WANTAGE TWP. -- There are rookies and then there are rookies. Brian Soldano is not your average freshman.
Soldano's first big-match moment was a blink, as his 28-second pin with a cement mixer at 170 pounds secured High Point's 34-28 win over Southern on Saturday afternoon in an independent matchup between two of New Jersey's top teams.
"I've been doing that move since I was 8 years old," said Soldano, an accomplished youth wrestler who improved to 5-0 on the season. "It was fun. Big crowd. I just wanted to wrestle tough and do what I do. Keep it rolling."
High Point (3-0), the defending Group 2 champion which was coming off a 49-20 waxing of rival Kittatinny on Tuesday, overcame an early 12-0 deficit after three bouts behind its powerful group of lower weights. A close loss at 220 and a pin at 285 put the 'Cats in a hole to start before they reeled off six in a row to grab a 16-point lead.
"Southern is a quality team down low, but we have some kids who have been around the sport for a long time, and understand what it takes to be successful," said 'Cats coach John Gardner, whose team capped the day with a 42-22 victory over Roxbury in the tri-meet finale. "We take a lot of pride limiting bonus points and forcing people to wrestle. You can't always do that, but it's one of the reasons we've had some success."
Freshman Clayton Utter started a six-match run for the 'Cats with a pin at 106, followed by junior Devon Liebl's major at 113 and pins by seniors Devin Flannery (120) and Brandon LaRue. Junior Billy Talmadge capped it with a 5-2 win over Robert Woodcock in a rematch of state qualifiers at 138. Talmadge, who converted a pair of takedowns, scored a 3-0 win over Woodcock last season in High Point's 28-25 win at Southern, the Group 5 runner-up.
"We were hoping to limit the points down low, but they're so solid down there," said veteran Rams coach John Stout, whose team rebounded with a 41-23 win over Roxbury in the tri-meet opener after a disappointing 28-25 loss to Jackson Memorial in a Shore Conference clash on Wednesday.
"If those two at 138 wrestle 10 times, they probably split 5-5. [Our effort] was OK. It was better than Wednesday night. We still have a long way to go. I don't expect us to be our best on Dec. 22. If we're the same on Feb. 22, then we have a problem."
Junior Jason Sari stopped the bleeding for Southern with a 7-4 win at 145, and Nicholas Pepe added a 14-6 major at 152 to close the gap to 28-19. Senior state placewinner Nicholas O'Connell followed with a pin at 160, as High Point coach John Gardner bumped Soldano away to 170 to face Hayden Tatarek.
With no other wrestlers weighed in at 152 and 160, Southern (2-2) was locked in and could not chase Soldano with O'Connell. Soldano's pin gave High Point an insurmountable nine-point lead with one bout to go. Stout's son closed out the match with a 9-4 win at 182.
"Some of our kids in the middle and up top did a really good job," said Gardner, who lost senior Grayson Sabo for the season with a shoulder injury and may be without another upper weight as senior Liam Whitteaker sustained a right knee injury at 285 and had to be helped off the mat.
"Auer, Buchwald, PJ Soldano and Jon Morris, saving us some bonus points. When you wrestle quality teams, every point matters. I thought our kids wrestled tough throughout the match."
HIGH POINT 34, SOUTHERN 28
195 -- Jr. Ben LoParo (4-3), S, d. Sr. Jonathan Morris (3-2), 10-3.
220 -- Jr. JT Cornelius (7-0), S, d. Sr. Andrew Lewis (0-1), 4-2.
285 -- Jr. Jayden Smith (4-3), S, p. Sr. Liam Whitteaker (1-1), 2:17.
106 -- Fr. Clayton Utter (5-0), HP, p. Fr. Chris Lubeski (2-5), 1:10.
113 -- Jr. Devon Liebl (5-0), HP, md. Jr. Jayson Scerbo (3-4), 12-2.
120 -- Sr. Devin Flannery (4-0), HP, p. Fr. Nate Bischoff (0-3), :43.
126 -- So. Josh Gervey (4-1), HP, d. Sr. Sebastian Delligatti (4-2), 13-6.
132 -- Sr. Brandon LaRue (5-0), HP, p. So. Matt Brielmaier (3-4), 1:04.
138 -- Jr. Billy Talmadge (5-0), HP, d. Jr. Robert Woodcock (6-1), 5-2.
145 -- Jr. Jason Sari (4-4), S, d. Sr. Nick Auer (1-3), 7-4.
152 -- Sr. Nicholas Pepe (6-2), S, md. So. Alex Buchwald (4-3), 14-6.
160 -- Sr. Nicholas O'Connell (7-0), S, p. Sr. Jacob Carter (0-1), 1:42.
170 -- Fr. Brian Soldano (5-0), HP, p. Sr. Haven Tatarek (3-3), :28.
182 -- Sr. John Stout (7-0), S, d. Jr. PJ Soldano (4-2), 9-4.
Records -- Southern 2-2; High Point 2-0.
HIGH POINT 42, ROXBURY 22
220 -- Sr. Andrew Lewis (1-1), HP, forfeit.
285 -- So. Chris Hendershot (1-2), HP, d. Jr. Charles Lisa (1-4), 3-1.
106 -- Fr. Clayton Utter (6-0), HP, p. So. Thomas Conselyea (3-3), :56.
113 -- So. Franco Mazza (5-0), R, d. Jr. Devon Liebl (5-1), 1-0.
120 -- Sr. Devin Flannery (5-0), HP, md. Sr. John Tesoriero (5-1), 11-1.
126 -- So. Josh Gervey (5-1), HP, md. Fr. Kevin Stigliano (2-4), 13-1.
132 -- Sr. Brandon LaRue (6-0), HP, p. Jr. Josh Rosado (1-5), 2:26.
138 -- Jr. Billy Talmadge (6-0), HP, p. Fr. Alex Poissant (2-4), 3:20.
145 -- Sr. Scott Jarosz (5-0), R, p. Sr. Nick Auer (1-4), 1:20.
152 -- So. Alex Buchwald (5-3), HP, d. Sr. Anietie Akpan (0-3), 3-0.
160 -- Fr. Brian Soldano (6-0), HP, md. Sr. Evan Vazquez, 10-2.
170 -- Sr. Anthony Rallo (5-0), R, md. Jr. PJ Soldano (4-3), 11-3.
182 -- Sr. Michael Corrente (5-1), R, d. Sr. Jonathan Morris (3-3), 4-2.
195 -- Sr. Ben Temples (6-0), R, forfeit.
Records -- Roxbury 0-3; High Point 3-0.
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