Friday, February 06, 2009
For the
Star-Ledger
High school wrestling's longest running success story
pulled its crowded caravan into Kenilworth last night to encounter one of New
Jersey's emerging programs.
Phillipsburg,
winner of a state-record seven Star-Ledger Top 20 trophies as New Jersey's
top-ranked team, had gone this route before, often facing upstart teams trying
to knock the king off his throne. Usually the effort comes with little success.
This
time, though, one of the Lilliputians struck it big.
Brearley
registered seven pins and won nine of 14 bouts before an elated crowd in
Kenilworth as the home team, No. 10 in The Star-Ledger Top 20, rolled past No.
2 Phillipsburg, 45-22.
Freshman
Nick Lospinoso came up with a pin at 112 pounds and sophomore Devin Geoghegan
iced the meet with a stunning pin of Oliver Brukardt in overtime at 140 pounds
in the next-to-last bout of the evening.
"I
love having him on my team," said Lospinoso's older brother, Joe.
"He's my little brother. Him making weight at 112 was so huge for us
tonight.
"I
knew we were going to win. We were confident. But we never expected so many
pins. This is huge as a statement-maker."
Brearley
(18-3) faced a tall task against Phillipsburg (18-1), and a realistic goal
could have been to gain a split in bouts, 7-7, and find some bonus points along
the way to steal a win.
But
Brearley did so much more.
Nick
Pare made sure Phillipsburg received some bonus points when he turned a 4-2 lead
in the meet-opening bout at 152 pounds into six points. Pare stacked Brian
Gilligan for a fall in 1:37.
Brearley
answered quickly as senior Umar Taramov pinned Mike Simon in 1:37 at 160 to tie
the match at 6-6 and set the stage for the home team to take an early lead.
Phillipsburg's
Eric Bohem responded at 171 pounds by defeating Taramov's junior brother
Khasan, 7-2. Khasan Taramov's twin, Khusen, then followed by locking up the
arms of Phillipsburg's 189-pounder Jared Crouse and switching to a headlock
before dropping him in :48 to put Brearley in front, 12-9.
The
momentum in the match shifted again when Phillipsburg responded with a major
decision by Matt Santini at 215 pounds. Heavyweight Jim Tersigni's pin in :17
gave the visitor from Warren County a 19-12 lead. It then turned to the
lightweights to slug it out the rest of the way.
Sophomore
Anthony Madonia (23-4) then righted the ship at 103 for Brearley when he decked
Phillipsburg junior Casey Duckworth (2-4), who had just won the wrestle-off at
103 pounds to gain the starting spot for Phillipsburg. That reduced Brearley's
deficit to 19-18.
An
important bout would follow at 112 pounds, where Nick Lospinoso dropped down
from 119 pounds for just the second time this season. Lospinoso didn't disappoint.
The
freshman ran to a 6-3 lead over Phillipsburg sophomore Rylan Watson at 112
pounds on the strength of three takedowns, then ignited the home crowd by
turning Watson for a fall in 1:35 that put Brearley in front, 24-19.
"That
was the plan -- to get me to 112 -- but it's been tough getting down,"
Lospinoso said. "I felt in control on my feet. I figured if I was going to
pin him it was going to be from my feet. I took a double and on the way down
his elbow was out and I put a half in and stuck him."
Critically,
Brearley had four wins in the bank with a couple more favorable bouts ahead.
Brearley
would extend its lead to 27-19 when Dan Ries won as expected at 119, edging Dan
Brockerhoff 7-2. But Phillipsburg drew back to 27-22 when Matt Lane won a 6-6
toss-up bout against Allen Phillips with a takedown with :17 left in overtime.
Phillips had Lane on his back in the first minute of the third period but could
not flatten the Phillipsburg wrestler.
Still,
Brearley led by five points with four bouts to go and had the advantage in at
least two of them.
Kenny
Knapp scored a 9-3 decision at 130 to boost the Brearley lead to 30-22.
Senior
Joe Lospinoso, second in the NJSIAA Tournament last year at 130 pounds,
followed at 135 by nipping Bobby Moyer, 3-2, to give Brearley a 33-22 lead with
two bouts left. Lospinoso was hit with a stall warning from neutral with 11
seconds to go. Moyer had escaped with :22 remaining to shave the deficit to a
point. Lospinoso grabbed an ankle, though, and rode out the period.
Phillipsburg
was left with Oliver Brukardt at 140 and Cliff Tinsman at 145 to hit a pair of
home runs and rescue the day.
But
the sophomore Geoghegan put the match away when he took Brukardt into overtime
"I
went for a chin whip, he kind of gave up when I put him to his back,"
Geoghegan said. "I really wanted that match. I wanted to make a statement
there."
Phillipsburg
was without 130-pounder John Horak, who was out with an illness.
Brearley
45, Phillipsburg 22
152:
Nick Pare (P) p. Brian Gilligan, 3:48
160:
Umar Taramov (B) p. Mike Simon, 1:37
171:
Eric Bohem (P) d. Khasan Taramov, 7-2.
189:
Khusen Taramov (B) p. Jared Crouse, :48
215:
Matt Santini (P) d. Travis Dilts, 14-4.
HWT:
Jim Tersigni (P) p. Jeff Viglone, :17
103:
Anthony Madonia (B) p. Casey Duckworth, 5:26
112:
Nick Lospinoso (B) p. Rylan Watson, 1:35
119:
Dan Ries (B) d. Dan Brockerhoff, 7-2.
125:
Matt Lane (P) d. Allen Phillips, 6-4 OT.
130:
Kenny Knapp (B) d. Adam Simon, 9-3.
135:
Joe Lospinoso (B) d. Bob Moyer, 3-2.
140:
Devin Geoghegan (B) p. Oliver Brukardt, 6:16 OT
145:
Dillion Geoghegan (B) p. Cliff Tinsman, 2:55
Records:
Brearley 19-2, Phillipsburg 18-2.