WASHINGTON TWP. -- Delaware Valley's wrestling team hopes these growing pains will turn into gains later in the season.
In a battle between young, rebuilding programs, the Terriers pulled out a 36-33 win over Warren Hills in a Skyland Conference Raritan Division matchup that came down to the 14th bout on Wednesday night at Warren Hills Regional High School.
Delaware Valley (1-1, 1-0 division), last season's Group 2 champion which has been hampered by a rash of early injuries, was in need of some positive momentum coming off a lopsided 46-19 loss at home against Hopewell Valley on Tuesday.
"We are going to have to fight for every win this year," said Terriers coach Andy Fitz, whose program owns a 30-19 edge in the series by winning back-to-back meetings dating to last season and 16 of the last 18 against the Blue Streaks, who ended their six-match skid in the series with a 40-18 win 2016.
"We have a lot of new wrestlers. We only have a couple of veteran kids on the mat. We recognize that we will have a couple of tough nights [during the rest of the season]."
Del Val sophomore Derek Schepens pinned freshman Walker Heller with a near-side cradle in 55 seconds in the last bout at 106 pounds to seal it.
Warren Hills (0-1, 0-1), which had the momentum after junior Duro Ajayi's pin at 285 gave the Streaks a 33-30 lead, is in the same boat regarding inexperience in the lineup.
Coach Jarrett Hosbach's team knew it faced a tall order in terms of the individual matchups. Things didn't go well from the start with a loss in a pivotal second bout at 120, where sophomore Greg Slivka dropped a 9-5 decision to talented Del Val freshman Corey Crater. Slivka, who has improved markedly since the start of a 9-21 freshman campaign, held leads of 4-1 in the second and 5-4 in the third period before giving up a decisive takedown and three back points.
In addition the Blue Streaks gave up 12 bonus points, not including a forfeit at 160, in their seven individual losses. One was a stunning pin at 132 pounds as Del Val junior A.J. DeRosa, a state qualifier as a freshman, decked senior Kyle Wulff, sixth in Region 3 last season, in 1:09.
"Both teams are still trying to find their way," said Hosbach, whose team will try to bounce back at Bound Brook on Friday night. "Both are hoping to be better in February than December. It would have been nice to get this one. Del Val took advantage of some bonus points where we weren't able to. We had to limit bonus points and try to score more ourselves."
After Gage Crater's 6-2 win at 138 gave Del Val an 18-6 lead through five bouts, Warren Hills got back in the match in the middle weights behind wins from junior Chris Ostir (145), Geir Nemeth (152) and Nick Hildabrant (170), both sophomores. Nemeth, who logged just one varsity bout last season, scored a 5-3 win over freshman Anthony DeRosa on the strength of a two-point nearfall in the third period.
"Geir is wrestling really well for us ... and the guys who got pins," said Hosbach, now 2-11 all-time against Del Val. "We will work to improve in other spots."
After trading pins at 182 and 195, junior Nick Galka set the stage for a potential comeback with an 11-6 decision over Eli Kalfaian at 220. Ajayi's pin at 285 put the pressure on Schepens to get a bonus-point victory to win it for Del Val. A decision would have meant a 33-33 tie with Warren Hills winning on most first points (14-10).
"We lost the toss and I was hoping to win one at 145 or 152," said Fitz, who improved to 9-2 overall in this rivalry. "[A.J. DeRosa] has put in so much work and got the pin against Wulff. When we lost 145 and 52, I knew this match was going to get real tight."
Fitz is hoping for a speedy return by senior 170-pounder Shawne Ramsby, who sustained a knee injury this past Saturday while winning a title in the Wendy Pandy-Leh Tournament. CJ Heaps, who opened this match with a pin at 113, is nursing a shoulder injury, while returning senior state champion and Rutgers recruit Kyle Lightner (knee) has yet to be cleared to wrestle.
It won't get any easier from here as Del Val will be a heavy underdog when it travels to Phillipsburg on Friday night for a return to The Pit -- a one-night only event which has that town buzzing.
"We're hoping it's not long term [with Ramsby]," Fitz said. "He goes for an MRI [on Thursday] and then we'll know more."
DELAWARE VALLEY 36, WARREN HILLS 33
113 -- Sr. CJ Heaps (1-2), DV, p. Fr. Michael Wonski (0-1), 1:42.
120 -- Fr. Corey Crater (2-3), DV, d. So. Greg Slivka (1-2), 9-5.
126 -- Sr. Codey O'Rourke (3-1), WH, p. Jr. Tommy Schlittler (2-3), 1:01.
132 -- Jr. A.J. DeRosa (5-0), DV, p. Sr. Kyle Wulff (1-3), 1:09.
138 -- So. Gage Crater (4-1), DV, d. So. Logan Nauta (2-2), 6-2.
145 -- Jr. Chris Ostir (3-2), WH, d. Jr. Tommy Horn (2-5), 7-2.
152 -- So. Geir Nemeth (4-1), WH, d. Fr. Anthony DeRosa (3-4), 5-3.
160 -- Sr. Joseph Desapio (4-1), DV, forfeit.
170 -- So. Nick Hildebrant (3-2), WH, p. So. Nick Ferri (0-1), 4:23.
182 -- Sr. Jarod Ostir (4-0), WH, p. Jr. Liam Miller (0-1), :42.
195 -- Jr. Kyle Carney (3-2), DV, p. Fr. Logan Polcari (0-1), 1:54.
220 -- Jr. Nick Galka (3-1), WH, d. Sr. Eli Kalfaian (4-1), 11-6.
285 -- Jr. Duro Ajayi (2-1), WH, p. So. Matt Rushak (1-3), 2:47.
106 -- So. Derek Schepens (3-2), DV, p. Fr. Walker Heller (0-1), :55.
Records -- Delaware Valley 1-1, 1-0; Warren Hills 0-1, 0-1.
Official -- Frank Leitner.
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