The Vikings won just two of the nine contested bouts and benefited from four forfeit victories in a 36-31 victory in a Skyland Conference Raritan Division matchup on Wednesday night at Warren Hills Regional High School.
Voorhees (13-7, 2-3 division) picked up its 599th win as it looks to earn No. 600 on Saturday in a quad, which includes Livingston and Mahway on Saturday morning at Belvidere High School. Coach Eric Hall opted to rest several of his regulars, including senior Scott Fernandes (21-3 at 195), who is sitting on 99 career wins, and junior Lewis Fernandes (24-0 at 220).
"They outwrestled us tonight by far," said Hall, who offered no excuses for what he deemed was a flat performance by his team. "Without the forfeits, we would have been in serious trouble. All the credit to them. We are lucky to get out of here with a win."
Warren Hills (3-8, 1-5), which has been hampered by injuries and lack of depth this season, was without its top two wrestlers -- senior Jarod Ostir (14-0 at 182) and junior Nick Galka (14-3 at 195) -- and a clear underdog coming in, but the Blue Streaks didn't wrestle like it.
"We won eight bouts, but it's tough when you're starting off down, 24-0," said coach Jarrett Hosbach, who is hoping to have Ostir [medical] and Galka [ankle injury] back this week. "Our main goal right now is getting healthy."
Sophomore Greg Slivka (113) and junior Duro Ajayi (285) -- two feel-good stories for the Streaks -- came up with impressive wins.
Slivka (9-9), one of the most improved wrestlers in the Open Mike area, hit a lateral drop at the edge of the mat for a four-pointer with three seconds left to gain a 5-3 win over Voorhees senior Colby Koshinski (15-9), a district champion and sixth-place finisher in Region 4 last season.
"I did a lot of offseason wrestling, and I was going for anything [a throw] I could get," said Slivka, who was 9-21 as a freshman at 106, and had no idea of Koshinski's resume. "My goal this season was to be .500 or better."
Slivka said working with first-year assistant coach Zach Fisher, a former district champion for Phillipsburg, has made him better this season.
"Greg has worked very hard and is a great example of hard work paying off," Hosbach said. "There wasn't a tournament we went to as a team that he missed. He got off to slow start [before dropping from 120 pounds], but he's starting to come on."
Ajayi (10-9), a first-year wrestler and a giant on the mat at well over 6-feet tall and around the 280-pound mark, made it two in a row against Voorhees junior Sam Huff with a wild 8-5 victory. Ajayi, who iced the bout with a late takedown, benefited from two stalling points in the third and a go-ahead two-pointer when Huff, who led 5-2 early in the third period on the strength of two first-period takedowns but was giving away about 60 pounds, was called for fleeing the mat. Both wrestlers were visibly fatigued down the stretch.
"We had a game plan," Hall said when asked what was the difference in this one after Huff dropped a 14-9 decision to Ajayi in the Hunterdon-Warren-Sussex Tournament quarterfinals on Jan. 13. "With those two guys, it's who has more air in the lungs at the end who's going to win it. It was that call and [Ajayi] who beat him. Sam has come a long way [9-17 as a freshman and 20-14 as a sophomore]. I'm proud of him."
Warren Hills senior Codey O'Rourke also scored a big 15-4 major of Hunter Rinehart, a district runner-up, in the third bout at 126. The Streaks won seven of the first eight to grab a 28-6 lead, capped by Nick Hildebrant's 6-3 decision over Brad Kalinchak at 160. Interestingly, Hildebrant's father, Eric, was a district champion for Voorhees at 188 pounds in 1984.
Zach Tong (170) and Matt Brandner (182) registered pins, while Voorhees got three forfeit victories in three of the last four bouts to pull out the win.
VOORHEES 36, WARREN HILLS 31
113 -- So. Greg Slivka (9-9), WH, d. Sr. Colby Koshinski (15-9), 5-3.
120 -- So. Kyle Bryan (3-0), V, forfeit.
126 -- Sr. Codey O'Rourke (13-4), WH, md. Jr. Hunter Rinehart (15-5), 15-4.
132 -- Sr. Kyle Wulff (13-8), WH, forfeit.
138 -- So. Logan Nauta (8-6), WH, d. So. Joe Swiston (7-17), 6-1.
145 -- Jr. Chris Ostir (10-10), WH, d. So. Garrett Loescher (6-18), 7-2.
152 -- So. Geir Nemeth (10-11), WH, p. So. Ben Hemberger (2-7), :42.
160 -- So. Nick Hildebrant (9-12), WH, d. Sr. Brad Kalinchak (12-11), 6-3.
170 -- So. Zach Tong (2-2), V, p. Jr. Merlyn Garcia (0-1), :53.
182 -- Jr. Matt Brandner (13-12), V, p. Fr. Logan Polcari (2-9), :47.
195 -- Jr. Charlie Eberle (7-8), V, forfeit.
220 -- So. Anthony DeStephano (1-0), V, forfeit.
285 -- Jr. Duro Ajayi (10-9), WH, d. Jr. Sam Huff (18-6), 8-5.
106 -- So. Josh Rich (11-12), V, forfeit.
Records -- Voorhees 13-7, 2-3; Warren Hills 3-8, 1-5.
Official -- Frank Leitner.
'Liners stay tough on Lions
Junior Cody Harrison and senior Brian Meyer picked up key victories as Phillipsburg rolled to a 41-15 win over North Hunterdon in a Skyland Conference Raritan Division clash at Phillipsburg High School.
P'burg (8-2, 4-1 division), which is in the midst of a tough four-match stretch in six days, was coming off a 53-14 waxing of Warren Hills with independent matches against Parkland (Pa.) on Thursday and Southern on Saturday remaining this week. The latter is a matchup of state-ranked teams -- the Stateliners are No. 8, while the Rams are No. 12 in the latest New Jersey Writers Association Top 20.
"We try to do the best we can to put ourselves in position to win," P'burg coach Dave Post, who made some key lineup moves in this one, told Mike Moore of Stateliner Sports Network during the postmatch recap. "Our three freshmen all wrestled well. Two of those were in front of this kind of audience for the first time. We put guys in all different weight classes. It was a very complete dual meet."
Junior Travis Jones (22-4) continued his fine season by bumping up weight to score a 15-0 technical fall win over Evan Klimas at 126 to give P'burg a 17-9 lead through seven bouts after North won three of the first four to gain an early advantage. Freshman Jason Tino also came through with a clutch 5-3 win in sudden-victory at 120, making that move pay off.
Harrison, who weighed in at 138, was moved away from North Hunterdon ace Andrew Gapas -- whose pin was the lone bonus-point loss for P'burg -- in what would have been a matchup of state medal winners. Instead, Harrison posted a 5-0 shutout of Michael Wilson, a district runner-up last season.
Meyer, a Lehigh recruit and a third-place finisher in last season's state tournament, followed with a 5-0 win over North's Tucker Kirchberger at 152, before senior Josh Ramos iced it with an 8-4 decision over William Hughes, a district champion, at 160 with two bouts to go.
North Hunterdon, which seemed to match up well on paper, dropped to 8-53-1 all-time against Phillipsburg in a series dating to 1961. The Lions' last victory in this rivalry was 36-21 at home on Jan. 6, 2007. It's the second-longest series for P'burg, which has faced Warren Hills 71 times since 1948, against Hunterdon-Warren teams. The 'Liners are now 213-36-2 all-time vs. H-W opponents.
PHILLIPSBURG 41, NORTH HUNTERDON 15
195 -- So. Nathaniel Fossett (17-8), NH, d. Fr. Gage Horvath (0-1), 8-5.
220 -- Sr. Shamyr Brodders (8-11), P, d. Jr. Francis Vitelli (6-12), 5-1.
285 -- Jr. Lorenzo Becerril (13-8), NH, d. Sr. Patrick Sharpe (13-11), 3-1.
106 -- Jr. Connor Robinson (19-4), NH, d. Fr. Logan Maczko (12-10), 8-4.
113 -- Sr. Cullen Day (17-7), P, p. Fr. Frank Diesso (13-7), 5:31.
120 -- Fr. Jason Tino (2-0), P, d. So. Drew Doscher (11-9), 5-3 SV.
126 -- Jr. Travis Jones (22-4), P, tf. So. Evan Klimas (9-11), 15-0, 3:19.
132 -- Jr. Kyle Tino (13-5), P, d. So. Kyle Anderson (10-12), 10-4.
138 -- Sr. Andrew Gapas (22-1), NH, p. Jr. Colin Emery (0-1), :28.
145 -- Jr. Cody Harrison (18-2), P, d. Jr. Michael Wilson (20-4), 5-0.
152 -- Sr. Brian Meyer (20-2), P, d. Sr. Tucker Kirchberger (21-5), 5-0.
160 -- Sr. Josh Ramos (13-6), P, d. Sr. William Hughes (12-4), 8-4.
170 -- Sr. Lance Wissing (23-3), P, p. Sr. John Spies (9-13), 5:45.
182 -- Jr. Austin Roth (10-8), P, p. Fr. Andrew Franklin (0-2), :50.
Records -- North Hunterdon 11-4, 3-2; Phillipsburg 8-2, 4-1.
Official -- Russ Scorese.
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