Pascack Valley has six of its wrestlers competing for a medal at the BCCA George Jockish Holiday Wrestling Tournament. Only seniors Matt Beyer and Tommy Chiellini made the semifinals on Thursday, and therefore are competing for the championship in their weight classes, but Tyler Pizzi, Stephen Soravilla, Luke Petaccia, and Andrew Dembowski are still alive in wrestlebacks and will earn Top 8 medals.

The tourney resumes Friday at Hackensack High School with the semifinals at noon, followed by wrestleback rounds, consolation finals, and then the finals at 6 p.m. The Indians currently sit in sixth place in the team standings with 76 points. St. Joe’s (141 points) has opened up a comfortable lead over Emerson/Park Ridge (97 points) heading into Friday’s action.

On Friday, Dec. 28, PV’s consolations and winner’s bracket matches continue at Hackensack where the six guys will compete for medals.

After missing the tournament last year with an injury, Beyer made it to the semifinals at 152 pounds. After a first-round bye, he pinned Anthony Fernandes of Lodi in 1:38 and then won by technical fall against Teaneck’s Alfred Faison. His quarterfinal matchup against Cresskill’s Kenny Spadaccini also ended in a technical fall in the third period by the same score of 19-4. In that bout, Beyer had seven takedowns, including four in the first period.

Beyer draws St Joe’s junior Stefano Sgambellone, last year’s 132-pound champion, in the semifinals. Beyer defeated the top seed, Jonah Schechtman, by a 3-1 score in a dual match last Saturday. In a rematch of the 2017 final in this weight class, Schechtman, last year’s champion, meets Don Bosco’s Christian Jimenez in the other semifinal.

Chiellini also advanced to the semifinals after a first round bye at 182. His round of 16 pin came against Northern Highlands’ Ben Kaplan in 1:11, and his quarterfinal victory came in a 2:48 pin against Lodi’s Anthony Asencio. Chiellini faces Ramapo’s Luke Brantly in the semifinals. Last year, Chiellini came in second place at 160 after losing to now-graduated Matthew Dallara from Hasbrouck Heights. Brantly placed fifth at 170 last year.

Pizzi made his first quarterfinal appearance this year after pinning his first two opponents. His quarterfinal matchup came against Westwood rival Trent Furman. Pizzi fell short 2-0 to Furman, and now gets placed into the wrestlebacks. He now finds himself at an opportunity to improve upon last year’s placement, where he lost in the second round and wrestled back with four victories to take fifth.

Soravilla was the first of the PV wrestlers still alive to get placed in the wrestlebacks, but he made the most of it by rattling off three straight to put him in medal position. He did not place in the tourney a year ago.

Petaccia’s first victory was a pin in 3:47 against Ramsey’s Jason Menemey. Then, he won in a 7-3 decision over Ridgewood’s Luke Sharma. Petaccia lost against the top-seeded Anthony Sciuto from Northern Highlands in a 10-5 decision. Sciuto placed second at 182 in last year’s tournament.

Dembowski has an opportunity to place at 285 after his first ever Holiday Tournament. In fact, the senior wasn’t even on the wrestling team until this current year. His 5:40 pin against New Milford’s Emmett McElroy was all he needed to move on to the quarterfinals, where he lost to North Bergen’s Nicholas Huntt.