Wrestling: North makes 'point' in winning Goles title

WASHINGTON TWP. -- North Hunterdon junior Connor Quinn said the team goal is to "always look for pins and bonus points," because you never know when those extra points may make a difference.

The Lions made every point count in the 62nd annual John Goles Invitational, racking up a tournament-best 21 pins and crowning five champions en route to setting a new record for total team points on Friday at Warren Hills Regional High School.

North Hunterdon won the team race in record fashion

North, ranked No. 7 in the state by the New Jersey Wrestling Writers Association, ran away with its second straight team championship and eclipsing the previous mark of 254 by Newton in 2008. It's the fifth Goles team championship for the Lions and the first time they've gone back-to-back. West Morris finished second with 178 points, followed by Warren Hills in third with 164.

"I honestly didn't know what the record was," said coach Chris Hrunka, now in his third season at the helm and a Goles champion for Warren Hills in 2006. "It's always great to set a record. Hopefully, we'll break it again."

Hrunka was also pleased that North met its tournament goal of 21 pins -- three more than it had in winning the Nottingham Tournament last Saturday. None of the five champs for North won by fall, but Quinn (132 pounds) and senior Ian Gaburo (220) both won their second titles. Senior Nate Fossett (182), who won the Ryan M. Storm Memorial Award for most pins in least time by a champ, freshman Alex Uryniak (195) and sophomore Liam Akers (285) earned their first Goles championships.

In all, North had 15 wrestlers place in the top four, including four runners-up in Evan Klimas (145), James Holder (170), Andrew Franklin (285) and Logan Wadle (106). Tournament rules allow teams to enter extra wrestlers to help fill out weight classes.

"I think all of our guys wrestled pretty well," said Hrunka, who was without the services of starter and 2018 champion Drew Doscher (138) due to skin issues. "I thought Connor Quinn looked the best today. He's coming into his own."

Quinn (7-2), a No. 3 seed who finished third at 120 last year, benefited from a five-point move in his 7-3 win over top-seeded Logan Nauta of Warren Hills -- getting a takedown and three backs off a cradle with 48 seconds left in the second period.

"I definitely didn't want that feeling again of not being under the lights [for the finals]," said Quinn, who finished third in District 20 last season. "That's my go-to-move. I saw an opportunity and I hit it."

After giving up the opening takedown in his final bout, Gaburo racked up three of his own en route to an 8-5 victory over Hopewell Valley senior Christian Caccabaudo.

In perhaps the most entertaining bout of the championship round, Fossett scored an 11-5 win over Newton senior Julian Sibblies. Fossett (7-2), a district and region champion last season who took a 3-2 lead into the third period, countered a gator roll attempt by Sibblies to score four points with 11 seconds to go to break open a tight bout. Earlier, Sibblies nearly hit a lateral drop at the edge of the mat.

Braves extend streak

Newton, which finished sixth in the team standings, had two champions in junior JoJo Lotruglio (138) and sophomore Nathan Fitt (120), a two-time winner who also earned the Outstanding Wrestler Award. That gave the Braves at least one champ in all but three tournaments since 2000 -- missing in 2004, '12 and '15.

Nathan Fitt with OW Award.

Lotruglio, who finished fourth and third the previous two seasons, converted the opening takedown off a 50-50 scramble with 26 seconds left in the third period and went on to a convincing 5-0 win over West Morris senior Robert Bohr, a district champion and region runner-up last season. Surprisingly, Lotruglio stayed away from his favorite move by not attempting any merkles.

"I'm trying to stay away from [merkles]," said Lotruglio, whose father, Joe, was a district champion for Lenape Valley at 130 pounds in 1992. "I've been working on [single-leg takedowns] a lot. That one could have gone either way. I kept my composure. People who study film and watch me [know about the merkle]. I'm trying to become a more diverse wrestler."

Fitt capped the finals for the second straight season with a stunning takedown and pin in 1:23 against Warren Hills senior Greg Slivka, a two-time runner-up and region fifth-place finisher last season. Fitt (6-1), who won the 106-pound title last year in the last bout, is the fourth Newton wrestler to earn OW honors -- joining Austin Alpaugh (2006), Kevin Churchill ('09) and former teammate Wyatt McCarthy ('17). All three were state tournament placewinners.

"I didn't see that coming [winning the OW]," said Fitt, a No. 4 seed who scored an impressive 5-2 win over top seed and state qualifier Frank DiEsso of North Hunterdon in the semifinals. "I just hit a duck-under to a bear hug [to deck Slivka]. I was moving pretty good on my feet and wrestled tough in all positions."

Malia big on winning

Making the jump up four weight classes certainly didn't faze Warren Hills sophomore Stephen Malia, who rolled to his first title with a 10-2 major of East Stroudsburg North sophomore Wayne McIntrye at 152 pounds.

Malia (7-0), the No. 2 seed who was a district runner-up at 126 as a freshman, started off his tournament by decking heralded Delaware Valley freshman Garrett Tettemer before scoring an 11-6 win over West Morris senior Matt Borgia in the semifinals.

"I'm feeling stronger than ever," said Malia, who is wrestling now at his natural weight. "I felt weak [last year]. Today when I woke up, all I wanted to do was come here and win. I was happy I did it."

Also winning his first title for the Streaks, who have crowned a tournament-best 186 champions and haven't been shut out in the finals since 2002, was sophomore Owen Frizzell, who pinned Verona senior Ryan Huze in 3:38 to claim the championship at 160. Frizzell (5-1) was a part-timer in the varsity lineup last season -- going 2-5.

In addition to Slivka and Nauta, sophomore Jared Lee was a runner-up at 126 for the Streaks.

Here and there

Delaware Valley senior Gage Crater, a runner-up in 2018, broke through in his final Goles appearance by winning his first title at 126 with a 3-1 decision over Warren Hills sophomore Jared Lee. Crater (6-1), a two-time district finalist, converted the decisive takedown with 42 seconds left in the first period after Lee had gotten in deep on a single-leg attempt.

The Terriers, who finished fourth with 153.5 points, also had a runner-up in sophomore Robert Groogan (113).

Keep an eye on Uryniak, a strong freshman who was the lowest seed to win a title as the No. 6 at 195. We could be looking at a four-time winner by the time he's finished. Having good upper weights is key to having a successful dual meet team and North is set up top. The Lions also had a tournament first with two finalists at the same weight with Akers and Franklin at 285.

West Morris showed it's a tournament team with five in the finals and four champions, including two-time winner Colin Loughney at 170 and freshman Michael Camponaro, who was as good as advertised at 106. Coach Ken Rossi and his staff, which includes former Hackettstown standout Jim Balella, always do a great job in having their wrestlers ready for this event.

Those who showed up later in the day missed a fitting tribute -- wish it was prior to the finals to give more in attendance a chance to hear it -- to former tournament director and longtime public address announcer Bill Lunger, who died in October at the all-to-young age of 61. The award for three-time champions will now bear his name. Lunger loved Warren Hills athletics and especially this tournament in which he presided over until 2015 with much class and professionalism. It was tough not thinking about him throughout this 62nd version.

Team standings

1. North Hunterdon (NH) 256; 2. West Morris (WM) 178; 3. Warren Hills (WH) 164; 4. Delaware Valley (DV) 153.5; 5. Hopewell Valley (HV) 92; 6. Newton (N) 85; 7. Manville (M) 68; 8. East Stroudsburg North (ESN) 44; 9. Verona (V) 34.

Placewinners by school (top four)

North Hunterdon 5+4+4+2=15; West Morris 4+1+1+3=9; Warren Hills 2+3+2+2=9; Delaware Valley 1+1+3+3=8; Newton 2+1+0+1=4; Hopewell Valley 0+1+2+1=4; Manville 0+1+1+1=3; Verona 0+1+1+0=2; East Stroudsburg North 0+1+0+1=2.

Championships

126 -- 3-Sr. Gage Crater (6-1), DV, d. 4-So. Jared Lee (6-1), WH, 3-1.
132 -- 3-Jr. Connor Quinn (7-2), NH, d. 1-Sr. Logan Nauta (6-2), WH, 7-3.
138 -- 2-Jr. JoJo Lotruglio (7-0), N, d. 1-Sr. Robert Bohr (2-1), WM, 5-0.
145 -- 1-Sr. Eli Shepard (6-1), WM, d. 2-Sr. Evan Klimas (8-1), NH, 10-6.
152 -- 2-So. Stephen Malia (7-0), WH, md. 4-So. Wayne McIntyre (12-2), ESN, 10-2.
160 -- 4-So. Owen Frizzell (5-1), WH, p. 2-Sr. Ryan Huze (4-2), V, 3:38.
170 -- 1-Sr. Colin Loughney (6-1), WM, p. 3-Jr. James Holder (7-2), NH, 1:29.
182 -- 1-Sr. Nate Fossett (7-2), NH, d. 3-Sr. Julian Sibblies (5-2), N, 11-5.
195 -- 6-Fr. Alex Uryniak (8-1), NH, d. 1-Sr. Alex Abarca (5-1), M, 3-2.
220 -- 1-Sr. Ian Gaburo (5-0), NH, d. 2-Sr. Christian Cacciabaudo (6-2), HV, 8-5.
285 -- 5-So. Liam Akers (9-0), NH, d. 7-Jr. Andrew Franklin (3-1), NH, 1-0.
106 -- 4-Fr. Michael Camponaro (9-1), WM, d. 2-Fr. Logan Wadle (8-2), NH, 6-2.
113 -- 2-So. Michael Ferrante (4-2), WM, p. 4-So. Robert Groogan (4-4), DV, 3:29.
120 -- 4-So. Nathan Fitt (6-1), N, p. 2-Sr. Greg Slivka (5-2), WH, 1:23.

Third-place consolations

106 -- 1-Sr. Derek Schepens (6-3), DV, md. 6-So. Ben Makaritis (2-2), NH, 10-2.
113 -- 1-So. Nick DeLorenzo (8-2), NH, d. 5-Fr. Shawn Redfield (3-4), WH, 5-3.
120 -- 1-Jr. Frank DiEsso (8-2), NH, md. 3-Sr. Christian Micikas (4-4), HV, 10-0.
126 -- 2-So. Malachi Shepard (6-4), WM, d. 6-Fr. Daniel Delusant (4-5), NH, 4-3.
132 -- 2-Jr. Dean Palmer (5-2), V, d. 3-Sr. Chase Christie (5-4), DV, 7-2.
138 -- 4-Sr. Geir Nemeth (6-2), WH, p. 3-Jr. Corey Crater (5-4), DV, 1:25.
145 -- 6-Sr. Shane Reynolds (5-3), DV, d. 3-Jr. Nick Costa (3-4), N, 3-2.
152 -- 1-Sr. Kyle Anderson (7-3), NH, d.  3-Sr. Matt Borgia (6-4), WM, 7-0.
160 -- 5-Jr. William Cole (7-3), NH, d. 1-Jr. Jack Lombardino (4-3), M, 3-1.
170 -- 5-Sr. Shane Lallikssoon (5-2), M, md. 4-Jr. Dylan Hogan (10-4), ESN, 11-2.
182 -- 2-Jr. Josh Beigman (7-2), HV, p. 5-Fr. Henry Frayne (4-3), WM, :35.
195 -- 3-Jr. Brian LaCross (6-3), HV, p. 5-Sr. Mike Battaglino (3-5), WM, 3:57.
220 -- 4-Sr. Nick Moose (5-4), DV, d. 6-Jr. Logan Polcari (5-3), WH, 6-2.
285 -- 4-So. Tyler McCatharn (6-1), WH, forfeit, 1-Sr. Ryan Sutter (3-1), DV.

Outstanding Wrestler Award -- Nathan Fitt, Newton.
Ryan M. Storm Memorial Award (Most pins in least time by a champion) -- Nate Fossett, North Hunterdon (2 in 52 seconds).
Alonzo Widenor Memorial Award (Fastest pin) -- Cole Hildebrandt, Verona (14 seconds).