Wrestling: 'Cats, 'Liners tested with tournaments

We're still weeks away from the much anticipated showdown in Wantage between High Point and Phillipsburg -- Saturday, Jan. 18 to be exact -- but it's never too early to check in on two of the top public school programs in New Jersey.

We'll start with coach John Gardner's Wildcats, who participated in the Colt Classic at Christian Brothers Academy and Mustang Classic at Brick Memorial to start the season.

Junior Dom Gallo, a gritty 120-pounder, is off to a 6-0 start by winning titles in both events. Fellow juniors Mike Derin (4-1 at 132) and Jason Gaccione (6-1 at 145), both state placewinners last season, already sustained their first losses, each to Paulsboro wrestlers. Derin was decked by Sam Morina in the Mustang finals, while Gaccione dropped a 7-5 decision to Ronnie Gentile, a state runner-up last season.

Sophomore Jared Kobis (2-0) won the 126-pound title at the Colt Classic and did not compete in the Mustang due to a minor knee issue. He is expected back in the lineup for the Sussex County school's upcoming appearance this weekend at the prestigious Cheesehead Tournament in Wisconsin.

Seniors Kyle Stoll (4-1 at 195), a Mustang champion, and Bobby McDonnell (5-2 at 220) also have hit some tough competition early on.

"We're OK," Gardner said. "[We have] lots of work to do."

Paetzell making P'burg proud

Sophomore dynamo Brandon Paetzell, projected by many to be in the 106-pound state final in Atlantic City come March, rolled to a title in the rugged Bethlehem Holiday Classic at Liberty High School in Pennsylvania.

Paetzell (9-1), who finished third at the Reno Tournament of Champions the previous weekend, recorded a pin, a major and two technical falls -- including a 20-5 win over Freedom's Dylan Brown in the Bethlehem Holiday final -- en route to the championship at Liberty. 

Coach Dave Post's squad also received a boost with the return of juniors Corey Zinsmeister (4-2 at 138), Jimmy Schuitema (4-2 at 145) and Joe Maso (3-2 at 195) at Liberty. All three did not compete in the Reno TOC.

Phillipsburg will open the dual meet portion of its season on Thursday when it hosts Lehigh Valley power Parkland (Pa.) in an independent match at The Pit. It will be the first meeting between the former East Penn Conference rivals since P'burg's 53-9 victory at home during the 1994-95 campaign. The following school year, the 'Liners entered the Skyland Conference.

It should be a packed house at the raucous Pit -- something rare in this age of tri-meets and quads.

"We want our kids to wrestle in that atmosphere," said Post, who to his credit has only single dual meets on the schedule. "[Kittatinny coach] John Gill asked us if we wouldn't mind wrestling on a Friday night because he thought they could fill their gym [on Jan. 31]. I said, 'sure.'"

The Trojans, who rate as a slight favorite on paper, have beaten the Stateliners just twice, both at home -- 29-19 in 1975 and 32-27 in 1990. P'burg holds an 18-2 edge (10-0 at home) in the all-time series dating to '75 -- winning 13 in a row from 1977-89 and the last five meetings since the loss in '90.

Odds and ends

There's already quite a bit of chatter surrounding this year's Hunterdon-Warren-Sussex Tournament, which is to be held on Saturday, Jan. 11 at Hunterdon Central's Field House. The one-day event will likely be run as in previous years -- at the speed of light to get done before nightfall.

It's a crying shame that Hopatcong, which does a great job with a two-day affair, does not want to host the counties in the same year it hosts the District 2 Tournament, which rotates between the Sussex County school and Randolph. Chiefs athletic director Tom Vara is on the HWS committee and is aware of the issues for fans at Central -- namely four mats for semifinals and two mats for finals.

Problem is, no other school in the Hunterdon-Warren area is equipped to host it and some of those coaches I've spoken to are not a fan of traveling to Hopatcong every year. It's a disgrace that this tournament is not given the respect it deserves at Central. Fans, you who pay to get in, voice your opinion on Jan. 11 and let it be known what an injustice this is.

While we're on the subject of what's bad for the sport, during Newton's 47-18 loss at Jefferson on Monday, fans were robbed of witnessing a potential feature bout between District 3 placewinners. At 195, junior Gus Protogeropoulos took the mat for Newton with the Braves trailing 16-0 through four bouts. Jefferson with the match well in hand and expecting a forfeit win four bouts later at 106, opted to forfeit at 195 and bump Tyler Zimmerman to 220. In turn, Braves coach Eric Bollette, none too pleased with the move at 195, gave a forfeit win to Zimmerman.

Makes zero sense. I've seen this too many times and often it's about protecting postseason seeds. Wrestling can't do enough to keep fans' interest and in this case they were jilted out of enjoying one marquee matchup in a one-sided dual meet. 

Congratulations to both Gary Dinmore of Hunterdon Central and Kieran Gerrity of Kittatinny on recently recording their 100th career wins. Dinmore is the 17th Red Devil to reach the century mark, while Gerrity, who got his 100th at home on Friday in the 170-pound third-place bout of the Linn Crawn Memorial Tournament, is the 13th to do so for the Cougars.

Next up is Central senior Dylan Nace (7-0), who is four wins shy at 96-24. He should reach the mark at home in the HWS Tournament, with the Red Devils having scheduled matches against North Hunterdon (Friday) and Hillsborough (Jan. 8) before the counties. Let's hope people will actually know he's wrestling on one of the six mats -- including one with an obstructed view to some fans in the stands.

When P'burg makes the trek to take on High Point on Jan. 18, it will be just the sixth time that the Stateliners have wrestled in Wantage. P'burg holds a 15-1 edge in the all-time series, but High Point won the last meeting -- 30-22 at The Pit on Jan. 31, 2009. The last match at High Point was on Jan. 2, 1999 -- a 49-12 win for the visitors.