Wrestling: North title 'ready' after sectional blitzes

CLINTON TWP. -- There's no time to rest now for North Hunterdon's wrestling team. After a week-long layoff, the Lions got back to business in pursuit of sectional and state championships.

North showed little signs of rust, dropping just seven bouts in a pair of postseason wins, including a 55-19 waxing of Rahway in a North 2, Group 4 semifinal on Monday night in the Lions Den. Coach Dave Bell's troops opened the proceedings with a 61-13 rout of Woodbridge in the quarterfinals. 

North eyes its 4th sectional title in 5 years

"I think they're ready," said Bell, whose second-seeded Lions will hit the road to battle for the program's 18th sectional title at top-seeded Middletown North on Wednesday. "I think we could've wrestled a little better tonight, but I think we're still wrestling well and peaking at the right time. We're healthy, which is good."

Phillipsburg (North 1, Group 4), High Point (North 1, Group 2), Kittatinny (North 1, Group 1 and Delaware Valley (Central Jersey, Group 1) will also represent the Hunterdon-Warren-Sussex area in Wednesday's sectional finals.

North (14-6), which had not stepped on the mat since a 62-9 thumping of Voorhees on Feb. 1, steam-rolled Woodbridge in the opener, while No. 6 seed Rahway scored an impressive 47-27 win over No. 3 Middletown South on the adjacent mat. With all the talk surrounding a wide-open Group 4 state title chase -- Phillipsburg will host Mount Olive in the North 1 sectional final -- Bell admitted that he was happy to get through this round.

"It's tough to keep them from looking ahead," said Bell, whose team won 21 total bouts vs. Woodbridge and Rahway, including 13 pins and four technical falls. "Hopefully, we regroup and get going on Wednesday."

North Hunterdon sophomore Cayden Wadle picked up two notable wins, including a wild 3-2 victory in the ultimate tiebreaker against Rahway junior Jaeczar Evans, a returning Region 4 qualifier. A stall warning on Evans, who was holding onto a leg, with two seconds left in the final tiebreaker was the difference, much to the chagrin of Indians coach Dan Garay, who lost a team point for arguing with referee Daun White.  

"We were the aggressor. We took a bunch of shots," said Bell, who earlier protested that Evans was just hanging on Wadle's leg. "My interpretation of the rule is the first time you drop to a leg in overtime, it goes to a stalemate. Second time, it becomes a stall. [Evans] dropped to a leg in the first period and the first rideout period to a leg. Then, he dropped again with no calls at all. When he dropped again a [fourth time], he got [the stall warning]. It was tough for both coaches both ways."

NH's 17 sectional titles rank 6th in the HWS area 

Wadle (23-7), who decked Woodbridge freshman Noah Perez (23-4) in his opening bout of the day, had escaped in the second rideout phase to tie it at 2. White -- after conferring with mat judge Barry Jackson -- also waved off what would have been a decisive takedown by Evans, who fought off a duck-under attempt by Wadle just before the third-period buzzer.

"I just knew I had to keep grinding and going hard after it," said Wadle, who yielded an escape in the first 30-second rideout. "Just had to keep moving and not give up no matter what happens. I thought it was a stall call, but it's the ref's decision so I just had to keep standing up and keep trying to get out. I thought I wrestled hard and gave it all I got."  

North sophomore Matthew Esposito jumpstarted his team in the opening bout at 144 pounds -- one of two big swing matchups won by the Lions -- as he reversed and cradled up Region 4 qualifier Adrian Harris for a stunning pin that erased a 13-3 second-period deficit. That one really hurt Rahway (13-5), which won the next two bouts to take a short-lived 11-6 lead.

Junior Owen Dandeo followed suit for North at 190, when he turned the tables on Andrew Avent for a pin in 5:21. Avent (21-7), who finished fifth in Region 4 at 190 last season, held a 10-6 lead before getting taken down to his back.

"We did have some swing matches, they wrestled us tough," Bell said. "It was lot closer than the [final] score. They're well coached and have tough kids."

North Hunterdon now turns its attention to Middletown North for a rematch of last season's sectional semifinal -- a 41-18 win for the Lions, who went on to suffer a tough 30-28 loss in the title match to eventual Group 4 champion Ridge.

"We really believe in our team," said North senior Evan Kinney (25-3 at 190), a returning state qualifier who logged two first-period pins against Woodbridge and Rahway. "I feel like our confidence keeps stacking up and overall, we're going for the title." 

North 2, Group 4 semifinal

NORTH HUNTERDON 55, RAHWAY 19

144 -- So. Matthew Esposito (12-8), NH, p. Jr. Adrian Harris (19-6), 3:21.

150 -- Jr. Daniel Gonzalez (24-3), R, tf. So. Dylan McGuinness (10-15), 18-0, 4:33.

157 -- Jr. Steven Samaniego (16-10), R, p. Sr. Vincenzo Darrow (11-9), 2:37.

165 -- Sr. Joshua Joubert (19-13), NH, p. Jr. Pablo Enrique Rodriguez (14-13), 3:09.

175 -- Sr. Evan Kinney (25-3), NH, p. So. Jair Jordan (8-13), 1:38.

190 -- Jr. Owen Dandeo (18-10), NH, p. Jr. Andrew Avent (21-7), 5:21.

215 -- So. Andrew DeSimone (8-15), NH, p. Sr. John Bunbury (5-13), 2:44.

285 -- Sr. Jonathan Martinez (25-1), R, p. Sr. James Turner (5-9), 1:56. 

106 -- So. Cayden Wadle (23-7), NH, d. Jr. Jaeczar Evans (22-3), 3-2 UTB.

113 -- Fr. Phillip Griffin (16-6), R, d. Fr. Owen Fol (18-14), 11-4.

120 -- Sr. Joseph Celentano (18-12), NH, tf. Fr. Nicolas Evans (6-15), 17-1, 1:18.

126 -- Jr. Reid Buzby (23-8), NH, forfeit.

132 -- So. Aidan Yarussi (27-4), NH, forfeit.

138 -- Jr. Kieran Raley (16-16), NH, tf. Sr. Chris Valerio (16-9), 18-2, 2:00.

Note -- Rahway lost one team point for unsportsmanlike conduct after 106.

Records -- Rahway 13-5; North Hunterdon 14-6.

Officials -- Barry Jackson and Daun White.

North 2, Group 4 quarterfinal

NORTH HUNTERDON 61, WOODBRIDGE 13

138 -- So. Kieran Raley (15-16), NH, p. Sr. Leonidas Morales (22-8), 1:30.

144 -- So. Matthew Esposito (11-8), NH, p. Sr. Angelo Campos (18-10), 2:45.

150 -- Sr. Vincenzo Darrow (11-8), NH, tf. So. Lukas Valentin (21-10), 17-2, 3:37.

157 -- So. Dylan McGuinness (10-14), NH, p. Sr. Tyler Simkovich (12-12), 3:53.

165 -- Sr. Tyler Boelhower (26-4), W, d. Sr. Joshua Joubert (18-13), 8-3.

175 -- Sr. Evan Kinney (24-3), NH, p. Sr.. Shamar Wells (4-3), 1:49.

190 -- Jr. Owen Dandeo (17-10), NH, d. Sr. Zackaryus Guzman (22-8), 4-2.

215 -- Sr. Marcos Cordero (22-7), W, md. So. Andrew DeSimone (7-15), 13-1.

285 -- Jr. Jhonny Collado (4-1), W, p. Sr. James Turner (5-8), 3:18.

106 -- So. Cayden Wadle (22-7), NH, p. Fr. Noah Perez (23-4), 3:37.

113 -- Fr. Owen Fol (18-13), NH, tf. So. Lucas Perez (20-7), 22-3, 3:33.

120 -- Sr. Joseph Celentano (17-12), NH, p. Ian Vega (5-16), :52.

126 -- Jr. Reid Buzby (22-8), NH, p. Fr. Michael Hernandez (9-14), 1:19.

132 -- So. Aidan Yarussi (26-4), NH, p. So. Colten Quesada (0-4), :22.

Records -- Woodbridge 15-4; North Hunterdon 13-6.
Official -- Daun White.