Wrestling: 'Liners rout Cougars in sectional tune-up

HAMPTON TWP. -- Phillipsburg's wrestling team welcomes the opportunity to rest and recoup before making another march toward the program's 24th state championship.

In their final regular-season match, the Stateliners won 12 bouts in a 65-11 rout of host Kittatinny on Monday night. P'burg (13-3), which now has six days off from competition before hosting a North 1, Group 4 sectional matchup, racked up seven pins and two technical falls in logging the most team points against Kittatinny in the 28-year history of this series.

P'burg is 22-6 vs. Kittatinny dating to 1994

"We've been really sick and banged up. It's been going through the entire team," said coach Tim Longacre, whose 'Liners also recorded the program's largest margin of victory vs. the Cougars -- eclipsing a 59-6 victory here in 2015 -- and earning win No. 1,060. "This is just about getting healthy. We're actually going to take a little time here to give our bodies a break and get ready to hit it hard for next week."

Phillipsburg, which was coming off a tough stretch that included losses to Rumson-Fair Haven, Easton (Pa.) and North Hunterdon in the span of nine days, looked sharp from the first whistle -- winning the first five bouts to build a 27-0 lead, including a nice 15-5 major decision win for freshman Matthew Velez (9-16). The 'Liners finished with a 31-4 edge in takedowns, which especially pleased their head coach. 

"What I liked is we started moving forward for the first time in about two weeks," said Longacre, who will get his team prepped for the state's most challenging section, which includes last season's Group 4 champion and runner-up in Ridge and Mount Olive. "On our feet everything was pressuring forward, which we talked a lot about instead of waiting to attack. If we can keep that momentum going into next week, we'll see where the chips fall."

Kittatinny (9-10), which has been in a rebuilding phase, closes out the regular season against Sparta on Friday. Legendary coach John Gill, now 4-10 at home vs. P'burg, looks forward to his Cougars' pursuit of the program's 26th sectional title as the top seed in North 1, Group 1. 

"It's something for us to get excited about," said Gill, whose team eyes a fourth straight sectional championship. "Anybody who is any good has just hammered us. Ridge [64-6 on Thursday] and Phillipsburg and Del Val [63-9 on Jan. 4] and Hanover Park [54-14 on Jan. 9]. We're looking forward to it."

There wasn't a whole lot to cheer about against P'burg, but junior Nikolas Martinez decked Anthony Ashford with a standing chin whip to erase a 9-3 deficit after two periods at 132 pounds, while senior Ethan Dalling worked Derek Stone for a 15-0 win by technical fall at 175. Sophomore Trevor Greenwood also lost a hard-fought 5-3 decision against HWS champion Kevin Buonocore at 215 -- one of only two bouts that went the distance.

"We had some nice efforts," Gill said after performing his usual postmatch routine, such as helping to roll up the mats and cleaning up the gym floor. "There were some things I was happy with." 

P'burg has won 41 of a possible 44 sectional titles

P'burg star Luke Geleta, a fifth-place state medalist last season, got his team back on track with a 52-second pin at 144 -- sticking Leonardo Garcia with a cradle. Geleta (25-1) also improved to 127-26 overall, one win shy of matching Max Elling (128-37 from 2011-15) for third place on the school's career list. Princeton recruit and teammate Gavin Hawk (25-1) also extended his Stateliner records for victories (135) and pins (85) at 157.

"I thought we did pretty well," Geleta said. "We came out here after a long bus ride to get business done and work on what we need to work on. We've got a lot coming up. We're going to recover ... we're going to get better in every aspect."

PHILLIPSBURG 65, KITTATINNY 11
106 -- Fr. Zack Swingle (20-6), P, p. So. Justin Tighe (10-18), 3:17.
113 -- So. Anthony Pettinelli (23-6), P, p. Fr. Kyle White (15-11), 3:33.
120 -- Fr. Matthew Velez (9-16), P, md. Fr. Kevin White (10-16), 15-5.
126 -- Jr. Massimo Gonzalez (22-8), P, tf. So. Callum Trilling (10-17), 17-1, 4:12.

132 -- So. Owen Garriques (19-8), P, p. So. Dylan Tighe (3-16), 2:19.

138 -- Jr. Nikolas Martinez (14-10), K, p. Sr. Anthony Ashford (7-11), 4:24.

144 -- Sr. Luke Geleta (25-1), P, p. So. Justin Bradley (4-20), :52.

150 -- Jr. Gavin Geleta (21-5), P, p. Sr. Aiden McClain (16-11), :44.

157 -- Sr. Gavin Hawk (25-1), P, p. Jr. Leonardo Garcia (4-15), 1:43.

165 -- Sr. Benny Mendoza (9-6), P, tf. Sr. George Hanlon (1-7), 16-1, 2:13.

175 -- Sr. Ethan Dalling (27-2), K, tf. Sr. Derek Stone (18-8), 15-0, 3:58.

190 -- Sr. Jesus Alfaro (14-15), P, p. So. Roman Volpe (0-1), 1:39.

215 -- Jr. Kevin Buonocore (14-9), P, d. So. Trevor Greenwood (16-13), 5-3.

285 -- Jr. Ben Ellis (17-10), P, injury over Sr. Bradley Kearney (13-10), :19.

Records -- Phillipsburg 13-3; Kittatinny 9-10.

Officials -- Dave Marotta and Gary Szucs (mat judge).