Wrestling: Garriques continues tradition in P'burg win

LOPATCONG TWP. -- Phillipsburg wrestling history certainly isn't lost on freshman Owen Garriques, who's grown up with a constant reminder of such greatness in his own home. 

Garriques' father, John, was a fan favorite and state runner-up for the Stateliners back in his day in the mid-1990s, but the Centenary University coach's likeable son is quickly making his own mark sporting the Garnet and Grey. Owen's first signature win at 120 pounds helped spark Phillipsburg's 39-22 victory over Delaware Valley on Tuesday night in a Skyland Conference cross-divisional match.

P'burg is now 231-42-2 all-time vs. Hunterdon-Warren schools

P'burg (12-0), ranked No. 10 in the New Jersey Wrestling Writers Association Top 20, won eight bouts overall, but none were bigger than Garriques' 5-3 decision over Delaware Valley senior Jake Taylor, a returning state qualifier. 

"For him to string a couple [wins] together now, it's great," said first-year head coach Tim Longacre, whose team was coming off a thrilling 28-27 criteria win (most pins) over archrival Easton (Pa.) on Saturday. "He's such a hard worker. He deserves it.

"He normally keeps himself in good position. We're trying to work in some other stuff with him as well, but he's always in a dogfight. We're going to get him there. He's going to be one of those where it doesn't take long to get there."

A late reversal with 33 seconds to go in the third period was the difference, though Garriques (12-12), who's beaten and lost to some tough customers this season, nearly had a takedown and three back points with under a minute to go in the second period after a first-period takedown. 

"Yeah, I think so," Garriques said, when asked if this was his biggest win to date. "We've been working on staying calm in those moments and [staying aggressive] against my opponents and not rushing anything.

"I feel like the way that we train, I feel confident in all my positions. I just have belief in my coaches and they put me where I need to be. I can not thank them enough for what they've done for me so far."

Delaware Valley (10-1), ranked No. 14 in the NJWWA poll, had some early momentum despite losing the first three bouts. After getting decked at 285, sophomore Tristan Fawthrop, who was pinned by Anthony Pettinelli earlier this season, and junior Luacs Beyers did their jobs by limiting the damage at 106 and 113, respectively. But the loss at 120 certainly hurt in a match where the Terriers needed just about everything to go their way.

"If we didn't get pinned at 106 and 113, I told my coaches that I thought we'd win the dual meet," said coach Andy Fitz, now 1-13 overall vs. P'burg in his 17 seasons in charge. "The loss at 120 was unfortunate against a very good freshman of theirs and we let some points leak away."

Another tough loss came at 190, when senior Kevin Roman, who bumped up from 175, watched an early lead disappear in a flash as P'burg junior Derek Stone, a dangerous mat wrestler, used an armbar to flatten Roman in 3:49. But by then, the 'Liners had already sealed the deal with senior Liam Packer's pin in the previous bout.

"We knew [Stone] was good on the mat. I advocated letting him up and taking him down," Fitz said. "We got rolling and ended up getting run over with an armbar. It's a learning experience and we'll learn from it."

P'burg will honor its state champs prior to Saturday's match

Phillipsburg, now 39-7 all-time vs. Del Val dating to 1975, was also eager to atone for last season's 33-27 loss on the road in which the coaches took some heat for questionable lineup moves. That win snapped the Terriers' 13-match skid in the series. 

"It's great," Longacre said. "When you get beat like last year, those always stick, especially [being at P'burg]. It was a lot of fun. We had a little X on the calendar and we were ready to go. Earlier in the week, we kept it kind of loose and calm. And then, OK, now it's time to go."

Overall, Fitz was pleased with how his team fared in its first test against a state-ranked opponent and with a quick turnaround against No. 12 Hunterdon Central on Wednesday. 

Junior Luke Sinkewicz scored an impressive 9-2 win over Johnathon Roth at 165 to avenge a 4-2 loss when they met in the Hunterdon-Warren-Sussex Tournament on Jan. 13. Having to make a lineup move at 144 and 150, sophomores Michael Hasson and Sebastian Dobak battled as heavy underdogs against two of Phillipsburg's best wrestlers in juniors Luke Geleta and Gavin Hawk.

"We had the lineup we wanted. We made the moves we wanted," Fitz said. "I don't second guess any of that. It's just that you need to be perfect when you wrestle P'burg and we were simply very good. That's not good enough against an opponent like this

"We took six weights off a very good team, [along with a] couple other outstanding efforts. We're going to regroup tonight and tomorrow we're going to be ready to roll against Central."

Garriques said that Phillipsburg's rugged schedule also contributed to both his and the team's victory.

"I think it was a big factor. I've wrestled a lot of good kids so I'm used to it," said Garriques, whose uncle, Todd, was a two-time state medalist (third and fifth-sixth) for Hackettstown in the 1991 and '92 state tournaments. 

"Every time after a loss the coaches had things for me to work on and we just keep working on it. I like the losses. I don't want to lose, but I like that we can work on things and it can only get me better. It's better to lose here than where it matters at states."

PHILLIPSBURG 39, DELAWARE VALLEY 22

285 -- Sr. John Wargo (19-1), P, p. Sr. Kyle Cooke (13-5), 3:09.

106 -- Fr. Anthony Pettinelli (17-9), P, md. So. Tristan Fawthrop (10-8), 14-4. 

113 -- So. Massimo Gonzalez (14-6), P, md. Jr. Luacs Beyers (9-10), 10-1. 

120 -- Fr. Owen Garriques (12-12), P, d. Sr. Jake Taylor (15-4), 5-3. 

126 -- Jr. Jaden Perez (20-1), DV, md. Sr. Dawson McWilliams (9-3), 15-3.
132 -- Sr. Matt Roche (17-2), DV, md. So. Gavin Geleta (17-8), 9-3.
138 -- Jr. Jackson Bush (18-1), DV, p. Jr. Anthony Ashford (4-16), 2:15.
144 -- Jr. Luke Geleta (22-1), P, md. So. Michael Hasson (9-6), 12-2.

150 -- Jr. Gavin Hawk (22-1), P, p. So. Sebastian Dobak (4-3), 3:57.

157 -- Sr. Ben Levy (16-3), DV, d. Sr. Patrick Day (9-6), 5-4.

165 -- Jr. Luke Sinkewicz (14-6), DV, d. Sr. Johnathon Roth (19-7), 9-2.
175 -- Sr. Liam Packer (22-3), P, p. Sr. August Savacool (5-3), 1:36. 

190 -- Jr. Derek Stone (18-7), P, p. Sr. Kevin Roman (15-5), 3:49.

215 -- Sr. Anderson Olcott (17-2), DV, d. Sr. Nathan Smith (17-10), 3-1.

Records -- Delaware Valley 10-1; Phillipsburg 12-0.
Officials -- Gary Wade and Gary Kessel (mat judge).