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| High Point looks to add 2020 to its sectional title banner. |
"That was one of our three goals since starting as freshmen. We wanted to win sectionals all four years," said Talmadge, who capped the semifinal win with a 10-0 major of Luke Ciampa at 138 pounds -- career victory No. 131 that moved him into a tie with Gardner (131-8-1 from 1986-90) for sixth place on the school's all-time list. "I think we have a great chance. We just have to wrestle tough."
Liebl, who decked Luke Hughen with a peterson roll in 4:37, also is confident that the 'Cats, ranked No. 12 in the New Jersey Writers Association Top 20, can check off another goal on their list.
"We take it one step at a time," Liebl said. "First goal was to win the league title and now our second goal, which will be Friday, is to win the section title. Four section titles would be a huge achievement for us."
Jefferson (17-6), which saw its season end here for the third time in the last four seasons, dropping sectional final matches to its Sussex County rival in 2017 and '18, won three of the first four bouts before senior PJ Soldano's 23-second pin at 182 sent High Point on its way toward another final.
The Falcons logged all seven of their takedowns in those early bouts, including five in the opening bout by senior Nico Celentano in a 13-5 major at 145. High Point, which racked up 15 takedowns overall, won 10 bouts, including six pins -- two fewer than it had in a 61-18 victory over Jefferson on Jan. 28 to help secure the NJAC Freedom Division title.
"I think we performed pretty well," Talmadge said. "We lost the toss and threw out a couple guys who are second string and they wrestled really tough, and fought hard. I think we wrestled tough."
Oddly, Jefferson coach Matt Moscatello opted to forfeit to Brian Soldano at 160, and he really didn't make any moves with the lineup in the rematch.
"They have some pretty good kids. That's why they're able to give some teams problems because they do have some good kids," Gardner said. "The coaches there do a good job. They've won a lot of matches so I'm not going to question what they do, but I was a little surprised [with their lineup and the forfeit]."
After back-to-back pins by Sean Van Wingerden (195) and Justin Klass (220), Jefferson picked up its final team points of the night at 285, as Dylan Patscher rode out Robert Juliano in the third period for a 1-0 win. The 'Cats took the final six bouts, including Liebl's second pin of Luke Hughen this season. Liebl (28-3), a state qualifier, improved to 96-23 overall, and he's eagerly looking to add his name to the 100 wins banner hanging on the gym wall. He could pick up three more this week, which would set him up to hit the century mark during the District 1 Tournament at Fair Lawn on Saturday, Feb. 22.
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| Billy Talmadge will be added to this list after the season. |
"It's a huge goal for me. I've always seen all the people up there and it's always been a huge goal for me to get up there, and get the 100 wins," Liebl said.
Talmadge got a kick out of tying his coach on the program's wins list as the fifth-place finisher in last year's state tournament looks to surpass him on Friday.
"That's cool. He deserves it. He wrestles hard," said Gardner, who has coached every other member of the 100-win club that currently stands at 15, including assistant coach and former state champion Billy Smith (138-20 from 2007-11). "I don't know where [Talmadge] will end up, but he's a talented kid. I'm happy for him. He's the ultimate team guy."
HIGH POINT 52, JEFFERSON 16
145 -- Sr. Nico Celentano (19-12), J, md. Jr. Clay Sytsema (4-9), 13-5.
152 -- Jr. Lawrence DiBiase (24-7), J, d. So. Noah Ripley (8-18), 4-0.
160 -- So. Brian Soldano (24-1), HP, forfeit.
170 -- Jr. Michael Gould (22-2), J, p. So. Troy Tiger (2-11), 1:33.
182 -- Sr. PJ Soldano (20-9), HP, p. Jr. Jeffrey Danyus (0-3), :23.
195 -- Jr. Sean Van Wingerden (13-11), HP, p. Jr. Anthony D'Amato (12-17), 1:58.
220 -- Jr. Justin Klass (13-14), HP, p. So. Anthony Bacigalupo (11-18), 1:21.
285 -- So. Dylan Patscher (22-7), J, d. Jr. Robert Juliano (4-5), 1-0.
106 -- Fr. Roman Citro (13-5), HP, p. Fr. Ryan Thorsland (14-16), 1:09.
113 -- So. Clayton Utter (20-4), HP, p. So. Gavin Mullin (8-19), :25.
120 -- So. Charles Antcliff (14-12), HP, d. Sr. Blake Bartholomew (18-11), 4-3.
126 -- Sr. Devon Liebl (28-3), HP, p. Jr. Luke Hughen (21-10), 4:37.
132 -- Jr. Josh Gervey (24-4), HP, d. Jr. Austin Jack (26-6), 6-4.
138 -- Sr. Billy Talmadge (31-0), HP, md. Jr. Luke Ciampa (25-6), 10-0.
Records -- Jefferson 17-6; High Point 12-4.
Blue Streaks march on to final
Sophomores Jared Lee and Stephen Malia delivered key victories to help No. 2 seed Warren Hills
advance to the program's 14th sectional final with a 37-24 win over No. 3 Mendham in a North 2, Group 3 semifinal on Wednesday night.Warren Hills (20-6) also set the school's single-season wins mark -- surpassing the 1989-90 team that went 19-0 and captured the first of the program's two Group 3 championships. Lee scored a 2-0 win over Tristan Navarino, a Region 3 qualifier, at 126 pounds as the Streaks won four of the first six bouts to take a 15-6 lead, while Malia logged a 10-0 major of William Schlegel at 152.
Senior Geir Nemeth's technical fall at 145 started a five-bout run that was capped by freshman Jarett Pantuso's 7-3 win at 182. Senior Nick Hildebrant sealed the victory with a 13-0 major decision at 170 -- giving Warren Hills a 34-12 lead with three bouts to go.
Coach Dave Sbriscia's team will travel to top-seeded West Essex, a 31-30 winner over West Morris on criteria (most first points, 14-13) in the other semifinal, in Friday's title match at 6 p.m. The Streaks, who are 5-8 in sectional finals in their history, are seeking their first title since 2007 and the program's sixth overall.
WARREN HILLS 37, MENDHAM 24
285 -- So. Tyler McCatharn (28-4), WH, d. So. Josh Herrmann (12-15), 2-0.
106 -- Fr. Kevin Riedinger (11-20), WH, tf. Fr. Blaise Pasquire (4-9), 16-0, 4:15.
113 -- Jr. Chris Tringali (19-10), M, d. Fr. Shawn Redfield (18-14), 3-1.
120 -- Jr. Jack Bertha (24-8), M, d. Sr. Greg Slivka (24-8), 7-1.
126 -- So. Jared Lee (21-10) WH, d. Sr. Tristan Navarino (13-9), 2-0.
132 -- Sr. Logan Nauta (25-6), WH, md. Sr. Luke Colannino (20-10), 11-0.
138 -- Sr. Justin Hyde (24-8), M, p. So. Max Pagano (5-8), 2:37.
145 -- Sr. Geir Nemeth (22-10), WH, tf. Jr. Cole Klenke (1-4), 26-9, 5:17.
152 -- So. Stephen Malia (26-6), WH, md. So. William Schlegel (22-10), 10-1.
160 -- So. Owen Frizzell (25-7), WH, p. Jr. Cameron Vazquez (9-8), 4:59.
170 -- Sr. Nick Hildebrant (18-8), WH, md. Jr. Noor Mostafa (11-16), 13-0.
182 -- Fr. Jarett Pantuso (7-0), WH, d. So. Luke Fehnel (13-10), 7-3.
195 -- Jr. Andrew Bryan (22-10), M, p. So. Michael Galka (12-14), 2:08.
220 -- Sr. Gage Armijo (29-2), M, forfeit.
Records -- Mendham 12-6; Warren Hills 20-6.
Sectional final matchups
The nine teams from the Open Mike area still standing are in bold below:
NORTH 1
Group 5
2-Clifton (22-4) at 1-Passaic Tech (19-2)
Group 4
2-Fair Lawn (18-8) at 1-Mount Olive (17-2)
Group 3
2-River Dell (20-6) at 1-Montville (16-2)
Group 2
2-Westwood (20-5) at 1-High Point (12-4)
Group 1
2-Kittatinny (14-5) at 1-Emerson (15-10)
NORTH 2
Group 5
2-Watchung Hills (15-4) at 1-Westfield (16-2)
Group 4
2-Phillipsburg (15-2) at 1-North Hunterdon (20-0)
Group 3
2-Warren Hills (20-6) at 1-West Essex (19-4)
Group 2
3-Hackettstown (15-6) at 1-Caldwell (17-5)
Group 1
2-Bound Brook (9-11) at 1-Delaware Valley (17-7)
CENTRAL
Group 5
2-Hunterdon Central (13-9) at 1-Manalapan (24-3)
Group 4
2-Jackson Memorial (12-8) at 1-Brick Memorial (16-3)
Group 3
2-Ocean Township (15-6) at 1-Wall Township (15-4)
Group 2
3-Rumson-Fair Haven (15-3) at 1-South Plainfield (17-7)
Group 1
3-Manville (19-5) at 1-Point Pleasant Beach (18-4)
SOUTH
Group 5
3-Southern (17-1) at 1-Howell (24-1)
Group 4
6-Moorestown (16-4) at 1-Kingsway (17-3)
Group 3
2-Delsea (14-10) at 1-Lacey Township (17-6)
Group 2
2-Haddonfield (18-8) at 1-West Deptford (19-7)
Group 1
2-Paulsboro (18-2) at 1-Woodstown (15-5)
NON-PUBLIC
North A
5-St. Joseph-Montvale (12-4) at 2-Delbarton (16-3)
South A
2-Christian Brothers Academy (10-13) at 1-St. Augustine (17-3)
North B
2-St. Thomas Aquinas (23-9) at 1-Pope John (10-7)
South B
2-Donovan Catholic (12-8) at 1-Camden Catholic (20-2)
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