Aquinas’ Aronoff goes 4-for-4 in championship
POMPANO BEACH — St. Thomas Aquinas senior Grant Aronoff had another stellar performance to win his fourth consecutive title at the BCAA Wrestling Championship at Blanche Ely High School on Saturday.
Aronoff, a University of Pennsylvania signee, cruised to an 8-2 win in the 145-pound championship against Coral Springs Charter’s Niko Chitty.
Aronoff is the third wrestler all-time to win four BCAA titles, joining Guy Gibson and Alex Uhre who were both also from St. Thomas Aquinas.
Aronoff has won two state championships and two national titles in his high school career under coach Robert Wimberly.
“It’s been fun wrestling in states, so I’m looking forward to it again,” Aronoff said. “It would be a great feeling [to win] for the third time. It’s very exciting to continue to wrestle in college.”
Cardinal Gibbons won their fourth championship in their last five years and their 15th title overall under coach Frank Pettineo Jr.
The Chiefs had 292 points with five championship winners, two runners-up and two wrestlers who placed third.
Cardinal Gibbons’ Amadeus Concepcion (152 pounds) and Osvani Ley (160) each won a third career BCAA wrestling title. Anthony Temes (132), Nestor Nunez (182), and Kai Crull (195) all finished in first place.
Cypress Bay finished second with 205 points. Santiago Portillo improved his record to 39-3 as he dominated in the 113-pound finals. Matthew Toribio won the 220-pound title.
St. Thomas Aquinas earned third place as John Pope won the 285-pound title while Coral Springs finished fourth as Felton Morris claimed the 138-pound championship.
Douglas had two championship winners as Jason Wolk won the 106-pound division and Steven Erched took the title in the 126-pound finals.
Nick Luna (Cooper City) won first in the 120-pound division while Samir Senatus (Fort Lauderdale) earned the 170-pound title.
Erched, Ley, and Pope were all named the most outstanding wrestlers of the tournament.