Jake Aferiat | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

A lifelong Bergen County resident, Jake Aferiat joined the NJ.com high school sports staff in September 2022. A 2021 graduate of Penn State University, Jake spent all four years at Penn State's student newspaper, The Daily Collegian, where he did three stints as a sports editor, as well as served as opinions editor, features editor and covered Penn State's national championship winning wrestling team for all four years. Upon graduation, Jake interned at The Sporting News from August 2021 to February 2022, before finally landing at NJ.com full-time in September. At NJ.com, Jake covers boys soccer, wrestling, softball and the state's governing body for high school sports, the NJSIAA. Above all, he strives to tell the stories of the athletes and coaches around the Garden State with integrity, passion and tries to make it about the people behind the sport rather than the sport itself.