The Lions provided some answers with their performance on Thursday night. The were some questions entering this week as to the state of the North Hunterdon High School wrestling team. The Lions provided some answers with their performance on Thursday night against Voorhees. North Hunterdon broke a five-match losing streak by dominating the Vikings in an impressive 43-21 victory...
The Lions provided some answers with their performance on Thursday night.
The were some questions entering this week as to the state of the North Hunterdon High School wrestling team.
The Lions provided some answers with their performance on Thursday night against Voorhees.
North Hunterdon broke a five-match losing streak by dominating the Vikings in an impressive 43-21 victory in a raucous Skyland Conference Raritan Division dual meet before a packed house at Voorhees High School.
“We did not wrestle well last week and I think these kids are tired of losing,” North Hunterdon coach Tim Flynn said. “People are asking, what’s wrong with North Hunterdon? We had guys out of the lineup. Guys were sick. But the bottom line is, the guys that were here tonight came to wrestle. That shows you a little bit about their character."
The Lions snapped the losing streak by claiming nine of 14 bouts, including five falls and two key toss-ups wins, against their intradistrict rivals.
“I give all the credit to North Hunterdon,” Voorhees coach Eric Hall said. “Their coaching staff and their kids - their entire program. They came ready to wrestle tonight. They came ready to compete. They were hungrier than we were tonight. It’s disappointing.”
The Lions (2-5 overall, 2-0 Raritan) struggled mightily after winning its season opener against Bound Brook (49-19) on Dec. 22, losing five straight matches in a span of four days.
The was no struggling on Thursday.
Wyatt Vrancken (182), Joe Abbas (195) and Charles Tordik (285) staked the Lions to a big early lead with three falls in the first four matches.
Vrancken stunned Vikings sophomore Scott Fernandes from the opening whistle and needed just 1:00 to pin him with a half nelson.
Abbas, who is wrestling for injured starter Tyler Gapas, followed that up by cradling and pinning Sam Huff in 4:51 at 195.
Just like that it, was 12-0 Lions.
“We knew we were sending (Vrancken) out at 182 and he stepped up like a senior leader does,” Flynn said. “And Abbas filling in for Gapas? That was a close match and he battles and gets the pin. We had guys step up, up and down the lineup. It was a good win.”
Tordik pinned Andrew Murdock two bouts later and the Lions led 18-3.
Voorhees (4-5, 0-3) appeared to be climbing back into the match at that point with wins at 106 and 113, but sophomore Will Hughes took any air the Vikings built up out of their home side of the gym by flattening Josh Csaynyi in 3:46.
“I knew bonus points would really help the team and I went out and saw the opportunity and went for it,” Hughes said.
It took fellow sophomore Andrew Gapas just 14 seconds to pin August Heithoff at 126 and put the Vikings in an even deeper hole.
“A handful of our kids are not used to wrestling on a stage and in a match like this and it showed,” Hall said. “We gave up a bunch of bonus points and they won the close bouts. They outperformed us. We have to put this one behind us and come back tomorrow.”
The dagger came at 132, when freshman Michael Wilson outlasted Connor Riley 5-4 at 132 to earn his first varsity win.
Wilson trailed 2-0 into the third period but reversed Riley to his back for a five count to take a three-point lead.
Riley did reverse Wilson, but could not turn him and Wilson had a win in his first varsity bout.
“I was pretty nervous, but I just stuck to what I knew,” said Wilson, whose win put North up 33-9 with five bouts remaining. “The near fall helped me settle down a little, knowing it was a short time and I had a bit of a lead to play with.”
Cole Marra’s 7-1 decision over Liam Cutri-French iced the win at 36-15 with three bouts left.
“These are just two teams scrapping for wins,” Flynn said. “Voorhees is a good team. They’re well coached and the atmosphere tonight was great. But we came out on top. Now, these kids have some confidence heading into the Hunterdon/Warren/Sussex (tournament) this weekend.”
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