Wrestling: 'Liners look sharp in tuneup for Wildcats

RARITAN TWP. -- Phillipsburg wasn't about to be caught looking ahead to Saturday night's big showdown at High Point. Fourth-year coach Dave Post saw to that, as his Stateliners cruised to a 41-18 victory over Hunterdon Central on Thursday at the Field House.

After all , the mere mention of last season's pair of losses to Central -- 34-30 at The Pit and 30-29 here in the North 2, Group 4 final -- really didn't require a long motivational speech.

"I mentioned it a little at practice on Tuesday," said Post, whose team improved to 5-0 on Thursday. "I just said, 'Remember.' They knew what I meant."

Phillipsburg now holds a 35-7-1 edge in the all-time series dating to 1962.

Let's take a closer look at this Stateliners victory and where it was won and lost:

1. It's been said a lot around these parts, but takedowns win matches. And the Stateliners sure looked crisp on their feet as they won the takedown battle, 14-7. Junior 138-pounder Corey Zinsmeister accounted for four of those in a slick 17-2 technical fall win in 4:33 over Central's Nick Taylor. "I was pleased with the way we wrestled," said Post, now 4-2 vs. Central. "We have been a little selective on our feet, but tonight I thought we really opened up a little more. We got to see how talented some of our guys are, like Corey Zinsmeister and [freshman] Drew Horun [a 4-2 winner over Dan Hausman at 285]." Getting to work out every day in practice with assistant coach Brad Gentzle, a former standout at Easton (Pa.) and a starter at the University of Pittsburgh, surely has helped Zinsmeister in his development. "Those two go at it hard every day," Post said.

2. Post has been preaching to his team about not giving up bonus points and getting them at opportune times. Message received, as the 'Liners recorded three pins and a technical fall against Central. The teams also traded forfeits at 106 (to P'burg sophomore Brandon Paetzell) and at 152 (to Central's Gary Dinmore) -- a pair of state title contenders. The forfeit was the only bonus points for the Red Devils in their five victories. "Coming into this one, we had given up a total of six bonus points [in four previous dual meets] combined. Central opted to bump freshman 106-pounder Peter Nace to 113 and gave the forfeit win to Paetzell, with backup Bryce Hall weighing in at 97 pounds. Post uncharacteristically, in turn, gave six to Dinmore with no available 152-pounder in reserve, as the 'Liners bumped Jake Kocsis from 170 to 182 to open the match, forcing junior Max Elling to move from 152 to 160 in order to cover the last two weights. "We would have had to bump up [senior Garrett Wolfinger who weighed in at 145] and we didn't think it was fair to him to wrestle one of the best kids in the state," Post said.

3. There were three rematches from this past Saturday's Hunterdon-Warren-Sussex Tournament -- two again went Phillipsburg's way, as Zinsmeister beat Taylor after decking him the first time around, while junior Joe Maso scored a 7-2 win over Nick Suk at 220. Maso, who won, 5-3, on Saturday, dominated the rematch with three takedowns to none. The one reversal was Collin Boylan's 2-1 win over P'burg junior Jimmy Shuitema, who prevailed 1-0 in the HWS finals at 145. Boylan got the only takedown between the two in six periods early in the rematch and that was the difference. Interestingly, Boylan took bottom to start the second period up 2-0, putting Schuitema in his best position on top. Boylan was ridden out the entire period, but came close to coming out the back door late. After Schuitema escaped in the third period, neither wrestler came close to getting a takedown.

4. Matchups make the dual meet and Central was hard-pressed to find enough to make a legitimate run at the upset. Heck, it was a struggle for the hosts in all four of their wins on the mat. Besides Boylan's nail-biter, junior Nestor Crespo used a first-period takedown to earn a 4-2 win over Tim Hinkle at 195, while Peter Nace hit a five-point move in the third period to pull out a 7-3 win over Tyler Agans at 113. Nace's brother, Dylan, got a first-period takedown in a 3-0 win over Steve Friedman at 132 -- a bout that featured little action.

5. With Hunterdon Central out of the way, Phillipsburg turns its attention to High Point in a match that's been much-anticipated all season, and really since the spring when it was announced that the two traditional public school powerhouses would meet for the 17th time overall and first since the Wildcats scored a 30-22 victory at The Pit on Jan. 31, 2009 -- its first win in 16 meetings with the 'Liners. Post says a big key for this one will be doing more of what got P'burg the win against Central. "They're a super tough squad and they have a lot of guys that can score points," he said. "But they have some guys that give up points, too. We didn't get to see much [from High Point] at Hunterdon-Warren-Sussex]." The 'Cats were without six starters for Saturday's tournament, including sophomore 126-pounder Jared Kobis, who is sidelined with a broken hand. It's a potential big swing, as P'burg senior Tylor Petchonka will go from heavy underdog to being favored at 126.

PHILLIPSBURG 41, HUNTERDON CENTRAL 18
182 -- Sr. Jake Kocsis (18-2), P,  p. Fr. Mike Iodice (0-1), :27.
195 -- Jr. Nestor Crespo (11-5), HC, d. Jr. Tim Hinkle (3-5), 4-2.
220 -- Jr. Joe Maso (10-4), P, d. Jr. Nick Suk (10-5), 7-2.
285 -- Fr. Drew Horun (10-6), P, d. Sr. Dan Hausman (8-7), 4-2.
106 -- So. Brandon Paetzell (17-1), P, forfeit.

113 -- Fr. Peter Nace (12-4), HC, d. So. Tyler Agans (3-10), 7-3.
120 -- So. DJ Wissing (12-7), P, d. Jr. Kyler Rodriguez (9-7), 6-4.
126 -- Sr. Tylor Petchonka (7-7), P, p. Jr. Hunter Orr (5-8), 3:06.
132 -- Sr. Dylan Nace (14-1), HC, d. Jr. Steve Friedman (9-7), 3-0.
138 -- Jr. Corey Zinsmeister (12-3), P, tf. Jr. Nick Taylor (9-7), 17-2, 4:33.
145 -- Sr. Collin Boylan (17-1), HC, d. Jr. Jimmy Schuitema (11-3), 2-1.
152 -- Sr. Gary Dinmore (15-0), HC, forfeit.
160 -- Jr. Max Elling (16-4), P, p. Sr. Matt Suydam (5-7), :47.
170 -- Sr. Broderick Bupivi (14-7), P, d. Jr. Joe Scerbo (12-4), 1-0.
Records -- Phillipsburg 5-0; Hunterdon Central 5-2.
Official -- Anthony Zullo.