Phillipsburg High School defeats South Plainfield in NJSIAA North 2 Group 3 wrestling sectional semifinal
By NICK FIERRO
The Express-Times
PHILLIPSBURG | Rylan Watson has always loved the spotlight of dual wrestling meets and he especially loved the way the final bout of his sophomore season at Phillipsburg High School's Pit turned out Friday night.
Watson reversed South Plainfield's Rich Szeglia with 16 seconds to go to win a 4-2 decision at 112 pounds, and the Stateliners responded by winning six of the final eight matches to send the Tigers to a 34-21 defeat in the NJSIAA North 2 Group 3 championship match.
The victory means Phillipsburg (20-2) once again will head to the Ritacco center on the campus of Toms River North for the state semifinals Sunday morning.
"Dual meets, for me, definitely are better than tournaments," Watson said. "Tournaments, I feel as though everyone is being watched. I like the adrenaline (of duals). You feel more pressure and it just pumps me up more. It makes me feel better when I'm out there.
"It's great to wrestle here. I can't wait for these next two years to come. Hopefully, we keep this up in the state groups on Sunday. I'm hoping we win it all. This is our year."
Watson's win was especially timely, considering the Tigers (18-2) jumped out to leads of 8-0 and 14-10 by winning three of the first five matches, including a match-opening technical fall by Mike Wagner over Eric Bohem at 171. More disheartening for Phillipsburg was that Wagner scored the final two points on a takedown with just 8 seconds remaining.
Jumping ahead to 103, when Tyler Hunt pinned Phillipsburg's Casey Duckworth, the Tigers had a strong base of momentum that Phillipsburg coach Jason Magditch sensed beforehand his team would have to overcome.
"When they picked 171 (as the starting weight), I made it seem like it wasn't a big deal," Magditch said. "But really, I was like, 'that was probably the worst place we could start, because (Wagner) is their hammer, the kid at 189 (Jon Conroy) is really tough, 103 (Tyler Hunt) is really tough.' So I knew we were in trouble there early on. We had to kind of weather that storm."
Slowly but surely, the Stateliners began to take back control of the match.
Dan Brockerhoff followed Watson's win with a tense 5-2 decision over Jeff Conroy at 119. He pulled it off after entering the third period staring at a 1-0 deficit. An escape and takedown gave him the lead, but when Conroy escaped with 24 seconds remaining, it was a one-point match until Brockerhoff sealed it with a second takedown 18 seconds later.
At 125, Matt Lane gave himself some breathing room against an extremely tough opponent by hitting Ryan Sacco with a four-point move at the buzzer ending the first period. That was good enough to carry him to an 8-2 decision.
In a bout wrestled almost exclusively down on the mat, Phillipsburg's Bob Moyer survived a 2-0 battle against Joel Santos at 140. A first-period takedown accounted for the only scoring. Santos rode Moyer the entire third period, nearly turning him for back points in the closing seconds.
"I really don't prefer to stay on the mat," Moyer said. "I'm a takedown guy. I went to (Jack) Cuvo's (wrestling school) for the past four years, so I've always been a take-him-down, let-him-up, take-him-down, let-him-up wrestler. I avoid mat wrestling, but I was happy with that performance.
"I was a little upset (about almost being tilted) at the end, but a win's a win. I could have easily lost and kept life in them."
Oliver Brukardt all but mathematically sealed the match for Phillipsburg in appropriately spectacular fashion, countering a good, deep shot by John Wylam with a bout-winning takedown just before the buzzer at 145.
"It's a win," Magditch said with a shrug of his shoulders. "And how can you say anything bad? We won nine of 14, we won close ones and that just shows we're a good team, that we can do those types of things."
PHILLIPSBURG 34, SOUTH PLAINFIELD 21
171 -- Jr. Mike Wagner (29-2), SP, tf. Sr. Eric Bohem (17-14) 16-1, 5:52.
189 -- Sr. Jon Conroy (27-4), SP, d. Sr. Jared Crouse (23-7) 8-2.
215 -- Sr. Matt Santini (24-6), P, md. Jr. Seth Yocum (13-12) 16-3.
285 -- Sr. Jim Tersigni (20-10), P, p. Sr. Ricky Walton (3-5) 1:04.
103 -- Fr. Tyler Hunt (27-3), SP, p. Jr. Casey Duckworth (2-7) 1:28.
112 -- So. Rylan Watson (18-9), P, d. Jr. Rich Szeliga (22-9) 4-2.
119 -- So. Dan Brockerhoff (10-13), P, d. So. Jeff Conroy (14-16) 5-2.
125 -- So. Matt Lane (27-4), P, d. Jr. Ryan Sacco (24-5) 8-2.
130 -- Jr. Nick Heilman (26-1), SP, md. Jr. John Horak (23-7) 10-0.
135 -- Sr. Adam Simon (13-2), P, d. So. Randy Jakubik (3-7) 10-4.
140 -- Sr. Bob Moyer (21-9), P, d. Sr. Joel Santos (21-11) 2-0.
145 -- Jr. Oliver Brukardt (24-7), P, d. Jr. John Wylam (23-8) 3-1.
152 -- Sr. Nick Vallone (28-2), SP, d. Sr. Nick Pare (22-9) 6-3.
160 -- Sr. Mike Simon (18-10), P, p. Sr. Nick Pauls (11-16) 1:48.
Records -- South Plainfield 18-2; Phillipsburg 20-2.
Nick Fierro can be reached at 800-360-3601 or by e-mail at nfierro@express-times.com.
Phillipsburg wins section with 34-21 wrestling victory over South Plainfield
Posted by nfierro February 13, 2009 18:45PM
The Stateliners are headed for Toms River and the state semifinals on Sunday after just having wrapped up a 34-21 win over South Plainfield in the North 2 Group 3 section final.
Here's how it went down:
First bout in this North 2 Group 3 final went off as scheduled at 7 p.m. here at The Pit, with South Plainfield's Mike Wagner going against Eric Bohem at 171 pounds. Wagner is all over Bohem, cradling him three times for six back points on his way to a 16-1 technical fall.
This is some needed early momentum for South Plainfield because Bohem, after being cut loose in the closing seconds, gave up a takedown with 8 seconds remaining, giving the Tigers an extra bonus point.
189 -- This appeared to be a big-time war until South Plainfield's Jon Conroy cranked Jared Crouse to his back for a three-point nearfall to break a 2-all deadlock in the third. Crouse appeared flat for 2 seconds but was able to get one of his shoulders up before the ref could scoot around. Conroy goes on to score an 8-2 decision. This is one Pburg had to be counting on to go its way, too.
215 -- Pburg gets a little momentum back as Matt Santini scores a 16-3 major decision over Seth Yocum. However, Santini appeared frustrated about not being able to at least get a tech. fall.
285 -- This is where the momentum has just turned, possibly for good, as South Plainfield's Bobby Sacks (21-7) wasn't available after having undergone an appendectomy. Even though he supposedly matched up very evenly with backup Rick Walton all year, Walton was no match for Jim Tersigni, who decks him in 1:04 to put the Stateliners ahead 10-8.
This is basically the only break that's gone Phillipsburg's way so far.
112 -- skipping ahead here after South Plainfield gets another pin at 103, Rylan Watson comes up huge for Phillipsburg, reversing Rich Szeglia with 16 seconds to go and then holding on for a 4-2 decision.
119 -- Phillipsburg's Dan Brockerhoff, who trails 1-0 entering third period, pulls out 5-2 decision on the strength of two takedowns. This puts 'Liners back on top, 16-14.
Still anybody's match.
125 -- Phillipsburg coach Jason Magditch makes his first move, sending Matt Lane out to face Ryan Sacco, who comes in with a 24-4 mark. This means John Horak, who also is weighed in at 125, will go next. The move pays major dividends as Lane scores a four-point move at the buzzer ending the first period and goes on to win an 8-2 decision.
130 -- Nick Heilman is too slick and too strong for Horak and wins a 10-0 major, including three back points that came right at the end of the second period. That move turned out to be worth an extra team point that could be crucial at the end.
Pburg still leads, 19-18.
135 -- Pburg's Adam Simon seemed on his way to bonus points against Randy Jakubik -- until giving up a takedown in the third period. Simon ends up winning, 10-4, but three team points here instead of four is a disappointment for the home team. Magditch did not look pleased at the end of this bout.
140 -- Bob Moyer barely holds on for a 2-0 win over South Plainfield's Joel Santos here, avoiding a tilt late in the third period. The only scoring came on a first-period takedown. The rest of the bout was wrestled off their feet. Strange match, but a good result for 'Liners, who lead 25-18.
145 -- Huge win by Pburg's Oliver Brukardt with a late takedown for a 3-1 decision over John Wylam, who was in deep on a shot just before the winning move but wasn't able to finish it off. This was Pburg's eighth win, meaning it wins the first tiebreaker. So South Plainfield needs 11 points in the final two bouts to win this match. That's probably not going to happen
152 -- South Plainfield's Nick Vallone wins the bout, 6-3, over Nick Pare, but Pburg clinches victory in the defeat, leading by seven points (28-21) with one bout left.