The Lakeland Regional High School boys and girls wrestling team produced great wrestlers and met many accomplishments during the 2022 season, setting them up with a strong team for next year.

Boys Wrestling

The Ledger interviewed the 21-year wrestling coach, Mr. Joe Cervino, to learn more about the season. According to Coach Cervino, the season went really well, ending with a 15-6 dual meet record. 

When informing The Ledger about the triumphs of the season Coach Cervino shared, “We opened the season by winning the championship at the Lakeland Tournament. We then had a great showing at the Passaic County Tournament with a second place finish.” However, this was not the team’s only achievement. “The team finished the season with a second place finish at the district tournament.” 

The team accomplished lots together, thanks to the leadership of senior captains, Dominic Schinina, Joseph Ribitzki, Julio Torres, and David Hammerle.

Individuals from the team were hitting their own goals as well. Coach Cervino said, “There were many great individual performances also with the team advancing nine wrestlers to the regional tournament, which is the most in school history.” One of those individuals was freshman Ryan Langenmayr, who had an outstanding season. The freshman achieved the unthinkable, which was covered by The Lancer Ledger earlier this month. 

Girls Wrestling

With three girl wrestlers, freshman Caroline Biegel, junior Gianna Hernandez, and senior Anastasia Regalado, the girls also managed to accomplish a lot. 

Biegel shared her perspective on the season with The Ledger. “I would describe the season as something I’ve never experienced before. I learned so much in under three months than I probably ever have about a sport.”

Biegel shared that up until this point, she never felt comfortable with any other sport than football. “In the beginning of the season, I had no idea what I was getting into. I honestly didn’t even want to wrestle. I didn’t enjoy it. But as soon as I stepped on the mat at my first girl tournament at Bloomfield High School, something just clicked. It felt right… From that moment on, I was addicted. The rush you get when you win is insane. And I wanted to feel that moment for as long as I could.” 

Biegel attended regions this season and talked about the experience. “I walked in that day of regions and saw my competition and was incredibly intimidated. I didn’t expect what was going to happen to me that day. Each match that day was an absolute dog fight, and I would do it all over again just to feel that rush of adrenaline and pure happiness.” 

Biegel credits her coaches and fellow wrestlers for helping her get to where she was this season, reaching goals she could not imagine for herself in the beginning. She said, “Seeing my coaches’ reactions and each game plan they had for me to go against a different girl made me want to keep pushing and working for states.” 

 This is exactly what she did. Later in the season, Biegel not only made it to states but placed fourth and was the only freshman on the podium. When reflecting on the moment she arrived to states she said, “I remember walking into that gym and seeing the girls that worked so hard just to feel the mat under their feet, and it finally hit me that I made it. I made it as the only freshman between both regions.” 

The Future

Even though Lakeland wrestling is losing some strong upperclassmen next year, there are talented male and female underclassmen ready to take the next step in their wrestling careers. Coach Cervino shared hopes for the future of Lakeland wrestling, “The future looks very bright for the wrestling program with 10 starters returning next season. With a busy off-season of training and competing, the wrestling team could again be competing for championships next season.”