of a hometown crowd and old friends for the first time in his high school career.

One in particular friend is Lakeland senior Colton Chalkley, who also claimed his fourth district championship at 125 pounds. Both Melde and Chalkley began wrestling together while in the fifth grade and teamed up as partners in the eighth grade.

"We were warming up together and getting ready for our matches together and that brings back a lot of memories," said Melde, who was named the tournaments Most Outstanding Wrestler after pinning two-time district champion Nick Ponomarev of Pequannock in 3:13. "To win four districts together, I can’t explain it. It’s just a good feeling."

Pompton Lakes captured its first-ever district team title after edging runner-up Wayne Valley, 232.5 - 227. Pequannock (216) took third, while Kinnelon (176), West Milford (171.5) and Lakeland (117) followed. DePaul (101.5) and Wayne Hills (72.5) finished in seventh and eighth respectively.

Wayne Valley produced two district champions as junior Luke Rigoglioso claimed his third such title when he pinned West Milford junior Taylor Pevny in 3:01 at 130-pounds.

Rigoglioso’s teammate Mike Landberg won his second-straight title after edging Kinnelon’s Billy Haug, 2-1 in the 215-pound finals.

At 103, Wayne Valley’s Jeff Nichols took second after falling to West Milford’s Ryan Murphy, 5-1. Nichols’ teammate Farzan Taschayyodi also finished in second place after being pinned by Pequannock’s Josh Arnau in 1:15.

At 285, Wayne Valley’s Emrah Akil also finished in the runner-up spot after being pinned by West Milford’s Luke Ramsey in 3:39.

Top-seeded A.J. Mott of DePaul suffered a 4-3 setback to Pompton Lakes’ junior Matt Grosser at 189 after defeating Grosser, 7-2 in the Passaic County finals.

A handful of other local wrestlers finished in third place, which was good enough to advance to this weekend’s Region I Tournament at Wallkill Valley.

DePaul’s Dante Porrazzo (103), Wayne Hills’ Arbon Borova (112), and Wayne Valley’s Bobby Markowski (140), Mario Fiornelli (171) and Burak Akil (189) all finished in third place respectively.

In the District XV Tournament at Becton Regional High School, a surging Passaic County Tech nearly captured the team title, but fell short against five-time defending champions Hasbrouck Heights/Wood-Ridge who claimed the championship with 209.5 points to PCT’s 174.5.

The Bulldogs placed seven wrestlers in the finals, with five claiming gold, while the Aviators produced six individual champions. Highlighting PCT’s weekend was surprise champion Devrin Egipciaco, who defeated Ryan Spangler of Hasbrouck Heights/Wood-Ridge, 19-13 in the 112-pound finals. Edipciaco, a sophomore who is in his first year as a varsity wrestler, used a series of takedowns to claim gold and advance to this weekend’s Region IV quarterfinal round at West Orange High School.

Joining Egipciaco in the winner’s circle was teammate Vince Perry (135) and Justin Valerio (215). Perry pinned Clifton’s James DeLillo in 2:30, while Valerio edged Becton/Wallington’s Szyman Popek, 2-1 in a thrilling triple-overtime match.

Four other Bulldogs advanced to Region IV, including Kevin Manthi, who finished second at 103 with a 12-1 loss to Hasbrouck Heights/Wood-Ridge’s Michael Spangler. At 119, Tommy Perea took silver after suffering a 17-5 major decision loss to HH/WR’s Jose Vega, who claimed his fourth district title and shared Most Outstanding Wrestler honors with Eastside’s Kendall Davis.

PCT’s Bryant Lightly also advanced at 125 along with teammate Christian Broughton at 189.

The top three finishers in all District Tournaments advance to their respective Regional Tournaments this weekend, with the top three finishers in each weight class advancing to Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, site of the annual individual state championships the weekend of March 7-9.