HIGH POINT 30, PHILLIPSBURG 22.
Wildcats lay claim to No. 1 after decisive victory on the road.
Sunday, February 01, 2009
By BRIAN FORTNER
The Express-Times
PHILLIPSBURG | On paper, High Point Regional High School looked like the best wrestling team in New Jersey.
The Wildcats took a big step toward proving it Saturday afternoon with a decisive 30-22 road victory over previously-unbeaten Phillipsburg before an overflow crowd of 1,350 at The Pit.
"You have to look at the whole picture," P'burg coach Jason Magditch said. "Today was not a great day for us. High Point's small fan base was loud. Their kids on the bench were better than ours. They won the coin toss; therefore, they were able to win the coaching battle as well. When you look at it from my angle, they won in all areas."
High Point (19-4) won 8-of-14 bouts and collected a fall and three major decisions to lay claim to the No. 1 ranking in New Jersey in The Star-Ledger Top-20.
Phillipsburg (16-1) replaced the Wildcats this week in the top spot when High Point dropped a 28-27 criteria decision to Long Branch last Saturday.
"Today things worked out for us," High Point coach John Gardner said. "Some things went our way, but make no mistake. We'll see Phillipsburg again. This is nice and we'll enjoy it for now, but we have a lot of work to do."
The two teams could possibly meet again at the NJSIAA Group 3 Championships at Toms River in two weeks.
Sophomore Billy Smth's 11-0 major decision over P'burg's Eric Bohem at 171 sealed the win for High Point -- its first over the Stateliners.
High Point, currently ranked third in the state, entered the day 0-15 against P'burg all time.
"That's one of the things we talked about amongst ourselves," Gardner said. "None of our kids wrestled in any of those first 15 matches. I'm happy for our program, but our kids weren't a part of any of that. It's a new day and I'm glad we came down here and performed well."
That would be an understatement.
High Point dominated P'burg on its feet, holding the 'Liners to just five takedowns all match.
P'burg also looked powerless at times from the bottom position, losing decision at 112, 125, 130 and 135 mainly because they were unable to score from underneath.
"It's not like they turned us," Magditch said. "It's not like they did damage to us. They slowed the match down. We told our kids that the first 30 seconds and the last 30 seconds of every period is crucial. And they won those battles. They scored first and held on and did all the things that made it tough for us to get back in it."
P'burg, ranked No. 2 in The Express-Times region, took and early on heavyweight Jim Tersigni's 3-2 decision over Anthony Luciano in a bout most considered a toss-up.
Three-bouts later, Dan Brockerhoff provided the upset P'burg was looking for, shutting out state qualifier Griffin Panicucci at 119 to cut the High Point lead to 9-6.
That when the Wildcats kicked it into high gear.
State place-winner Drew Wagenhoffer took down P'burg's John Horak with seven seconds left in overtime for a 4-2 victory at 125.
Junior Tom DiVitantonio followed with an impressive 10-2 major decision over Matt Lane at 130 and senior 135-pounder Tyler Forbeck made a second period escape hold up for a 1-0 decision over Bob Moyer after riding out the 'Liners senior the entire third period to extend the Wildcats lead to 19-6.
Oliver Brukardt cut into the deficit with a 3-2 win over Joe Gaccione at 140.
Magditch sent senior standout Nick Pare to the mat at 145 and Gardner countered by sending out reserve Joe Beltran and bumping Ethan Orr and John Guzzo up to 152 and 160, respectively.
I made it a little more difficult for Ethan and John today," Gardner said. But under the circumstances the move made sense. Up by 10 at that point and it would have been silly not to do it."
Pare won by an 11-3 major decision, but Orr majored P'burg's Cliff Tinsman 11-2 and Guzzo defeated Mike Simon 8-5 to inflate the Wildcats lead to 26-13.
"No excuses, they were by far the better team today," Magditch said. "That's why they should be the No. 1 team and we'll challenge them next time. But you can't count us out."
285 -- Sr. Jim Tersigni (16-10), P, d. Sr. Anthony Luciano (8-7), 3-2.
103 -- So. Nick Francavilla (26-0), HP, p. Jr. Casey Duckworth (1-4), 0:47.
112 -- Jr. Billy Gould (19-3), HP, d. So. Rylan Watson (15-8), 9-3.
119 -- So. Dan Brockerhoff (7-12), P, d. Sr. Griffin Panicucci (16-8), 3-0.
125 -- So. Drew Wagenhoffer (23-3), HP, d. Jr. John Horak (21-6), 4-2 OT.
130 -- Jr. Tom DiVitantonio (17-8), HP, md. So. Matt Lane (23-4), 10-2.
135 -- Sr. Tyler Forbeck (15-8), HP, d. Sr. Bob Moyer (17-9), 1-0.
140 -- Jr. Oliver Brukardt (21-6), P, d. So. Joe Gaccione (21-6), 3-2.
145 -- Sr. Nick Pare (19-7), P, md. Jr. Joe Beltran (5-6), 11-3.
152 -- So. Ethan Orr (21-5), HP, md. Sr. Cliff Tinsman (8-9), 11-2.
160 -- So. John Guzzo (3-0), HP d. Sr. Mike Simon (17-8), 8-5.
171 -- So. Billy Smith (19-8), HP, md. Sr. Eric Bohem (15-11), 11-0.
189 -- Sr. Jared Crouse (20-6), P, d. Jr. Gavin Donahue (7-12), 5-0.
215 -- Sr. Matt Santini (20-6), P, forfeit.
Records: High Point 19-4; Phillipsburg 16-1.
Referee: Guy Siraki.
JV score: Phillipsburg 48-24.