Roth earns first win over PHS
By: Bob Nuse
Princeton High wrestling coach Rashone Johnson and his West Windsor-Plainsboro South counterpart Keith MacDougall are both after the same thing seeing their team make progress.
For MacDougall, that means being competitive with the best teams on the Pirates’ schedule. For Johnson, that means just seeing his team start to be competitive. On Tuesday night, the Pirates found out they still have a way to go when they dropped a 50-9 decision to Piscataway. The next night, South showed the Little Tigers they still have a way to go when they posted a 63-10 win in a match between the two teams.
"I think we had shown a lot of improvement in our match Saturday against Hightstown," Johnson said of Princeton’s 51-21 loss. "If you weren’t there and you were just looking at the box score, it doesn’t do the match justice. It was a good, exciting match to be at. We were in a lot of the matches that we lost.
"It was tough to go from that, to a week where we have to go against West Windsor South and then Hamilton, two of the best teams we’ll see this year."
Princeton fell to 0-4 with the loss on Wednesday. But there were some encouraging signs for the Little Tigers. Mark Jeeveratnum picked up a major decision win at 112, while Matt Levine posted a pin in his heavyweight match.
"I’m hoping we can keep seeing improvement in matches," said Johnson, whose team will face Hamilton tonight. "They’ll make mistakes in a match, then they won’t make a mistake in the next match. Experience is the thing that we don’t have right now. But most of these kids will be back and we’re hoping to get better from the experiences of this season."
On the other side of the mat, MacDougall has an experienced team. Right now they’re finding what it’s like to wrestle against some of the better programs in the state. The Pirates opened the season 0-4, but have bounced back to win three of their last four matches.
The loss to Piscataway on Tuesday gave MacDougall a good indication of where his team is right now. Despite the lopsided final score, it was a match that was much closer than the score would indicate.
"We were winning four of the matches we wound up losing," said MacDougall, whose team will host Notre Dame on Saturday. "I think we got out-toughed by Piscataway. I think it will help us, though. Not only will we get better from it, but they’re one of the teams we’re going to see at districts, just like South Brunswick. I want us to see similar teams to the ones we’ll see later in the season."
South had little trouble with Princeton on Wednesday. Matt Charette, Brett Bowers, Sam Roth, Vince Avery, Josh Wagner and Tim Woodhull all recorded pins, while Tom Lyon, Jason Lee and Randy Donatien also recorded wins on the mat. For Roth, it was his first win of the season after a slow start.
"I was pretty disappointed with the way I’ve been wrestling," said Roth, a senior who is in his third season with the varsity. "They say the first win is always the toughest. Hopefully this is just the start for me. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. I know I’ve lost to some people that I should have beaten, so hopefully if I see them again later on in the season I can take them by surprise.
"As a team, it’s a confidence booster for us. We had a tough match (Tuesday) and we’re just looking to come together. I think that’s starting now. We had some tough matches earlier in the season, but I think they helped us get better."
While the Pirates started 0-4, the experience they picked up in losses to South Brunswick, St. John Vianney, Livingston and Hamilton will only help down the road. Roth, for one, knows that the losses will pay off for him down the road.
"This season we got off a little slow, but I think we’re starting to come together," he said. "We had a couple good wins lately and we keep getting better. I’ve just tried to keep positive. I’m looking forward to the county meet and getting a shot against some of the people who have beaten me already."
"Sam worked very hard in the off season," MacDougall added. "He actually came in lighter than I expected him to. When he got down to 135, I think he hit a wall. For lack of a scientific analogy, his body just turned against him. Now he’s competing at the most common weight for a high school student.
"We’ve got a very good wrestler in Jason Lee, a good freshman in Nick Avery, plus we have Brett Bowers and J.T. (Hutchinson), who have a lot of experience. So we have five guys for four weight classes. He’s lost a couple of matches he could have won. He lost a two-pointer and I think he lost another, 3-0. Hopefully, things will begin to flow for him."
Right now, despite the setback against Piscataway, things seem to be flowing for the Pirates. And eventually, Johnson hopes the same thing happens for his team as well.

