By Andy Loigu

Warren Hills produced a pair of Region 1 wrestling champions at West Milford and Nick Balella of Hackettstown won a fifth place medal at the state championships in Atlantic City to conclude the local area’s boys wrestling season earlier this month.

Top seeded Augie Szamreta of Warren Hills won the Region I title at 106 pounds, and his Blue Streaks teammate Josh Lee won gold at the 138 pound level.

“We’re incredibly proud of Augie and Josh,” said Warren Hills coach K.C. Wanamaker. “Winning a region title is an impressive and highly difficult task to accomplish and these guys made it happen. It’s a product of their hard work in the practice room. We’ve pushed them pretty hard, but they have 100 percent bought in and trusted our coaching.”

Also, Tyler Redfield from Warren Hills was the District 2 champion at 132 pounds. He reached the semifinals as the second seeded competitor in Region 1.

As a team, the Blue Streaks faced a rebuilding year, with several mainstays of a sectional championship winning unit having graduated. The Blue Streaks were 11-11 in dual meets, 1-5 in the very tough Skyland Conference.

Congratulations are also extended to Balella, a Tiger on the mats who earned a medal in Atlantic City at 132 pounds.

Ladies and gentlemen, Elvis has left the building.