Saturday, January 28, 2017

Wrestling: Streaks claw past 'Cats in annual quad

WASHINGTON TWP. -- It's been one of those strange seasons on the high school wrestling front, where even the top-ranked teams in New Jersey are vulnerable.

Warren Hills added another to the list with an impressive 34-21 win over High Point on Saturday, as the Blue Streaks went 2-1 overall in their annual quad with the Wildcats, who entered as the No. 17 team in the state by the New Jersey Wrestling Writers Association.

Coach John Gardner's team went 1-2, with a 54-12 waxing of Paramus and a 36-28 loss to No. 3 Cranford (15-0), which was the class of the field. Interestingly, the 'Cats had the Cougars on the ropes with a 28-24 lead and two bouts to go, but Gardner opted to give away 12 points with forfeits at 182 and 195 pounds.

"We knew we had a long day, and we knew what [Cranford] had [in the last two bouts]," Gardner said. "We wanted to position ourselves to win the last two matches."

High Point (12-4) was a bit shorthanded as senior Matthew McDonnell (182) was absent from the lineup due to personal reasons, along with junior Hunter Flores (195). Those absences did not make a difference in the middle round against Warren Hills (10-8), which won eight bouts, en route to its third straight win over the Wildcats and evening the all-time series at 11-11.

The turning point came early on in the second bout when freshman Logan Nauta scored a defensive pin against returning Region 1 qualifier Devin Flannery in 3:58 at 113. Nauta (10-9) trailed 6-4 after giving up a four-point move off a reversal late in the first period. In the second, Nauta turned Flannery for two back points before giving up a reversal, but down 8-6, Nauta was able to catch Flannery from the bottom in a scramble for the stunning fall.

"That was a big win for them, certainly," said Gardner, now 3-3 all-time against Warren Hills. "We know how good the Nautas [brothers, Max, Zach, Cameron and Logan] have been. It wasn't like [Flannery] got caught. We give our kids the best opportunity to be successful. We came out on the short end twice."

Nauta's pin gave the Streaks a 9-6 lead through three bouts before junior Maverick Liebl evened the match with a hard-fought 5-4 win in the tiebreaker against Kyle Wulff -- avenging a 3-2 loss in the tiebreaker when the region qualifiers met last season.

But after freshman Billy Talmadge gave High Point a short-lived 12-9 lead with a decision at 126, senior Matt Valli gave Warren Hills the lead for good by decking RJ Brevot at 132. Senior Zach Nauta followed with a 6-2 win over Shane Kobis at 138 in a matchup of district third-place finishers.

The Streaks won five of the last seven bouts, including Nick Galka's 15-6 major decision against Grayson Sabo at 182 to clinch the match.

"That was a big bout [at 113] for us in the outcome of the match," said Warren Hills coach Jarrett Hosbach, now 3-3 against High Point. "There were some tossups. We thought if we split the tossups, we'd be OK. We were able to come out on top in close matches, otherwise today could have been different."

Warren Hills opened the day with an easy 51-17 win over Paramus and closed with a tough 48-21 loss to Cranford in what could have been a preview of the North 2, Group 3 sectional final -- the top two seeds according to the latest power-point totals -- in a few weeks.

Down 15-6 through four bouts, Warren Hills missed a chance to gain some momentum when Valli (21-4) gave up a tying takedown with one second left in the third period and was pinned in sudden-victory overtime by Chris Scorese (20-1), a region runner-up. State qualifier Tom DiGiovanni followed with a 7-3 win over Zach Nauta to give Cranford a 24-6 lead through six bouts.

Warren Hills won just four of the last eight bouts, as the Streaks gave up six pins and a forfeit in the loss.

"[Cranford] is really good, I wasn't surprised," Hosbach said. "If we wrestle up to our capabilities ... that's our goal [to get a rematch in the sectional final]."

WARREN HILLS 51, PARAMUS 17
220 – Brody Oberly, WH, forfeit.
285 – Taylan Zafis, WH, p. Gabe Jimenez, 2:57.
106 – Thomas Casey, P, p. Greg Slivka, 3:25.
113 – Kyle Kaiser, P, md. Logan Nauta, 12-0.
120 – Kyle Wulff, WH, md. Joey Pettineo, 15-6.
126 – Chris Ostir, WH, p. Daniel Ibrahim, 2:46.
132 – Matt Valli, WH, md. Kyle Jacob, 11-3.
138 – Zach Nauta, WH, p. Christian Carmichael, 1:44.
145 – Cameron Nauta, WH, p. Chris Hulahan, 5:08.
152 – Kyle McIntyre, P, d. Rashon Wade Taylor, 11-6.
160 – Ryan Beckler, WH, injury over Robert Carmichael, 4:00.
170 – Kyle Cochran, P, md. Jarod Ostir, 20-6.
182 – Nick Galka, WH, md. Subhan Qurbanzada, 9-1.
195 – Henry Garcia, WH, d. Matthew Tarabocchia, 6-4 SV.

CRANFORD 36, HIGH POINT 28
220 – Cliff Rutter, HP, p. Anthony Ramierez, 3:12.
285 – Alex Esposito, C, p. Thomas Hubmaster, :49.
106 – Brandon LaRue, HP, md. Patrick Kalnins, 16-3.
113 – Devin Flannery, HP, p. Evan Kanterman, 1:22.
120 – Anthony Capece, C, d. Maverick Liebl, 4-3.
126 – Billy Talmadge, HP, d. Connor Halpin, 2-0.
132 – Chris Scorese, C, p. RJ Brevot, :26.
138 – Tom DiGiovanni, C, d. Shane Kobis, 5-4.
145 – Trey Osborn, HP, d. Mike Nigro, 1-0.
152 – AJ Bencivenga, C, d. Sawyer Fenlon, 6-2.
160 – Brian McGovern, C, d. Aric Wingle, 3-1.
170 – Grayson Sabo, HP, p. Josh DeChillo, 5:28.
182 – Vince Concina, C, forfeit.
195 – Dylan Budnik, C, forfeit.

WARREN HILLS 34, HIGH POINT 21
285 – Taylan Zafis, WH, d. Thomas Hubmaster, 6-1.
106 – Brandon LaRue, HP, p. Greg Slivka, 1:00.
113 – Logan Nauta, WH, p. Devin Flannery, 3:58.
120 – Maverick Liebl, HP, d. Kyle Wulff, 5-4 TB.
126 – Billy Talmadge, HP, d. Chris Ostir, 6-1.
132 – Matt Valli, WH, p. RJ Brevot, 4:45.
138 – Zach Nauta, WH, d. Shane Kobis, 6-2.
145 – Trey Osborn, HP, d. Cameron Nauta, 2-1.
152 – Rashon Wade Taylor, WH, d. Sawyer Fenlon, 9-3.
160 – Aric Wingle, HP, d. Ryan Beckler, 7-1.
170 – Jarod Ostir, WH, forfeit.
182 – Nick Galka, WH, md. Grayson Sabo, 15-6.
195 – Andrew Lewis, HP, d. Henry Garcia, 4-2.
220 – Brody Oberly, WH, d. Cliff Rutter, 3-2.

CRANFORD 53, PARAMUS 20
285 – Alex Esposito, C, p. Albert Mobilio, :54.
106 – Thomas Casey, P, d. Patrick Kalnins, 6-2.
113 – Kyle Kaiser, P, p. Evan Kanterman, 2:59.
120 – Anthony Capece, C, p. Joey Pettineo, 1:53.
126 – Conor Halpin, C, p. Daniel Ibrahim, 1:53.
132 – Chris Scorese, C, md. Kyle Jacob, 14-0.
138 – Tom DiGiovanni, C, p. Fehmi Uka, 1:06.
145 – Mike Nigro, C, md. Mike Sakellakis, 13-2.
152 – AJ Bencivenga, C, d. Kyle McIntrye, 11-8.
160 – Kyle Cochran, P, tf. Matt Doran, 18-3, 2:31.
170 – Brian McGovern, C, p. Subhan Qurbanzada, 1:35.
182 – Vince Concina, C, p. Matthew Tarabocchia, 1:23.
195 – Brian Bonino, P, p. Dylan Budnik, 1:06.
220 -- Anthony Ramierez, C, forfeit.

CRANFORD 48, WARREN HILLS 21
106 – Patrick Kalnins, C, p. Greg Slivka, 1:08.
113 – Logan Nauta, WH, p. Evan Kanterman, :39.
120 – Anthony Capece, C, d. Kyle Wulff, 8-4.
126 – Connor Halpin, C, forfeit.
132 – Chris Scorese, C, p. Matt Valli, 6:44 SV.
138 – Tom DiGiovanni, C, d. Zach Nauta, 7-3.
145 – Cameron Nauta, WH, d. AJ Bencivenga, 7-2.
152 – Rashon Wade Taylor, WH, d. Mike Nigro, 7-2.
160 – Brian McGovern, C, p. Ryan Beckler, 1:00.
170 – Jarod Ostir, WH, p. Matt Doran, 3:12.
182 – Vince Concina, C, p. Nick Galka, 1:34.
195 – Dylan Budnik, C, p. Henry Garcia, 2:57.
220 – Brody Oberly, WH, d. Anthony Ramierez, 10-6.
285 – Alex Esposito, C, p. Taylan Zafis, 1:04.
Records -- Cranford 15-0; Warren Hills 10-8.
Referee -- Bob DeFalco,

HIGH POINT 54, PARAMUS 12
106 – Brandon LaRue, HP, d. Thomas Casey, 5-0.
113 – Devin Flannery, HP, d. Kyle Kaiser, 5-3 SV.
120 – Maverick Liebl, HP, p. Luke Bessen, :33.
126 – Billy Talmadge, HP, p. Daniel Ibrahim, 1:05.
132 – Kyle Jacob, P, d. RJ Brevot, 8-3.
138 – Shane Kobis, HP, p. Fehmi Uka, :28.
145 – Trey Osborn, HP, d. Chris Hulahan, 6-1.
152 – Kyle McIntyre, P, d. Sawyer Fenlon, 3-2.
160 – Kyle Cochran, P, forfeit.
170 – Aric Wingle, HP, p. Subhan Qurbanzada, 1:54.
182 – Grayson Sabo, HP, d. Matthew Tarabocchia, 5-1.
195 – Andrew Lewis, HP, forfeit.
220 – Cliff Rutter, HP, forfeit.
285 – Thomas Hubmaster, HP, p. Gabe Jimenez, 4:47.
Records -- High Point 12-4; Paramus 6-8.
Referee -- Jim Schultz.

1 comment:

  1. too many damn forfeits ...c'mon HP !!! let em wrestle..

    ReplyDelete