NEWTON -- Eight years was certainly worth the wait.
That's how long it had been since Newton got the best of Kittatinny, but the Braves ended their drought in this longtime Sussex County rivalry with an impressive 33-25 victory on Friday night before a packed house at Henry Boresch Memorial Gymnasium.
Newton (11-5), which won eight bouts, was simply more physical and dictated the action throughout in a performance that would have made the gym's namesake proud. The Braves ended a six-match skid in the series with their first victory since a 36-28 win in the 2010 North 1, Group 2 sectional championship matched capped a four-match streak during the 2008-09 and 2009-10 seasons.
"We wrestled hard. I was impressed," said a very pleased Newton coach Eric Bollette, who improved to 5-15 overall against Kittatinny and his former coach John Gill. "It's nice to get a win. Any time you can beat High Point or Kittatinny, you have to be happy."
Kittatinny (10-7) started behind the 8-ball after dropping a key bout at 106 pounds, where Newton freshman Nathan Fitt scored a 13-8 decision over Patrick Franco, who had decked Fitt two weeks earlier in the Hunterdon-Warren-Sussex Tournament. The Cougars also dropped pivotal bouts at 120 and 132, while giving up three majors and two pins.
"They beat us start to finish, feet and top," said Gill, now 30-11 all-time in this series dating to 1976. "Top to bottom, they were on fire. We saved two points right off the bat and then things went south."
After junior Jimmy Harding's 13-3 major in the opening bout at 285 -- Harding appeared to have Mike Lacken flat with a headlock in the second period -- Fitt really set the tone by wrestling a smart match and dominating from the neutral position with six takedowns.
"I knew I was better than him on my feet, that was pretty much my game plan," said Fitt, a champion at 90 pounds in the New Jersey Grade School League last year and a talented freshman who is still growing into the 106-pound weight class. "I need to stay outside and use my quickness. [At HWS], I wrestled a sloppy match and I wasn't happy with my performance. This was fun. It was our biggest crowd of the year and we embraced it."
Fellow freshman JoJo Lotruglio scored a reversal and two back points in an 8-2 win over Kittatinny junior Mike Nelson, while wins by Matthew Rosa (126) and Michael Freda (132) stretched Newton's lead to 17-3 through six bouts. Bollette felt the bouts at 106, 120, 126 and 132 were must haves coming in.
"We couldn't have picked a better starting spot [285]," said Bollette, whose team won five of the first six bouts to take a normally boisterous Kittatinny crowd out of the match early on. "We got on a roll. I'm proud of them."
Newton even did a good job of limiting bonus points where it was a heavy underdog -- freshman Danny Cleary dropped a 9-2 decision at 113 to Nile Mattar, who won by technical fall when they met at HWS on Jan. 13. At 138, senior Tim Houlihan, who trailed Mike Callahan, by four points after one period, converted a takedown with eight seconds left in the second period to kept it close in an 8-5 loss.
Senior Perry Maio briefly got Kittatinny back in it with a pin at 145, but Newton junior Wyatt McCarthy pretty much ended any hopes of a Cougar comeback by pinning Calvin Brook in an anticipated matchup at 152. McCarthy (23-2), a state qualifier last season, spotted the opening takedown in the first before opening things up in the third period -- sinking a half and horsing over Brook for the fall in 5:11. The Braves led, 23-12, through nine and were well on their way.
"This is a great feeling," said McCarthy, who figures to drop to 145 for the postseason. "Calvin is a great wrestler. I didn't open up on my feet and he slowed me down. I was looking for something feet-to-back to get bonus points. Coach Bollette had us fired up. It's great to get a win in this rivalry."
Newton co-ace Jonathon Borgognoni continued his fine season with a 12-4 major over Shane Smith in a matchup of the last two HWS champions at 160. Borgognoni, who won the title this season, had some extra motivation after getting pinned with a cement job against Smith in last year's tri-county semifinals.
"I had a game plan and tried to stick to it," Borgognoni said. "After I got that first takedown [one of five in the win] I felt confident, and I fed off Wyatt's energy. This was a cool environment. It's been a long time coming [beating Kittatinny]."
Junior Luke Fischer officially sealed the win by pinning Jackson Crawn in the next to last bout at 195 -- giving Newton a 33-19 lead.
These teams could very well meet again in what is a loaded North 1, Group 2 sectional bracket. Newton will almost certainly be the No. 2 seed -- with a 34-23 loss to sectional title favorite and likely top seed High Point earlier this season. Kittatinny, which has a loss to Jefferson, will face Westwood in a quad on Saturday.
"In some ways this one was insignificant, it wasn't for a league title," said Gill, whose team will also face state power Emerson-Park Ridge on Saturday. "This is for bragging rights. It's important, I didn't come here to lose. But some are thinking there could be a round two."
NEWTON 33, KITTATINNY 25
285 -- Jr. Jimmy Harding (8-4), N, md. Jr. Mike Lacken (3-17), 13-3.
106 -- Fr. Nathan Fitt (13-10), N, d. Fr. Patrick Franco (12-15), 13-8.
113 -- Jr. Nile Mattar (11-13), K, d. Fr. Danny Cleary (10-11), 9-2.
120 -- Fr. JoJo Lotruglio (14-11), N, d. Jr. Mike Nelson (12-13), 8-2.
126 -- Jr. Matthew Rosa (18-9), N, md. Fr. Davin DeGroat (2-12), 14-3.
132 -- Jr. Michael Freda (14-11), N, d. Jr. Brian Hanna (11-13), 8-1.
138 -- Sr. Mike Callahan (17-9), K, d. Sr. Tim Houlihan (4-10), 8-5.
145 -- Sr. Perry Maio (18-9), K, p. So. Trevor Aughenbaugh (5-12), 2:53.
152 -- Jr. Wyatt McCarthy (23-2), N, p. Sr. Calvin Brook (20-7), 5:11.
160 -- Sr. Jonathon Borgognoni (23-2), N, md. Sr. Shane Smith (14-6), 12-4.
170 -- Sr. Josh Hiler (20-6), K, md. Jr. Nick Brigante (14-11), 10-2.
182 -- Jr. Zach Mafaro (22-3), K, d. Sr. Joseph DeLuca (18-8), 3-0.
195 -- Jr. Luke Fischer (22-3), N, p. Fr. Jackson Crawn (13-12), 3:16.
220 -- So. Jacob Mafaro (23-3), K, forfeit.
Records -- Kittatinny 10-7; Newton 11-5.
Official -- Frank Leitner.
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