2003-2004 Phillipsburg Stateliners In The News

Express Times 1/15/04

By Mike Weilmann 

'Duffy's pin leads 5-1 Phillipsburg 

 


 

LEBANON TWP. -- It appeared as if Phillipsburg High School's wrestling team had played all of its cards 
Wednesday night. But senior Jared Duffy still had an ace in the hole and used it to trump the entire deck. 

 
In a state of desperation, the 171-pounder whacked Voorhees junior Mike Thorsen with a cement job to 
score a stunning fall and lift Phillipsburg to an improbable 37-29 victory over upset-minded and host 
Voorhees before a crowd of 500 in a Skyland Conference interdivisional match. 

"You might be able to pick the (match) scores close, but you don't always pick who wins and loses,
" said a relieved Phillipsburg coach Rick Thompson. "Bob Angstadt is doing a super job with the 
Voorhees program. I told people all year long this is the way it's going to be for us. You have to 
wrestle for six minutes." 

Trailing 3-0 to start the third period and on top, Duffy knew he needed to call upon an old friend 
to lift the Stateliners (5-1), ranked No. 6 in The Express-Times region, out of the proverbial fire. 

"I haven't used it in a while because I haven't been (behind) that much," said Duffy, a District 1 
runner-up last season. "I figured I might as well go for it." 

"I told (Jared) we needed three points," Thompson said. "He knows what I mean when I say three. 
That means six." 

Voorhees (4-2) was attempting to do what no other team in the program's nearly-30-year history 
had done before -- beat Phillipsburg. The Vikings, who had lost the previous eight meetings by 
an average margin of 33 points, were one minute and 35 seconds away from breaking an 0-12 
skid against the 'Liners. 

"I can't figure out what it takes to beat P'burg," said Angstadt, whose teams are now 0-3 against 
the Stateliners in his three seasons at the helm. "Phillipsburg has that mystique. Everybody was 
on tonight and our kids went into the match confident. This is a tough one to swallow." 

Thorsen (10-3), ranked No. 3 by The Express-Times at 171, was in total control of the 
bout -- until getting decked. He used a bar and half-nelson to turn Duffy for three huge back 
points in the second period for a 3-0 lead entering the final two minutes. 

Having the choice to start the third, Thorsen opted to start on bottom, rather than heed his coach's 
advice to start on top. As it turned out, it proved costly. 

"We'll talk about that one-on-one in practice," Angstadt said. "We went over (cement jobs) the 
last two days in practice. (Duffy) hit it all in one burst." 

Jared Duffy had twin brother Mike to thank for putting him on the hot seat. In the previous bout
at 160, Mike Duffy led favored Zach Voyce 3-1 after two periods and appeared poised himself 
to seal the Vikings' fate. 

But Voyce (10-2), trailing 4-3 in the third, hit a nice dump and switched over to a headlock for a 
five-pointer in the final 30 seconds to prevail 8-4. Voyce nearly had what would have been a 
crucial pin in the closing seconds of the bout, but Mike Duffy was able to survive and only surrender 
three team points to keep the 'Liners up 31-29 with one bout left. 

Voorhees had pulled ahead 28-26 after back-to-back wins from Justin Papa (140) and Kyle Honickel (145). 

Papa's tight 4-2 decision over Chris Norrell snapped a string of five-straight wins by the Stateliners, 
while the unbeaten Honickel (13-0), ranked No. 3 by The Express-Times, gave the Vikes some 
much-needed bonus points with a technical fall of Ed Ahart. 

Honickel nearly gave his team six points in the closing seconds of the second period when he 
clamped a double-arm bar on Ahart, who was saved by the buzzer. 

Thompson made a smart move in the lower weights, inserting reserve sophomore Jon Stillo at 
119 and bumping up regulars Robert Au, Brandon Stillo and A.J. Varga from 125 to 135. 

The move paid off handsomely as Jon Stillo (4-1) scored a 10-3 decision over Fred Reisen, 
while Au (9-0) followed with an impressive 14-5 major of Jake Piasecki (7-3) at 125. 

Two-time Region 1 qualifier Brandon Stillo (7-2) put the 'Liners up 22-18 with a surprising 
first-period pin of Russ Yarnell at 130. Stillo beat Yarnell 6-1 last season in Phillipsburg's 
41-15 win at The Pit. 

Varga (3-2) capped the run by hitting Eric Hafke with a dump for a fall in 25 seconds to make
 it 28-18 after eight bouts. 

In what was a stunning turn of events at the time, Voorhees took a commanding 18-3 lead 
after sophomore Joe Toke (7-7) stuck Stateliner John Gregory (6-4), ranked No. 5 by The 
Express-Times, with a headlock and double grapevine with six seconds left in the bout at 103. 

Thompson said he was already resolved in making the lineup shift at 119, but that pin made 
the move even more essential. 
"We were doing it no matter what," Thompson said. "It was a great match. It's a shame a lot 
of fans didn't get to see it because of the weather."