Thursday, January 12, 2012

Churchill withdraws from HWS tournament

Newton senior Steven Churchill will be unable to compete in this weekend's Hunterdon-Warren-Sussex wrestling tournament slated for Saturday at Hunterdon Central Field House.

Churchill suffered an undisclosed injury during the Braves' 45-18 loss to Kittatinny on Tuesday. He defeated Kittatinny freshman Tom Murphy, 16-10, in wild bout at 132 pounds, recording four takedowns in the third period.

Newton coach Eric Bollette confirmed on Thursday that his wrestler will be out of action for at least this weekend. He hopes to have Churchill back for Tuesday's dual meet against Hopatcong.

A state qualifier as a junior, the third-seeded Churchill (15-0 this season, 91-19 career) was expected to challenge for his first county title in a rugged 132-pound class that includes Belvidere's Dylan Thorsen, the top seed, and Hackettstown's Tyler Kozimor, the No. 2 seed. Thorsen and Kozimor are also state qualifiers.

In addition, Newton senior Evan Loveland (126) will also miss the tournament due to an injury. Several more changes involving other schools are expected to be announced before the tournament kicks off.

A seeding error involving the 120-pound weight class was discovered on Wednesday. As a result, Voorhees junior Russ Yarnell, originally the No. 2 seed, drops to No. 7.

Hopatcong's Joe Cruz is the top seed, followed by No. 2 Matt Gilmore of Delaware Valley, No. 3 Mike Derin of High Point, No. 4 Glenn Haines of Lenape Valley, No. 5 David Popek of Kittatinny, No. 6 John Fluck of Warren Hills, Yarnell and No. 8 Aaron Castner of Belvidere.

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