SPORTS WRAP By William Hathaway, Jr.
This past weekend in Newark, the best wrestling talent was on the national showcase front of a capacity crowd at the Prudential Center. #15 Rutgers has improved in the past couple of weeks, making the Top 20 ranking with a pair of victories at The Rock. This was part of the inaugural Garden State Grapple, and was their first ever match in the Brick City.
Other top colleges in the country that took part were North Carolina, Wisconsin and Hofstra. Rutgers went over Hofstra and North Carolina at the event.
There were local area high school wrestling teams in action. Livingston and Bloomfield High competed in the Garden State Scrap. Bloomfield’s Kira Pipkins, who started as a freshman at the school, is a two time state champion and regional champion. Pipkins also represents the Scorpions wrestling school, where head coach Omar Feliciano gave his thoughts on the competitor.
“She is a tough girl she lives for the moment. It’s a long season, and she goes one match at a time,” said Feliciano.
Pipkins competed against Auber Krazer from Pennsylvania. She also won over Kayla Vazquez in the 125lb. weight division. Other area kids competed in the national showcase, and there were even some middle school wrestling matches.
In pro football, the Giants and Jets picked up wins on the same weekend. Gang Green went to Houston and beat the Texans 21-14, while Big Blue won at home over Eagles 13-7.
Finally, in big signing news, the Mets have signed star pitcher Max Scherzer to a 3-year, $130 million contract, while college football saw Lincoln Riley leave Oklahoma for USC and Brian Kelly dump Notre Dame for LSU.
Also, on the same day that the Nets beat the Knicks in a 112-110 slugfest, it was announced that LeBron James tested positive for COVID-19. He will have to sit for at least 10 days according to league protocols.
