CLINTON TWP. -- North Hunterdon waited 388 days to get another crack at Phillipsburg. 
                But a year later, the result was much the same. 

 
Phillipsburg won the bouts it needed to, while North Hunterdon couldn't get the bonus
points it desired as the Stateliners prevailed 39-18 Saturday night in a key Skyland 
Conference Delaware Division wrestling match before a packed house of nearly 1,000 at
North Hunterdon Regional High School. 

The victory just reaffirmed what most already knew coming in. The road to the division
title still runs through Phillipsburg (4-1 overall, 2-0 division), which has won every 
Delaware crown since joining the conference for the 1995-96 school year. 

"We're still here," said P'burg senior Justin Koeller, who scored a key 6-4 win at 145 
pounds. "We talked about (winning this match) the whole bus ride here. We just put it 
in our heads that we were going to win this match." 

Phillipsburg, ranked No. 6 in The Express-Times region, leads 36-5-1 in the all-time 
series, including victories in the last 12 meetings between the two teams. Tenth-ranked
North Hunterdon's last win (27-24) came in the 1993 Group 3 final at The Pit. 

The previously unbeaten Lions (4-1, 2-1) entered the match with a senior-laden group that
figured to have its best chance in years to knock off the Stateliners. Much like last
year's match, North got behind early and never really recovered. 

"What can you say about how our kids performed?" asked P'burg coach Greg Troxell, 4-0 
against North in his four seasons as head coach. "To come into (North's) home gym and 
put up as many points and wrestle as well as we did says a lot about our kids." 

North Hunterdon coach Jason Hawk, now 0-3 against his alma mater, gambled a bit. He 
juggled his lineup trying to cover some holes in the wake of senior 152-pound state 
champion Ricky Frondorf's absence for legal troubles and the shift of normal 171-pounder 
Dan Gargas, who weighed in at 182, to 189. 

The defending Group 3 champion Lions had everyone from 130 to 160 drop one weight, but 
it resulted in just three victories. 

"The absence of (Frondorf) affects the coaches and everyone involved," Hawk said. "But I 
refuse to use him as an excuse. Hats off to P'burg. Their kids wanted to win more than 
ours. We've got a lot of work to do." 

Phillipsburg led 15-6 after five bouts, but opened things up with wins at 103, 112 and 
119 to gain a 23-point advantage and essentially put the match out of reach. 

Sophomore John Todd started the run with a 5-1 win over Dennis Boyle at 103 and District
1 champion Robert Au followed by pinning freshman Darren Van Doren in 2:55. Sophomore 
Brandon Stillo made it 29-6 with a technical fall over Andrew Murray. 

Stillo (7-5) led 13-1 late in the third, but a stalling point with 17 seconds and a 
takedown with 12 ticks left enabled him to earn five team points. 

North ended the streak with wins from Greg Eisenhart (125) and Charles Balboa (130) to 
make it 29-15. The heavily-favored Eisenhart (9-1) earned a hard-fought 4-2 decision 
over A.J. Varga, while Balboa pinned Chris Reed in 4:24 -- the team's lone bonus-point 
victory and the only bout in which a North wrestler scored a set of backpoints. 

"It really was a complete team effort," Koeller said. "The guys who lost stayed off their
backs and the kids that won got pins and came through real big. We got the ball rolling
early on and we pretty much knew it was going to be our night." 

Leading 33-15 with three bouts left, P'burg won marquee bouts at 140 and 145 to seal the
victory. 

Stateliners senior P.J. Budd secured a takedown and two-point nearfall in the final 10
seconds to score a 6-3 win over Josh Prado, while Koeller, a three-time district champion,
followed with a 6-4 victory over Allen Cozze in a spirited battle of top wrestlers in 
The Express-Times area. 

The evening began with P'burg standout Dave Post being awarded a forfeit at 160. The 
Stateliners quickly went up 12-0 when reserve junior Mike Duffy flattened North sub
Mike Ressel in 1:43 at 171. 

That set up the evening's first key matchup as Mike Fania of P'burg collided with Gargas
at 189. Fania (13-2), a state placewinner as a freshman, earned a 6-4 win and put the 
visitors up 15-0 after three bouts. 

The Lions answered with two straight wins at 215 and 275 in bouts they needed to have. 
Unfortunately, neither victory produced bonus points. 

Bob Pellechio earned an 8-3 win over Bryan Kopesky, while Roger Plaisted prevailed 3-1 
over Chris Forder at 275 to make it 15-6 in favor of the Stateliners, who won nine of
14 bouts. 

"I was real surprised with the margin of victory," Troxell said. "I thought we had seven 
guaranteed wins, possibly nine coming in. To hold (North) to just three bonus points all
night is real impressive."