After Pascack Valley Wrestling’s win in a closely contested match last year, the Pascack Valley Wrestling Team and the Pascack Hills Wrestling Team—two storied programs— will face off again tonight in a highly anticipated match under the spotlight at Hills at 7pm.

PV Wrestling assistant coach Michael Worthington, a teacher’s aide at Pascack Valley, is a former Pascack Hills wrestler. He explains that the environment and energy under the spotlight is electric. However, he does not think it will be a disadvantage for Valley.

“To me, if there is a mat and a gym… that is all that really matters,” Worthington said. “In my years of wrestling, I have never seen an atmosphere quite like it… We are back under the spotlight, and I think we [can win].”

Worthington and the team are not afraid of the pressure this match brings. Worthington says “diamonds are made under pressure” and believes his wrestlers will rise to the challenge.

Last year’s match was close, but the win came with the help from many key seniors: Noah Martin, Justin Amato, Drew Pettacia, and Nick Savariego. Despite losing a strong senior class, Worthington maintains that next-man-up mentality.

“It is inevitable that you are going to lose some really good senior classes… you have to move on to the next crop, and we have some really great group kids this year,” Worthington said.

Worthington believes senior leader 165-pounder Ray Kohan and junior 132-pounder Antonio Cedeno are poised to lead this team to another win over Hills. Antonio Cedeno has faith that key returners and up-and-coming freshmen will give Valley a fair shot in Friday’s rivalry match.

“We [gained] a lot of incoming freshmen that came in and are making a difference,” Cedeno said. “We’ve got a pretty good shot as long as everybody goes out there and does their job.”

126-pounder Adan Cedeno, Antonio’s brother, and 106-pounder Dylan Biegel are key freshmen who have proven themselves valuable in the varsity lineup.

Antonio hopes to build off of last year’s win and take home the rivalry win to Valley for the second-straight year.

“There’s nothing better than beating Hills, no matter what the sport is,” Cedeno said. “We want to keep the streak going from last year. We are just riding on [that] momentum.”