Wrestling: Boresch Duals steal show on wild Saturday

Newton High School was the place to be on Saturday, as four teams ranked in the New Jersey Wrestling Writers' Top 20 were on hand for the ninth annual Henry Boresch Duals.

Hanover Park, ranked No. 12, rolled to the title -- knocking off No. 10 Howell, 35-31, in the semifinals and No. 16 Raritan, 35-29, in the final. Earlier in the semis, Raritan snapped No. 18 South Plainfield's 50-match win streak (57 in a row vs. New Jersey teams) with a 29-28 victory on criteria (most bouts won, 8-6). It was the first loss for the Tigers since dropping a 37-29 decision to Christiansburg (Va.) in the Virginia Duals on Jan. 14, 2012. Eight days prior, South Plainfield lost 29-28 to St. Peter's Prep.

The last Shore Conference team to beat South Plainfield was Jackson -- 34-20 on Jan. 16, 2010.

Most impressive was the way Hanover Park, now in Group 2 after a runner-up finish in Group 1 last season, took out Howell's studs in the middle weights in order to move into the final.

The loss also snapped South Plainfield's two-year reign as Boresch Duals champion.

Host Newton went 1-2 on the day -- finishing seventh with a 55-18 win over Waldwick/Midland Park. Coach Eric Bollette's Braves opened with a 55-6 loss to South Plainfield before a 44-16 loss to Caldwell in the wrestleback semifinals.

'Cats wrap Cheesehead tour

High Point concluded a tough two days of wrestling with an 11th place finish in the prestigious Cheesehead Invitational at Kaukauna, Wisc. The Wildcats totaled 327.5 points in an event won by nationally-ranked Montini Catholic (Ill.), which amassed 554.5 points.

Dom Gallo (6-2 at 120) and Jason Gaccione (5-2 at 145) placed fourth for coach John Gardner's squad, while Mike Derin (3-4 at 132), Tommy Hooker (4-4 at 160) and Kyle Stoll (3-4 at 195) finished sixth. 

High Point opens its dual meet season on Wednesday at Pope John, before hosting Newton on Friday. It will be interesting to see if all the 'Cats regulars compete in next weekend's Hunterdon-Warren-Sussex Tournament. Gallo (12-2) and Gaccione (11-3), for example, have 14 bouts in the books before any dual meets. Only three wrestlers had fewer than five bouts at Cheesehead, including sophomore Jared Kobis, who is on the shelf with a broken hand sustained in his second match on Friday.

Blue Streaks fall to Rovers

Warren Hills made its annual trek across the Delaware River, where it went 1-1 at the Easton (Pa.) Invitational. Coach Jarrett Hosbach's team dropped a 44-25 decision to the host Red Rovers before rebounding with a 73-6 pasting of Sanford (Del.).

Bonus points were the difference against Easton, as Warren Hills (2-3) gave up a ton in the loss, while dropping two key bouts. Freshman Matt Valli fell, 8-3, to Anthony Roche at 113, while district and region champion Max Nauta suffered a 3-0 loss to Jimmy Saylor at 138.

Warren Hills fell to 3-11 all-time against Easton dating to 1948, when the Streaks were Washington High School. Washington defeated Easton -- 25-9 in 1948, 34-8 in '50 and 21-20 in '54. Red Rovers have won the last eight meetings since 1956, including a 47-22 victory in 2009. Schools have met just four times since 1991, with Easton winning 43-21 in '91 and 38-11 in '92.

Konkrete special: 'Liners roll

Phillipsburg opened its dual meet season -- two days later than expected -- with an impressive 51-17 win over Northampton (Pa.) at The Pit. Coach Dave Post's team was slated to open on Thursday night against a tough Parkland (Pa.) squad, but the match was snowed out.

Freshman Drew Horun, who needed just 1:05 to deck Northampton's Alex Darabaris, had one of seven pins for the 'Liners (1-0), who won 11 bouts.

PHILLIPSBURG 51, NORTHAMPTON (Pa.) 17

138 -- Jr. Donald Agans (3-2), P, d. So. Mark Schuon (0-1), 7-1.
145 -- Jr. Corey Zinsmeister (5-2), P, d. Fr. Cade Moisey (6-5), 2-1.
152 -- Jr. Jimmy Schuitema (5-2), P, p. Jr. Josh Coleman (5-6), 3:45
160 -- Jr. Max Elling (10-3), P, p. Jr. George Stilgenbauer (0-6), 2:27.
170 -- Sr. Bobby Fehr (10-3), N, md. Sr. Broderick Bupivi (8-6), 13-4.
182 -- Sr. Jake Kocsis (10-2), P, p. So. Devon Turner (4-8), 4:57.
195 -- Jr. Tim Hinkle (2-2), P, p. Jr. Jason Kocher (3-8), 5:39.
220 -- Jr. Joe Maso (4-2), P, p. Sr. Alex Quaglieri (0-3), :45.
285 -- Fr. Drew Horun (5-4), P, p. Fr. Alex Darabaris (1-8), 1:05.
106 -- So. Brandon Paetzell (10-1), P, d. Fr. Dan Moran (11-4), 3-2.
113 -- Jr. Michael Scheetz (5-0), N, d. So. Tyler Agans (1-5), 8-2.
120 -- So. DJ Wissing (7-5), P, p. Sr. Brandon Wallander (1-7), 1:17.
126 -- Sr. Zach Valley (13-2), N, md. Sr. Tylor Petchonka (4-5), 13-2.
132 -- Jr. Todd Hetrick (13-3), N, forfeit.