Rigorous slate continues with more challenging matches
By: Rudy Brandl
The Hillsborough High wrestling team has certainly been battle-tested in the early stages of the 2002-03 season.
After finishing third in two competitive tournaments in December, the Raiders have started the New Year with three very tight dual meets. HHS was hoping to finally coast to an easier win last Saturday but Bridgewater-Raritan had to postpone the match due to the illness of several team members.
Hillsborough split two hotly-contested home matches last week and entered last night’s match at North Hunterdon with a 1-2 ledger. That record could easily be 3-0 or 0-3, considering that every match has been decided by a few one-point bouts.
The largest margin of victory so far has been seven points, which came in the team’s 37-30 triumph over Pequannock last week. HHS opened the season with a tough 33-29 loss at a rowdy Roselle Park, defeated Group 2 power Pequannock with an exciting comeback but dropped a heart-breaking 33-32 match to Voorhees last Thursday night. The Raiders have split the 42 bouts in their first three matches.
"There’s a level of fun and I like the challenge, but there’s also a level of anxiety to these matches," Hillsborough head coach Steve Molinaro said. "The competition has been that good. It’s been very even."
Consider that Hillsborough has dropped five one-point bouts in its two team losses two at Roselle Park and three against Voorhees. The Raiders prevailed in a few key swing bouts against Pequannock, most notably at 215 pounds where junior Mark Amerman pulled out a 5-4 victory over Russ Commune. Amerman’s escape in the final minute broke the tie and pulled the Raiders within five points at 30-25.
"Those tight matches make a difference in momentum," Molinaro said. "You like to win those."
HHS heavyweight Antonio D’Amelio followed by flattening Dennis Coyle in 2:44 and star 103-pounder Andrew Gewain clinched the victory with a first period pin. Gewain remained undefeated and scored his sixth fall of the season when he dumped Jesse Vanderhoff in 1:19.
While Amerman, D’Amelio and Gewain emerged with heroic victories in crunch time, the Raiders would not have won without several key performances earlier in the match. Molinaro elected to bump up his regular lineup to create favorable matchups and four consecutive bout victories in the middle weights kept the Raiders in the mix.
Tye Wagner opened the match with a quick pin at 112 pounds, but Molinaro knew Pequannock 119-pounder J.W. Bykowsky was a standout. He inserted Ron Guido, who took one for the team at 119, and bumped his next three wrestlers up a weight class. All three delivered victories.
Senior Kevin Herlihy moved to 125 and packed Joel Collins in 1:27. Sophomore Kevin Lynch, whom Molinaro called his team’s most surprising young wrestler in the early season, scored a 9-3 decision over Javier Verdin at 130. Senior Chris Damiano dominated Dan Moran in a 12-0 major at 135 pounds.
"The effort from the kids was great," Molinaro said. "A couple guys moved up and got pins or wins to put us back in the race. They really stepped up and did a nice job."
Junior 140-pounder Mike Detsis kept the streak going with a solid 13-8 triumph over Mike Dunn. The Detsis decision gave the Raiders a 22-6 lead, but Pequannock roared back to win the next five bouts before Amerman stopped the bleeding and changed the momentum.
The Raiders couldn’t sustain the momentum 24 hours later when Voorhees came to town. The Vikings bolted to a 21-6 lead and the HHS rally fell short.
Rob Perricone edged Amerman in a 10-9 thriller at 215 to produce that 15-point cushion. Voorhees teammates Jake Piasecki (119) and Kyle Honickel (135) also posted one-point wins over Herlihy and Damiano to help the visitors preserve their evaporating lead.
Hillsborough actually forged ahead 22-21 after a pin by D’Amelio, a forfeit to Gewain and a major decision from Wagner. Voorhees regained the lead on Piasecki’s win but Lynch posted a 14-6 major at 125 to put the Raiders up by two points. The lead changed hands again when Dan Brong of Voorhees pinned Griff Campbell in 5:23 at 130 pounds. Honickel’s 6-5 win over Damiano clinched it for Voorhees.
"It might have been a little bit of a disadvantage wrestling back-to-back," Molinaro said. "They wrestled their hearts out the night before."
The Raiders will have to work hard all the time against a very competitive schedule. In addition to the usual divisional foes in Hunterdon Central, North Hunterdon and Phillipsburg, the Raiders have added a brutal slate of matches that includes Delaware Valley, South Brunswick, Roxbury, Piscataway and East Brunswick. HHS also has a huge match against Somerset County champion Watchung Hills coming up.
"We have our work cut out for us this year," Molinaro said. "We still have the playoffs as a goal but we have to wrestle smarter and at a higher level. We had some level of success last year and a lot of these teams want to wrestle us. There aren’t any slouches coming to town."

