This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Schools

High School Winter Sports Teams Ready for Season

Five Bridgemen and Lady Bridgemen teams will be competing this season for Fort Lee High School

The winter sports season has arrived, and the Bridgemen and Lady Bridgmen are ready for what awaits them.

The Bridgemen basketball team started their season on Dec. 16 with a loss against a tough Bergenfield team but will not let that deter them moving forward. The team is very young but hungry to get things going as they do return a lot of talent.

Junior captain Nick Gentile is a great passer, while sophomore Josh Ford will be attacking the rim for Fort Lee. Senior Tyler Sanders is the team’s best rebounder, and the coaching staff also expects productivity from sophomore Deshaun Washington and junior Tonderai Mushandu. Assistant coach James Puliatte knows that the team must keep their goals in order.

Find out what's happening in Fort Leewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“Our goal is to have a winning season,” Puliatte said. “We first have to meet that goal in order to achieve anything greater.”

The 12-man Bridgemen basketball roster is as follows:

Find out what's happening in Fort Leewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

  • Christiphor Ashman- Sophomore
  • Jason Concepcion- Senior (injured for season)
  • Shawn Cunningham- Sophomore
  • Josuwha Ford- Sophomore
  • Nicholas Gentile- Junior CAPTAIN
  • Muntaser Hajjaj- Junior
  • Tonderai Mushandu-Junior
  • Rany Negaida- Senior
  • Sean Omeragic- Senior
  • Lewis Ramirez-Senior
  • Tyler Sanders-Senior
  • Dashaun Washington-Sophomore

The Lady Bridgemen are looking to capitalize on what could be considered the best season in Fort Lee girls' basketball history last year.

Seniors Ally Long, Megan Gimson, Anthe Nikolaidis and Renee Mattesich are key returners for the team, and heady coach Stacy Zafiris knows that their leadership will be just as important as their on-court play.

“The strongest part on the team would be that we have great leadership from our four seniors and that they are constantly teaching and helping the younger girls get better,” Zafiris said. “One area we need to improve on is the amount of turnovers we have. If we can handle the ball and limit our turnovers we can contend with our opponents. The girls are extremely focused and eager to learn. We have many new faces on the team so they are working together to get better. That is one of their goals is to continue to get better and learn from their mistakes.”

The Lady Bridgemen basketball team's roster for this season looks like this:

  • Senior Guard Ally Long, #12
  • Senior Guard/Forward Megan Gimson, #32
  • Senior Forward Anthe Nikolaidis, #10
  • Senior Forward Natalia Kim, #20
  • Junior Guard Renee Mattesich, #5
  • Junior Guard Lisa Amarini, #31
  • Junior Forward Taylor Gorruso, #22
  • Junior Guard Bianca Gureralp, #15
  • Junior Guard Danielle Elmers, #33
  • Sophomore Guard Caitlin McKenna, #23
  • Sophomore Forward Erica Amarini, #2
  • Freshman Forward Taylor Selmom
  • Head Coach:  Stacie Zafiris

The Bridgemen wrestling team is looking to build on last season when they finished 10-13. The team opened up on Dec. 17, competing in the West Morris Central Tournament.

The wrestling team’s experience is in their upper weight class, and they do return key wrestlers this season.

Senior Raymond Corona weighs in at 145 pounds, senior Mike Erenberg at 170 pounds, senior Anthony Durdan at 182 pounds, Devin Sokolich at 106 pounds, Eric Hicks at 106/113 and Kevin Sabaci is weighing in at 285 pounds.

Head coach Alex Almeyada hopes for a successful season.

“Our outlook is to be competitive and wrestle to the team’s fullest potential,” Almeyda said. “Our goal is to improve on last year’s accomplishments."

The indoor track schedule opens up at FDU on Dec. 22, and both the boys and girls teams are looking to make a statement and improve on a decent season last year.

For the boys team, senior Jenya Dyagilev returns to run hurdles, senior “Yu Yu” Fahmy will run mid-distance, senior Frankie Goris will run sprints and Nick Gogic will run hurdles and the high jump. But the team has plenty of other runners who will be making a significant impact as well.

For the Lady Bridgemen, senior Nicolette Papas returns to run distance, senior Sophia Luppino returns for hurdles and the high jump, junior Hannah Cirone returns to run distance, sophomore Melanie Plattner, returns to run distance and others will make a major impact this season.

Head coach Ed Garrison is excited for both teams.

“Both the boys and girls indoor track teams should be amongst the top teams in Bergen County this season,” Garrison said. “The senior-dominated boys’ team has great depth and is able to cover every event effectively. The junior-dominated girls’ team looks to continue to improve as the season goes on. The success of the season will be whether or not the underclassmen can move up quickly enough to help the boys’ and girls’ team in their quest for the Big North American Division Championships.”

No one from the bowling team could be reached for this story, but the team promises to contend and  look to build on a nice season last year.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?