Phillipsburg's wrestling team is on a major roll right now and caught in the wake was a Paulsboro team that was simply steamrolled in a 63-9 ambush on Saturday at The Pit.
The Stateliners (12-3), coming off an impressive 36-18 win over Kittatinny on Thursday, strung together nine straight wins, including seven pins (eight total) as they handed the Red Raiders (18-3) one of their worst defeats in the history of the storied South Jersey program. Paulsboro still holds an 8-5 edge in the series that began in 1999, but P'burg has now won three of the last four meetings and is 4-3 at home in this rivalry.
"We knew we were favored in quite a few bouts," said second-year coach Dave Post, whose 'Liners won 12 of 14 bouts in the their regular-season finale. "I just told them to enjoy this one. We have so many seniors and they will always remember their first [match] in The Pit and their last [regular season match]. They will certainly remember this one."
Paulsboro won't soon forget this lopsided loss either. Coach Paul Morina's squad appeared overmatched from the start.
In the opening bout at 113 pounds, P'burg junior Zach Fisher surrendered the opening takedown to freshman Sam Morina, the coach's son, and rattled off 12 unanswered points, including two sets of back points, for a 12-2 major decision. Andrew Kaluzny followed with a 9-1 major at 120 and freshman Max Elling gave the 'Liners a commanding 14-0 lead by decking sophomore Juan Rivera in 5:43 after a tightly-contested first two periods.
"Fisher was a big one," Post said. "He is going for bonus points all the time. He has an awareness and saw an opportunity, and took it."
Elling (16-8) led 5-4 as Rivera (26-4), a District 29 runner-up, took bottom to start the third period. Rivera escaped to tie at it 5, before Elling defended a dump attempt by stepping over for his own takedown and the stunning pin.
Pauslboro's Ronald Gentile momentarily stopped the bleeding with a 7-4 win over Jim Schuitema in matchup of talented freshmen at 132. Gentile (26-4) converted three takedowns in the win -- the last offensive points scored by the visitors until John Gentile's pin at in the final bout at 106.
Junior Anthony Johnson started the nine-bout streak for P'burg by flattening Cody Croce in 3:54 at 138. Jake Kocsis followed with a major at 145 and V.J. Delmonico extended the 'Liners lead to 27-3 with a 5-0 win over Nick Knauer at 152. Senior Joe Moyer started a run of six straight pins -- five in the first period -- for P'burg at 160 and the rout was in full motion.
"We thought we were favored from about 152 on up," Post said. "When Knauer moved up we thought we'd win at 145. We got a lot of turns on top, looked good on our feet, and did a good job on getting out from the bottom. We were solid in all three facets."
Matt Silva (182), Brandon Hull (220) and Anthony Pare (285) all had pins in less than a minute. Hull's was the fastest, 11 seconds, against freshman Davontae Randall.
Now, P'burg has its sights firmly set on a 32nd sectional title and the program's 17th Group state championship as the 'Liners prepare to host a North 2, Group 4 sectional semifinal on Wednesday.
"Every single match we're looking better and better," Post said.
PHILLIPSBURG 63, PAULSBORO 9
113 -- Jr. Zach Fisher (22-8), Ph, md. Fr. Sam Morina (25-5), 12-2.
120 -- Jr. Andrew Kaluzny (11-9), Ph, md. Sr. Zack Wellington (13-6), 9-1.
126 -- Fr. Max Elling (16-8), Ph, p. So. Juan Rivera (26-4), 5:43.
132 -- Fr. Ronald Gentile (26-4), Pa, d. Fr. Jim Schuitema (19-8), 7-4.
138 -- Jr. Anthony Johnson (9-6), Ph, p. Sr. Cody Croce (19-11), 3:54.
145 -- So. Jake Kocsis (16-8), Ph, md. Fr. Niko Savaiinaea (17-9), 8-0.
152 -- Sr. V.J. Delmonico (19-10), Ph, d. Sr. Nick Knauer (22-8), 5-0.
160 -- Sr. Joe Moyer (15-12), Ph, p. So. Tyler Adams (4-16), 1:08.
170 -- Sr. Devin Grade (14-11), Ph, p. Sr. Mike Silvestro (21-9), 1:03.
182 -- Sr. Matt Silva (5-4), Ph, p. Jr. Tim Barnaby (0-9), :59.
195 -- Sr. Shaun Maloy (16-10), Ph, p. Jr. Zach Funk (6-12), 3:14.
220 -- Sr. Brandon Hull (24-3), Ph, p. Fr. Davontae Randall (13-17), :11.
285 -- Sr. Anthony Pare (23-4), Ph, p. Sr. Austin Im (11-15), :37.
106 -- Jr. John Gentile (23-1), Pa, p. Fr. Steve Friedman (14-14), 1:54.
Records -- Paulsboro 18-3; Phillipsburg 12-3.
Official -- Lou Riccardi.
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