Stateliners stung hard in opener at The Pit

Sunday, December 19, 2004

By MIKE WEILAMANN

The Express-Times

PHILLIPSBURG -- It's not necessarily where you start but where you finish.

And Phillipsburg High School's wrestling team hopes for a much better ending than its beginning to the new season.

Toms River North spoiled P'burg's coming out party -- stunning the Stateliners 35-33 Saturday night before a partisan crowd of about 1,000 at The Pit.

Coach Chris Madigan's Mariners became the first team in 11 years to knock off the Stateliners in their own building to open a season. Nazareth was the last, winning 32-21 on Dec. 22, 1993.

"We were unknown coming in and now we know we've got a long way to go," a subdued Phillipsburg coach Rick Thompson said. "They came into our place and put it to us. Give credit to Chris Madigan and Toms River North."

Part of this season-opening mystery meet was the fact that Toms River North of the Shore Conference had half its team suspended prior to last season's District 24 tournament.

The Mariners, making their first-ever appearance at The Pit, return a good portion of last year's squad and it showed in the opener. Toms River North won eight of 14 bouts, including three pins and one technical fall, and never seemed the least bit intimidated in a notoriously hostile environment.

"We heard so much about The Pit, how intimidating and scary it is with its great crowd," said Madigan, whose team also is the first first-timer to come here and win since Paulsboro posted a 27-26 victory on Feb. 13, 1999. "We're used to wrestling in a big place back home (Ritacco Center).

"To us this was like wrestling in our old gym. Our kids told me before the match that this place wasn't so scary. They did a great job."

This one nearly got away from the Mariners in the final two bouts. Holding what seemed to be a comfortable 35-24 lead after former District 24 champion Dan Diaz's 9-2 decision over Phillipsburg freshman Luke Grassi at 112 pounds, the Stateliners attempted one last rally.

Senior John Todd put P'burg in position to steal the win when he spladled Anthony Morano with 10 seconds left in the third period up 6-2.

That riled the Stateliners faithful and sent junior Jon Stillo to the mat with a chance to win it with a pin.

Stillo, a first-time starter, turned Toms River North senior Marcos Flores with an arm bar in the first period but never really came close again and settled for what proved to be a nail-biting 10-9 decision. The Stateliner was in the process of loading up a cement job with 24 seconds left in the bout, but referee Steve Hockman stopped the proceedings with a potentially-dangerous call.

"My guys have been pumped up for this match since Thanksgiving," said Madigan, himself a standout wrestler at Toms River North and East Stroudsburg University. "I told the kids (state) rankings don't mean anything. The match pretty much went as we thought for the most part. We had it a 7-7 split and maybe a couple of tossups."

Madigan also made key moves at 130 and 189, where he bumped wrestlers up a weight for more desirable matchups -- trading six points with the 'Liners each time.

However, two crucial losses at 160 and 103 earlier -- both decided in the final seconds -- ultimately played a major role in Phillipsburg's undoing.

At 160, Stateliners senior Bobby Coyle led 5-4 late in his bout with Chris Kau before getting taken down with 15 seconds left to lose 6-5.

The Mariners pinned at 171 and 215, and also won a tight 3-1 decision at 275 to go up 29-24.

The final nail probably came at 103 where Phillipsburg junior Jon Gregory, a District 1 champion last season, gave up a reversal and three back points in the final 20 seconds in an 11-7 loss to freshman Matt Oliver. That made it 32-24 with three bouts left.

"We just didn't do the job tonight," Thompson said. "This is going to happen a lot this year. I think we're a 7-7 team. I thought we'd lose eight matches this year, maybe more. I can't see us blowing anybody out. We still have a chance to come back but we've got to turn it up a notch."

'LINER NOTES: Phillipsburg will be back in action 6 p.m. Wednesday evening at Newton in another independent match. The Stateliners also host Howell 7 p.m. Thursday before the big clash with defending Group 4 champion Absegami on Monday, Dec. 27. That match will begin at 5 p.m.