Wrestling: Voorhees hangs tough in coach's absence

LEBANON TWP. -- As far as wins and losses, it's been a tough go for Voorhees' wrestling team in what was expected to be a rebuilding season. But three Vikings tasted victory on their Senior Night in a 40-27 loss to Newton in an independent match on Wednesday evening.

Newton is now 1-6 all-time vs. Voorhees dating to 1986.

Voorhees (1-14), which featured four seniors in the lineup, actually prevailed, 6-3, in contested bouts as Newton (9-7), which got its first victory in seven career meetings with the Vikes, received four forfeits among its seven wins. But what stood out more than the match was the continued absence of Eric Hall from the home bench. Assistant Ricky Kurtz, who is also the Hunterdon County school's head football coach, once again served as the interim head wrestling coach just as he did on Saturday for a tri-match at Belvidere -- losses to the County Seaters (48-30) and Livingston (54-16).

School officials are not commenting about Hall's job status, despite the noticeable fact that he hasn't been with the team since a 45-30 loss to Bridgewater-Raritan last Thursday.

"It's a personnel matter and I can not comment on it," Voorhees athletic director Brian Baumann, a former assistant on Hall's staff, said during a phone interview on Tuesday afternoon and again after Wednesday's match.

Both principal Ron Peterson and Hall have not returned phone messages seeking comment.

Hall had guided the Vikings to three sectional championships over the previous seven seasons and to nine straight winning campaigns before this season. Kurtz, a former Delaware Valley state placewinner, finishing fourth at 160 pounds as a senior in 2004, said he has not been given any information about Hall's situation.

"I have no clue," said Kurtz, now 1-3 as interim coach, including a victory over Bernards last season while filling in for Hall. "Right now, I'm just doing my thing. I've got to get the kids ready to wrestle and finish out the season."

Returning state qualifier Seven Rich, who finished fourth in Region 4 last season, was one of the winning Voorhees seniors. Rich used a third-period reversal for a 4-2 win over junior Danny Cleary, a Region 1 qualifier, in the final bout of the night at 126, while both Garrett Loescher (160) and Zach Tong (220) prevailed in one-point bouts. In addition, sophomore Luke Bush earned his third career varsity win by pinning Valerio Sanchez at 106.

"That was a big win for [Bush]," Kurtz said. "When you give up 24 points [in forfeits] your chances [to win the dual meet] are slim, especially against a tough team like Newton. We try to get the best matches for the kids at this point. They wrestled well tonight."

Newton jumped out to a 16-0 lead and never trailed as freshman Thaylor Sibblies (132) and sophomore Takeo Sibblies (138) started it off with a pin and a major decision. Voorhees opted to bump sophomore Mike Mosier, a district fourth-place finisher as a freshman, away from a matchup with Region 1 qualifier JoJo Lotruglio, who received a forfeit at 145. Mosier scored an 8-3 win over Ryan Pappas at 152.

After Loescher's 3-2 win over Melkart Abou-Jaoude, a Hunterdon-Warren-Sussex Tournament medalist, Newton received three straight forfeits from 170-195 to stretch the lead to 34-6 through eight bouts before Voorhees ran off four in a row, capped by a forfeit win at 113. Junior Nathan Fitt, who is looking like a state medal contender at 120 this season, sealed it for the Braves in the next-to-last bout by decking Josh Evers in 1:09.

"It's nice to get a win over Voorhees," said veteran Newton coach Eric Bollette, who was informed that the program had lost six previous meetings (1986, '87, '88, '90, '91 and '92) in the series. "We're looking forward to North Warren [an NJAC cross-divisional matchup at home on Thursday]."

NEWTON 40, VOORHEES 27
132 -- Fr. Thaylor Sibblies (14-9), N, p. Jr. Myles Murphy (2-14), :59.
138 -- So. Takeo Sibblies (2-1), N, md. Sr. Kyle Bryan (6-17), 10-2.
145 -- Jr. JoJo Lotruglio (22-4), N, forfeit.
152 -- So. Mike Mosier (15-9), V, d. Jr. Ryan Pappas (6-14), 8-3.
160 -- Sr. Garrett Loescher (15-7), V, d. So. Melkart Abou-Jaoude (9-12), 3-2.
170 -- Sr. Trevor Aughenbaugh (14-5), N, forfeit.
182 -- Fr. Brody Guerra (5-6), N, forfeit.
195 -- Sr. Julian Sibblies (21-5), N, forfeit.
220 -- Sr. Zach Tong (17-4), V, d. Jr. Jabari Oxley (7-15), 1-0.
285 -- Fr. Jack Mosier (11-12), V, d. Sr. Isaiah Wilkins (4-14), 3-0.
106 -- So. Luke Bush (1-5), V, p. Sr. Valerio Sanchez (4-14), 4:28.
113 -- So. Hunter Cryan (13-10), V, forfeit.
120 -- Jr. Nathan Fitt (24-2), N, p. So. Josh Evers (5-13), 1:09.
126 -- Sr. Seven Rich (10-8), V, d. Jr. Danny Cleary (15-10), 4-2.
Records -- Newton 9-7; Voorhees 1-14.
Official -- Frank Leitner.