Phillipsburg High School's Matt Santini loses in overtime in NJSIAA wrestling tournament

Sunday, March 08, 2009

By NICK FIERRO

The Express-Times

ATLANTIC CITY | Every year, in mega-tournaments like the NJSIAA State Wrestling Championships, where referees from different regions with different styles and different applications and interpretations of critical judgments come together, there is a high potential for controversy.

Such was the case when Phillipsburg High School senior Matt Santini appeared to have Delbarton's Bob Grogan beaten three times over in their 215-pound quarterfinal match at Boardwalk Hall, only to be victimized by two stall warnings and an escape in the closing seconds of the third period, enabling Grogan to tie the match.

Grogan went on to win, 9-7, in an overtime rideout after Santini was unable to score from the bottom.

That left Santini and the Phillipsburg coaching staff furiously puzzled.

"I was trying to work him the whole time (from the top) and he just had his head on the mat, turned to the side," Santini said. "I don't understand how that could have happened. ... I guess I shouldn't have let the refs control the match."

With less than an hour to regroup before being thrust right back into a must-win consolation match, Santini faltered against Lenape Valley's Vinny Campanile, whom he beat at regionals the week before. Campanile ousted Santini with a pin in 3:32, forcing his hapless opponent to go home one win shy of a medal.

Actually, it was the first of three stall warnings in the quarterfinals that ultimately proved to be most harmful to Santini, who clearly was the only aggressor for the entire six minutes of regulation. Not only did he win the takedown battle, 2-1, but Grogan's takedown came on a brilliant and creative counter to a good single-leg shot in the first period.

The first stall came with Santini riding in the second, as he appeared on the verge of getting a tilt. Grogan, trying to fight it off, just closed everything up. Yet when the ref raised his fist to signal the stall, he called it on Santini. That changed the entire complexion of the rest of the match.

"I was working for the tilt the whole time," Santini said. "I don't know what he was looking at there."

Neither did coach Jason Magditch.

"It's sad," Magditch said. "It's one of those things that you can't question because it's a judgment call and stuff like that. But it's just unfortunate, because Matt definitely was wrestling better than that kid. I mean, that kid won the first (takedown) on a scramble there in the first period, but for the most part, Matt controlled the whole match.

"To be up that much (6-3 with around 30 seconds to go) and then have the refs start dictating the outcome, saying we're stalling when the kid is laying flat with his head down, it's just unfortunate. But what do you do? It's a shame, because in that case, the right guy didn't win."

The loss left Santini with not much of a chance to win the next match, either.

"(Campanile) is real good, too," Magditch said. "It was just a tough break. That kid was coming off a win, we were coming off a loss. That's the hardest thing with high school sports, especially in wrestling -- being able to perform when you get beat, and especially the way we got beat."

Said Santini: "I was really flat and Vinny is no pushover. He had a lot of energy."

Nick Fierro can be reached by e-mail at nfierro@express-times.com.