Some thoughts and observations from Phillipsburg's impressive 36-18 victory at Kittatinny on Thursday. The Stateliners now lead the all-time series, 11-6, dating to 1994, and have won five of the last six meetings.
1. Phillipsburg's wrestlers beat Kittatinny to the punch in just about every key bout and were far more aggressive in their approach. By my count, the 'Liners won four bouts as underdogs, including Shaun Maloy's 5-3 win over Dylan Wunder at 195. That came on the heels of Matt Silva's key 6-2 decision over Garrett Armstrong at 182. Two huge wins with Brandon Hull (220) and Anthony Pare (285) on deck and favored to get pins -- which they did to give P'burg a commanding 18-6 lead. Jake Brook's big stunning pin at 170 to get Kittatinny out in front early went by the wayside with the losses in the next two bouts.
2. Kittatinny, for whatever reason, has just not responded well in big matches this season. The Cougars knew coming into the season that beating P'burg and Timber Creek would be tall orders, but this was supposed to be their year against High Point. Kittatinny lost that one, 32-21, and also suffered a 33-31 loss to Warren Hills earlier this season after a disqualification loss in the final bout. Cougars coach John Gill was happy to get through a brutal week that culminated with a 20-point loss to Timber Creek last Saturday, but his team needs to step it up in order to win the program's 17th sectional title and earn a trip to Toms River. "I thought our effort [against P'burg] was respectable, but I was a little disappointed with the score," Gill said.
3. The 113-pound bout between Phillipsburg junior Zach Fisher and Kittatinny senior James Elphick was worth the price of admission. Both go for broke on the mat and each found themselves in bad spots during an action-packed three minutes. Fisher got the opening takedown and Elphick a reversal to tie it, but Fisher hit a big five-point move before Elphick got another reversal to make it 9-4 after one period. Elphick, a transfer from Pen Argyl, Pa., took bottom in the second, and after almost reversing and putting Fisher to his back, made a costly mistake that Fisher capitalized on for the pin. That one was the final nail in the coffin for the hosts. Can't wait for the rematch at Wallkill Valley in a few weeks.
4. Phillipsburg won the flip, and ironically, helped Kittatinny by taking home on the even bouts. The Cougars wanted to control the matchups at 182 and 195, which they did, and gave them the option at 132, where they were hoping to bump freshman Tom Murphy and sophomore Nick Romyns up a weight, to 138 and 145, respectively. But everything fell apart, as P'burg won both 182 and 195, en route to a 27-12 lead after Max Elling won at 126. Down 15 with five bouts left, Kittatinny could not afford to give away a possible six points at 132 and had to stay pat with the hope of winning out.
5. Freshman Jim Schuitema continues to impress me every time I see him take the mat. One night after a big win over state qualifier Mackey Price of Hillsborough, Schuitema came through with a clutch 5-2 decision over Murphy. Choosing to wrestle the Stateliner on the mat is bad strategy, as Murphy found out the hard way. Leading 2-1 after two periods, Murphy went down to start the third and was turned twice for a total of four points. Murphy, who earlier converted the bout's lone takedown, was never on bottom before the third period and you can bet he won't go there again if the two get a rematch at Region 1 in a few weeks.
Here's the complete boxscore:
PHILLIPSBURG 36, KITTATINNY 18
170 -- Jr. Jake Brook (17-9), K, p. Sr. Devin Grade (13-11), 3:59.
182 -- Sr. Matt Silva (4-4), P, d. So. Garrett Armstrong (15-9), 6-2.
195 -- Sr. Shaun Maloy (15-10), P, d. So. Dylan Wunder (21-5), 5-3.
220 -- Sr. Brandon Hull (23-3), P, p. Sr. Jake Drelich (16-10), :39.
285 -- Sr. Anthony Pare (22-4), P, p. So. Tom Smith (8-13), 2:48.
106 -- So. Christian Silva (15-11), K, d. Fr. Steve Friedman (14-13), 7-3.
113 -- Jr. Zach Fisher (21-8), P, p. Sr. James Elphick (8-1), 3:01.
120 -- Jr. Dave Popek (17-9), K, d. Jr. Andrew Kaluzny (10-9), 3-2.
126 -- Fr. Max Elling (15-8), P, d. So. Kevin Jelinek (3-5), 9-2.
132 -- Fr. Jim Schuitema (19-7), P, d. Fr. Tom Murphy (15-12), 5-2.
138 -- So. Nick Romyns (21-5), K, d. Jr. Anthony Johnson (8-6), 8-5.
145 -- So. Jake Kocsis (15-8), P, d. Fr. Brandon Olsen (10-16), 5-0.
152 -- Sr. Clarke Moynihan (24-2), K, d. Sr. V.J. Delmonico (18-10), 6-1.
160 -- Sr. Joe Moyer (14-12), P, d. So. Kieran Gerrity (21-5), 6-2.
Records -- Phillipsburg 11-3; Kittatinny 13-4.
Officials -- Bob Melillo and Gary Szucs.
No comments:
Post a Comment