If history has a funny way of repeating itself, you ain't seen nothing like what could have happened -- again -- at Hunterdon Central Field House.
You can't make up the following two stories, folks:
Remember "District-gate" at Hunterdon Central a year ago? For those who need a refresher course, Hunterdon Central was incorrectly awarded the team championship due to a computer error that failed to calculate the correct number of advancement points. Yours truly discovered that error the following day and alerted the powers that be at the NJSIAA. That same day, North Hunterdon was rightfully declared the team champion and was recognized as such on opening night at Region 5.
You can read the full story by clicking here:
Well, hold onto your hats because we very nearly had "District-gate 2," last weekend. Only this time, in an ironic twist, North Hunterdon would have incorrectly been declared the winner instead of host Hunterdon Central.
Heading into the championship round, erroneous team scores were announced and North Hunterdon coaches calculated from those misleading point totals exactly what it needed to do in order to pull off a second straight championship. Problem was, Central was never credited with two additional points for Dylan Nace, who received a first-round bye at 113. Byes in districts are scored as forfeits and carry an additional two team points. The bracket was never changed from bye to forfeit, as you can see here on Escape Sports.
There were two other such cases involving Will Van Doren of Delaware Valley and Nick Gillette of Princeton, at 170 and 220, respectively, who also should have earned an addition pair of points for their teams because of first-round byes (forfeits).
Hunterdon Central beat North Hunterdon, 161 to 158, for the title. Central actually amassed 163 points, with Nace's forfeit win, for a five-point margin of victory. North coach Tim Flynn confirmed to Open Mike on Thursday that his staff was under the impression, based on the announced scores, that they merely needed a decision win in the 195-pound final to secure a second straight team championship. Had Dan Pepe obliged, the Lions would have been declared, incorrectly, the champions by one point. Pepe, who lost, 3-2, to Notre Dame's Josh Simon, would have needed a win by technical fall or pin in order to deliver the team title.
How could this almost happen again after last year's fiasco? Another source confirmed that wrong team scores were being announced all day long. It's really hard to fathom that this miscarriage of justice could occur once, let alone twice. Thankfully it did not, but let's hope the third time is the charm for Central to actually get one of these things right next year.
Seeding on his Merritt
There was even more irony at Region 1 on Tuesday, when Pope John heavyweight Noah Merritt upset No. 4 seed Zach Krulan of West Morris, 6-4, in OT. This was far more than your typical upset.
You see, Merritt almost never made it to Wallkill Valley after both he and Newton's Brandon Grant got into an exchange following their District 3 semifinal bout at Kittatinny last Saturday. After the match ended, Merritt, who lost, spiked his headgear in the center of the mat and the two wrestlers began challenging each other. Merritt also got into it with some fans after leaving the mat.
Merritt's actions did cost Pope John one team point, but he was allowed to continue on and place third by beating High Point's Chris Epperly for the bronze medal. As it turned out, High Point lost the team race to Kittatinny by one-half point. If Merritt was tossed, Epperly takes third and the Wildcats win the trophy.
Here's another kicker to that story.
During Monday's Region 1 seeding meeting, an error discovered during the process of building the 285-pound brackets prevented Belvidere's Ryan Appleby from wrestling Krulan on Tuesday, and instead matched the County Seater with Grant in the preliminary round. The original pairings did not factor in a head-to-head win for Appleby over Merritt, thus the change.
Instead, Merritt wrestled Krulan and advanced, while Appleby ended Grant's season with a 3-2 win.
You just can't make this stuff up, folks.
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