Wrestling: 'Cats, 'Liners, Lions carry flag for HWS

Just call them the Comeback 'Cats.

They were at again on Sunday, winning the final six bouts to post a 30-25 victory over Raritan in the Group 2 final at RWJBarnabas Health Arena.

Seems as if High Point -- which helped Sussex County claim two state championships in the same year for the first time since 2008 when it won in Group 3 and Kittatinny captured the Group 1 crown -- performs the best under pressure in this facility as it was the third time in five years where it rallied in dramatic fashion.

Who could forget the 34-33 win over Hanover Park in the 2014 Group 2 final -- where the Wildcats pinned in the final four weights. That will forever be one of the most talked about matches across New Jersey. In 2013, High Point dropped the first four bouts and six of seven as it fell into an early 15-point hole before recovering to win the Group 2 title that season with a thrilling 33-30 win over nemesis Long Branch. In each of those, the 'Cats won just six bouts, while getting eight vs. Raritan.

High Point overcame a 19-point deficit to beat Raritan in the G2 final.

"That's how High Point rolls, we never quit," said current sophomore Billy Talmadge, whose 5-2 victory at 132 pounds sealed the win over Raritan,  which had a 25-6 lead through eight bouts.

High Point (24-1), which went unbeaten against New Jersey competition this season, had plenty of heroes in the win over Raritan. Probably none were more unlikely than senior Thomas Hubmaster, once a third-string heavyweight, and freshman Josh Gervey, who wasn't in the starting lineup until junior Devin Flannery, a talented 120-pounder, sustained a season-ending left elbow injury in mid-January.

Hubmaster's 5-1 win over Matt Spirko was the turning point, while Gervey shocked the Rockets with a 9-7 win over Mike Lonnay at 120 pounds -- setting the stage for senior Maverick Liebl (126) and Talmadge to close it out. In between, junior Grayson Sabo added a key 3-1 win at 195.

One of the best scenes following the match was Hubmaster and assistant coach Billy Smith hugging in one corner of the mat. Smith, who is among the program's all-time greatest wrestlers and is now in his second season on head coach John Gardner's staff, was kind enough to share what was said during that embrace.

"I told him I was proud of him and he's a big part of the team's success," said Smith, who has taken Hubmaster (24-8) under his wing the past two seasons. "He said, 'Thank you.'" Then, I told him he's not done. He still has a lot of goals to achieve."

Smith was a key member on some great High Point teams, going 138-20 overall from 2007-11, while helping the program win three sectional and two Group 3 championships, including its first state title in '08. Smith was a three-time district and two-time region champion, capturing the 285-pound state championship in '11 -- one of four seniors for the 'Cats to win gold medals in Atlantic City. Their teams finished No. 1 in New Jersey for the 2007-08 and 2010-11 seasons.

Smith went on to a successful collegiate career at Rutgers University -- where he was 105-39 overall and, upon his graduation, was one of just four wrestlers for the Scarlet Knights to have made four consecutive national tournament appearances, along with Scott Winston (2009, 2011-13), Dan Rinaldi (2010-13) and Andy Roy (2002-05).

"He's had amazing accomplishments," Hubmaster said. "I look up to him not only skill-wise, but as a tough wrestler. He's pushed me to become a better wrestler than I thought I could ever be."

Maybe having Smith, who has been an absolute pleasure to cover and interview over the years, back in the fold was a good luck charm, being a key link to some of the program's greatest wins. The heir apparent to Gardner is now making his mark as a coach and he's enjoying every bit of it.

"Tommy continues to get better every single day," Smith said. "He's happy to be part of what we do. You rarely hear anything negative. He always has a smile on his face. He started out like a lot of heavyweights, getting stuck on his belly and rolled over and pinned a lot.

"He's got a good record, but that's not what's important. He's tough and he never gives up no matter what. I don't baby him. I try to make him good by putting him in hard situations where he has to perform. When he goes out into the real world, he'll know how to deal with real-word issues and consequences."

Turns out, Hubmaster is quite the student of the program's glorious history. Now, he's forever a part of it.

"I go on the internet and watch old videos of the state championship matches," Hubmaster said. "That's fuel to work harder in the practice room. This was our goal."

"Since we put out the history book to celebrate our 50th anniversary, I think a lot of our kids got into it," Gardner said. "When we got back [to the school on Sunday night] some were in the gym looking up at the banners to see where 2018 would go. That's pretty neat."

State of the 'Liners

In case you haven't noticed, though I'm guessing many readers have, Phillipsburg really turned it on down the stretch in capturing the program's 22nd state title and fifth straight in Group 4 with a 35-21 win over Long Branch. In the semifinals, the Stateliners won 11 bouts in a 50-12 rout of Roxbury.

Phillipsburg's championship trophy -- its 13th in Group 4.

P'burg (17-2) dropped nine bouts combined in the two matches on Sunday coming off a gritty 32-30 win over Middletown North in Friday's North 2, Group 4 sectional final -- the Warren County school's 37th overall.

The 'Liners raced out to a 25-0 lead on Long Branch and never really looked back. It was another dominating performance on the team season's biggest stage.

"I don't know if we've wrestled this well here. We've had some really good teams," Post said. "Zach Fisher [had a match-clinching win against Brick Memorial in the Group 4 final in 2012] and [Robert] Melise [with an unexpected pin as a freshman to spark a 32-21 victory over Southern in the Group 4 final in 2014]. We've had some great moments, but I don't know if we've wrestled 28 bouts better as a team. It was a spectacular effort."

It's not unusual for Phillipsburg to do its best work at this time of year, but there was a point in January where thing weren't progressing up to the program's lofty standards.

"It was right before Hunterdon-Warren-Sussex, we weren't wrestling very well," said Post, one of two P'burg coaches, along with Rick Thompson (seven) to win at least six state titles. "We didn't really have any super-intense dual meets until late. Early in the season, it was that hardening process. It was like last year, we gave up five falls [in a loss] to Cranford. But once we got to the meat and potatoes point in the season, I don't think we got pinned five times total."

Phillipsburg now gears up to host the District 9 Tournament on Saturday starting at 9:30 a.m.

Lions roar in Non-Public B

It was quite the scene across three mats as Pope John was the first of the local teams -- all wrestling in the finals at the same time -- to capture a state championship -- its sixth overall (all in Non-Public B) and the first since 1994 -- with a 48-21 waxing of Holy Spirit.

Pope John celebrates its title victory. (courtesy of PJ)

The Lions (17-2), who outclassed the entire B field, rolled to a 47-16 win over DePaul in Friday's sectional final.

“It’s awesome,” said senior Jake Rotunda in a finals recap prepared by Pope John communications director Anthony Spaulding. “It’s kind of hard to process right now. Being a senior, this is just great. It’s been a long time coming for us. We’ve worked hard these last few years. We’ve put in a lot of blood, sweat and tears on the mat. It’s finally paid off.”

Rotunda (29-4), the program's all-time wins leader at 119-22 overall, scored a technical fall at 138 pounds, as coach Mark Piotrowsky bumped the stellar middle portion of his lineup, as juniors Joe Aragona and Robert Garcia followed with first-period pins at 145 and 152.

“This is really great,” Piotrowsky said. “We have a member on our coaching staff, Jarrod Cofrancesco, who was on that 1994 team and he always talks to our guys about where Pope John was before this. This is a huge moment for this team, which we believe is the best to have ever come through Pope John.”

Holy Spirit (8-13), which lost to DePaul in the two previous title matches in 2016 and '17, managed to win five bouts, after Pope John had raced out to a 32-0 lead through six bouts.

"It was a huge team effort," Piotrowsky said.