Wrestling: Howell edges Hunterdon Central to win NJSIAA Central Group 5
RARITAN TOWNSHIP – Hunterdon Central’s late-match mission was clear: go for pins.
Howell led 34-20 with three matches remaining in Wednesday’s NJSIAA Central Group 5 championship. The Red Devils put in arm bars like possessed wrestlers, trying next to mad for the six-point falls with the loud home crowd clapping and hollering.
Howell’s Gavin Merkel (157) and Russell Halvorsen (165) kept wriggling and fighting to their stomach, avoiding the referee’s hand slap
Yes, they each lost, but the Rebels bench erupted as they saved team points. The Rebels clinched heading into the final bout and prevailed with a 34-33 win to capture the program’s sixth sectional title.
They advanced to Friday’s Group 5 semifinals. Howell (22-6) will head to Phillipsburg, which beat Westfield 46-17 in Wednesday’s other quarterfinal. The winner advances to the Group 5 final Sunday at Rutgers.
“It’s the best loss I’m going to have in my wrestling career,” said Halvorsen, who lost 13-2. “I’m just thinking about the team. I don’t want to give up on them because they never gave up on me. So I’m just going to fight for my life.”
Howell veteran coach John Gagliano said of avoiding the late pins, “Huge. It’s grit. A great team effort from everyone.”
The match had a 7-7 split in bouts with banged-up Hunterdon Central giving up a forfeit at 138 and missing starters in Evan Thompson (132) and Will Cella (138), along with a handful of key backups who are also either sick or injured such as Eddie Klein (138/144).
Top-seeded Hunterdon Central (17-4) battled with Bennett Cayero (215) winning 6-4 in SV in the second match and pins from Ryan Sherlock (106) and Peter Plesh (113) to take an early 15-9 lead through five matches.
Howell seized a 29-15 edge with four-straight wins as Xavier Ortega got a high-level 6-5 win over Anthony Rossi at 120 followed with a Sebastian Ortega 26-11 technical fall at 126, a Giovanni Scafidi (132) pin in 4:35 and the forfeit at 138 to JJ Machnik.
The Rebels’ Kieran Bruen (150) added a 16-0 victory and the team got early wins with a match-opening pin by DJ Henry (190) in 3:04 and heavyweight Thomas Richards' 6-4 SV win.
Hunterdon Central closed strong with freshman Rhett Washleski (144) winning 21-6. At 157, Henry Wilkinson had Merkel in danger a couple of times, but couldn’t score the pin. He did prevail 7-6 with two points in the third period that cut the Howell lead to 34-20.
At 165, Jacob Saus needed a pin for the team to stay alive. The Red Devils fans thought he had it, but Halvorsen held on. Saus went on to win 13-2 and give Hunterdon Central four team points. Howell, though, held a 34-27 lead and clinched the win heading into the final bout.
“Me and Gavin, we’ve been wrestling since we were in middle school together,” Halvorsen said. “So he’s got my back, I got his back.”
What does it mean
Howell (22-6) started off 5-5, but continued to get better and healthier as Halvorsen, Merkel and Dan Colfer (215) all nursed injuries.
In the end, Howell claimed another sectional title. The Rebels topped second-seeded Hillsborough 37-26 in Monday’s sectional semifinals and opened with a 60-18 win over sixth-seeded Edison in Monday’s quarterfinals.
Hunterdon Central had a gutsy 39-37 win over fourth-seeded Old Bridge in the semifinals with a pin by Thomas Brunetti (190) in the final match. The Red Devils just couldn’t get the extra point against Howell. Now they focus on District 17 as the host team on Feb. 18.
Howell's key matches
Every point counted in this one. Howell claimed a key win at heavyweight with an eventful final half minute between Thomas Richards and Hunterdon Central's Ryan Seemon. The Howell wrestler was hit with a stall call on top with 30 seconds left that tied the bout 1-1. Seemon escaped 5 seconds later for a 2-1 lead, but lost a stalling point in the final five seconds for a 2-2 tie. Richards got the takedown in sudden victory for the 4-2 win.
At 120, Howell's Xavier Ortega -- who reached Consolation Round 3 of the state tournament last year at 113 -- met Hunterdon Central's Anthony Rossi, who made Consolation Round 4 at 106. Wednesday, Ortega locked up a cradle at the end of the first period for a 5-2 lead. Rossi got a late takedown to make it 6-5, but time expired as Ortega got the key win.
Hunterdon Central's key matches
At 215, Bennett Cayero was hit with a stalling call with 2 seconds left that tied it 4-4 and forced overtime against Dane Colfer. However, he shot right away in sudden victory and locked up Colfer's right leg for the takedown and 4-2 win.
They said it
Hunterdon Central coach Jon Cantagallo-Rohm said, “We came in a little undermanned and short-handed and I thought we performed admirably this evening, considering.”
Cantagallo-Rohm on what’s next for the team, “Give them a day off tomorrow and then go back and get ready. It’s time to change the mindset now where now that they’ve done away with the team title, it’s time to focus on the individuals. Guys need to realize that they need to wrestle a little bit differently when you’re trying to advance and move on.”
Howell coach John Gagliano “We started the season banged-up and we just couldn’t get it together for a while. Slowly, but surely they kept working hard and kept believing.”
Gagliano added, “We said in practice all week that it’s going to be somebody that loses that’s going to win the match. It happens all the time. Hunterdon Central – hat’s off to them. They’re a great team, great program, great coaching and we knew it was going to be a battle that could go either way. And it wound up being guys that kept the bonus down.”
Scafidi said, “A lot of great efforts from everyone fighting off their back. We got some inexperienced kids in the lineup, but they fought through and were able to get the job done tonight and I’m so proud of some of these kids that fought off their backs.
“… Everyone pushes each other to get better. It’s a hard-fought room. Everyone’s talented in their own ways and we just push through to get the win.”
Box Score
190: DJ Henry (HOWE) over Patrick Kaczmarek (HCR) (Fall 3:04) 215: Bennett Cayero (HCR) over Dane Colfer (HOWE) (TB-1 6-4) 285: Thomas Richards (HOWE) over Ryan Seemon (HCR) (TB-1 4-2) 106: Ryan Sherlock (HCR) over Mason Hultman (HOWE) (Fall 4:35) 113: peter Plesh (HCR) over Kylie Gudewitz (HOWE) (Fall 0:50) 120: Xavier Ortega (HOWE) over Anthony Rossi (HCR) (Dec 6-5) 126: Sebastian Ortega (HOWE) over Ahmed Hussain (HCR) (TF 26-11 0:00) 132: Giovanni Scafidi (HOWE) over Owen HaLL (HCR) (Fall 3:48) 138: JJ Machnik (HOWE) over (HCR) (For.) 144: Rhett Washleski (HCR) over Aidan Grant (HOWE) (TF 21-6 5:56) 150: Kieran Bruen (HOWE) over Grant Thompson (HCR) (TF 16-0 4:51) 157: Henry Wilkinson (HCR) over Gavin Merkel (HOWE) (Dec 7-6) 165: Jacob Saus (HCR) over Russell Halvorsen (HOWE) (MD 13-2) 175: Thomas Brunetti (HCR) over Ray Purrelli (HOWE) (Fall 1:30)
This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Wrestling: Howell edges Hunterdon Central to win Central Group 5
