Friday, January 16, 2009
By BRIAN FORTNER
The Express-Times
WASHINGTON
TWP., N.J. | Phillipsburg High School's Matt Silva needed a confidence booster.
The freshman 103-pounder has
been scuffling a bit lately, coming out on the short end of a lot matches since
opening the season with an impressive showing at the Reno Tournament of
Champions.
Silva received just what the
doctor ordered Thursday night, knocking off Warren Hills' Chris Greenwald 5-0
to lead the Stateliners to a dominating 54-9 Skyland Conference Delaware West
Division victory over the host Blue Streaks.
"I needed a good win to
get my confidence up," said Silva, who handled the favored Greenwald with
surprising ease in a bout that most thought would go the other way.
Silva (6-9) kicked off a
string of nine straight wins for the 'Liners, who improved to 9-0.
"You look at records
and you see (Greenwald) at 10-3," Phillipsburg coach Jason Magditch said.
"You have to take into consideration our schedule and the competition
we've wrestled. Silva has nine losses, but he's gone up against some tough kids
at Reno and last week at Escape the Rock."
P'burg's lightweights had
been somewhat of a concern for their third-year coach.
"The lightweights have
been up and down," Magditch said. "They need to step up, especially
the next couple of weeks. This was a big confidence builder for them."
Thursday could have been
that turning point.
Rylan Watson (112) and Dan
Brockerhoff (119) followed Silva with back-to-back falls to extend P'burg's
lead to 15-0.
"Watson is a 36-match
winner from a year ago; he's finding his way," Magditch said.
"Brockerhoff stepped up tonight and did a nice job."
Warren Hills (6-4 overall,
0-1 division) looked to get on the scoreboard at 125, sending out unbeaten
sophomore Matt Schuebel to face Matt Lane.
Lane, however, used a pair
of takedowns and two nearfall points to cruise to a 7-0 decision, dropping
Schuebel to 12-1.
"Phillipsburg does a
great job of pointing out things that you do wrong," Warren Hills head
coach Jarrett Hosbach said. "They force you into making mistakes and then
they capitalize on them. They're well-coached, they're in great shape and
they're aggressive."
Phillipsburg, ranked No. 2 in
The Express-Times region, recorded four falls, a pair of technical falls and
two major decisions.
Nick Pare (145) and Eric
Bohem (171) added the other pins. Cliff Tinsman and Jared Crouse won by
technical falls at 152 and 189, respectively.
The Streaks mustered just
one takedown to P'burg's 23 through the first nine bouts before junior Matt
Artigliere recorded seven in a 16-11 decision over Mike Simon at 160 for their
first win.
Bob Moyer and Oliver
Brukardt (140) were also impressive, handling two of the Streaks' best chances
for points -- Anthony Gaito and Ricky Graff.
Moyer narrowly missed a
major decision by getting reversed in the final 20 seconds of his 9-3 decision
over Gaito. Brukardt used a pair of takedowns and four nearfall points for an
11-2 major over Graff at 140.
"You can't be
disappointed when you only lose two bouts," Magditch said.
PHILLIPSBURG 54, WARREN
HILLS 9
103 -- Fr. Matt Silva (6-9),
P, d. Fr. Chris Greenwald (10-4), 5-0.
112 -- So. Rylan Watson
(10-6), P, p. So. Diego Mora (0-12), 4:29.
119 -- So. Dan Brockerhoff
(2-9), P, p. Fr. K.C. Wanamaker (0-2), 1:22.
125 -- So. Matt Lane (18-3),
P, d. So. Matt Schuebel (12-1), 7-0.
130 -- Jr. John Horak
(17-4), P, md. Sr. Ryan Brouhard (5-3), 10-2.
135 -- Sr. Bob Moyer (14-4),
P, d. Jr. Anthony Gaito (9-2), 9-3.
140 -- Jr. Oliver Brukardt
(15-5), P, md. Sr. Rick Graff (11-2), 11-2.
145 -- Sr. Nick Pare (14-7),
P, p. Jr. Storm Deemer (2-8), 4:34.
152 -- Sr. Cliff Tinsman
(7-5), P, tf. Jr. Nick Brands (2-11), 19-1, 4:15.
160 -- Jr. Matt Artigliere
(11-2), WH, d. Sr. Mike Simon (11-6), 16-11.
171 -- Sr. Eric Bohem
(10-9), P, p. So. Alonzo Widenor (1-1), 3:58.
189 -- Sr. Jared Crouse
(14-4), P, tf. So. Steve Katrensky (4-10), 15-0, 3:38.
215 -- Sr. Matt Santini
(15-4), P, d. Sr. Rick Maguire (7-5), 9-3.
285 -- Jr. Jon Slack (9-4),
WH, p. Sr. Jim Tersigni (12-8), 5:11.
Records -- Phillipsburg 9-0,
3-0; Warren Hills 6-4, 0-1.
Referee -- Roy Dragon.
JV score -- Phillipsburg
38-18.
Brian Fortner can be reached
by e-mail at sports@express-times.com