Wrestling: Who wins a rematch, Lions or 'Liners?

The first of two anticipated meetings between North Hunterdon and Phillipsburg is in the books -- with the Lions pulling out a 30-24 victory on the road on Wednesday night.

From a confidence standpoint, the win was very important for North Hunterdon, which previously had dropped 17 straight in the series since a 36-21 victory at home in 2007. It also should give the Lions home-gym advantage and the No. 1 seed for the North 2, Group 4 sectional tournament next month -- North is 3-7 all-time in postseason matches and 3-32-1 on the road overall vs. P'burg -- while setting them up to clinch the outright Skyland Conference Raritan Division title against Montgomery on Wednesday in the Lions Den.

"That's big," senior 138-pounder Drew Doscher said of being home in the postseason after back-to-back losses on the road to P'burg in the 2018 sectional semifinals and last year's title match. "That's what we were hoping for. We wanted to get a match at home. We're not looking past anyone, but our No. 1 goal is to win a state championship."

P'burg is 278-53-3 all-time against HWS opponents.

However, Phillipsburg, which isn't used to being an underdog against Hunterdon-Warren-Sussex opponents (278-53-3 overall in those matchups over 72 seasons), especially in its own gym, should be pleased with the effort despite the loss. Sophomores Joey Innamorato and Matt D'Onofrio, as well as senior Cody Cruts, came through with a big wins at 132, 152 and 285 pounds -- all were not favored in those matchups -- while sophomore Hakeem Ransdell gave a great account in taking North state qualifier Frank DiEsso to sudden-victory overtime in the opening bout at 120. You can already see the improvements in a few of the wrestlers with little varsity experience, particularly D'Onofrio (9-9).

Let's take a look at some of the things to watch for in the potential rematch:

Can Phillipsburg duplicate its performance?

A lot of things went the right way for P'burg this first time around, especially in the opening bout, where Ransdell nearly set a much different tone. The first-year varsity wrestler converted the go-ahead takedown for a 3-1 lead with 39 seconds left in the third period before quickly giving up a tying reversal, and the pin in OT. Of their six wins, I'd say only two are pretty much secure for the rematch given these lineups (three wins were by three points or fewer), but expect some juggling, while getting the flip could mean an additional win for the 'Liners.

Post, who opted to go straight up for the most part on Wednesday, other than taking a shot at getting both 160 and 170 by bumping sophomore Nate Zastowny, who squeaked out a 10-8 win over North junior James Holder, is also banking on this brutal stretch of matches against four ranked teams in the New Jersey Wrestling Writers Association Top 20 over 10 days -- No. 9 Toms River North at home on Thursday, No. 10 High Point at The Pit on Saturday, as well as No. 6 Southern at home on Jan. 25 -- making his team much better by season's end, which history tells us should be the case.

"One thing [assistant coach Scott] Silvis and I pride ourselves on is anytime you can learn and make improvements, and continue to adjust to get better by the end of the season, it's going to be this team," said Post, who is 60-5 overall (13-1 against North Hunterdon) against HWS teams in his 10 seasons at the helm.

"You're never going to get better wrestling just any teams. These kids never question us when we [set the schedule] to go back-to-back [against tough teams]. They have faith in the program."

Is North over the hump in the series?

The Lions (9-0, 3-0 division) should savor their first win over P'burg in 13 years, but Hrunka would like to see a better collective effort in the future. This was not the same team we saw dominate in the Boresch Duals at Newton on Jan. 4, which produced impressive wins over Kingsway and Paulsboro, the reigning state champions in Group 4 and 1. Logan Wadle, one of two freshmen, along with Alex Uryniak, who delivered big decisions against P'burg, showed he has the clutch gene in that tournament as well.

North (HWS champs) had back-to-back big days at P'burg.

"Some kids stepped up in spots, but we have a lot of opportunities to get better," said third-year coach Chris Hrunka, a Warren Hills alum who beat P'burg for the first time as a coach and a wrestler. "It didn't need to be a freshman [Wadle's 8-5 decision over Sean Stasiulaitis in the next-to-last bout at 106 pounds] to determine that win. As a whole, we need to wrestle a little cleaner."

One of the key bouts was at 220, where senior Ian Gaburo scored a 3-1 decision over Gage Horvath to improve to 3-0 in their series dating to last season. Gaburo, who also got a late takedown for a 3-1 victory in their HWS semifinal meeting last Saturday, scored a 5-2 win in last season's dual and he has yet to give up a takedown.

"[Horvath is] a strong kid -- strong and fast -- and moves pretty well," said Gaburo, a HWS Tournament runner-up. "I'm confident in my conditioning. He's a solid kid."

North Hunterdon probably has few moves that it could make on the scale, but keep in mind that sophomore Kyle Schultz is a capable backup at 195 or 220, and he split a pair of OT matches with Horvath last season. Should Hrunka need to, he could opt to put Schultz at 220 and bump Gaburo to 285, where the Lions lost on Wednesday. To me, North still has five winners no matter the matchups -- meaning P'burg needs to find a way to win eight bouts, which I have felt all along, given how the bonus points battle (three pins, two for North, and 10 decisions) shook out last time.

"There are going to be different lineups," said Doscher, who provided North with three big additional team points when he pinned Jason Tino -- avenging a loss from their meeting two seasons ago -- with a cradle in the fourth bout at 138. "Obviously, we are going to keep working and wrestling hard. P'burg has a lot of tough kids and they always keep matches close."

Keys to victory

Given that North Hunterdon has the deeper lineup and the edge up top where P'burg will usually enjoy the advantage against its opponents, the Lions, who enjoyed a 16-13 edge in takedowns that bodes well for next time, can ill afford to get off to another slow start in the rematch. Getting their home crowd behind them early will be huge if the Lions are to capture the program's 15th sectional title and first since 2015.

Phillipsburg has the belief that it can win the rematch and earn its seventh straight trip to the Group 4 championships in Toms River. The 'Liners feel they were counted out this season, a point you can be sure that Post is driving home with each practice session. Winning the flip and keeping Zastowny at 160, where he'd be a big favorite, could help turn the tables, but that's assuming everything else stays the same as it did the first time. Winning eight bouts remains essential.