Woodhull repeats as champ at 189 for Pirates
By: Justin Feil
TRENTON Tim Woodhull felt the weight of heavy expectations on his shoulders. For someone coming off of shoulder surgery, it could be a problem.
But the West Windsor-Plainsboro High South senior made quick work of his Mercer County Tournament opponents to repeat as MCT champion at 189 pounds Saturday.
"I’m very pleased with how everything’s going," Woodhull said. "It’s been a blast. I’ve been winning, so that’s good. Definitely the Mercer County title was the best so far.
"I felt a lot of pressure. Last year there I hadn’t done anything so nobody was looking at me. This year, with defending, all the pressure is definitely on you. It was challenging."
Woodhull was one of three Pirate wrestlers to win titles. J.T. Hutchinson won at 145 pounds and Randy Donatien won at 215 pounds. Woodhull won with a 12-6 win over Notre Dame’s Matt Trinsey.
Their wins, along with a second-place finish by Vince Avery, third-place finishes by Josh Wagner and Matt Charette and fourth-place finishes by Dan Bessler, Jason Lee and Nick Avery weren’t quite enough to top Hamilton for the team title.
"We were really up for it," Woodhull said. "We were trying to win the title. Our whole team was up for the tournament. We lost to Hamilton in the dual meet and we were looking to come back and beat them. It was disappointing not to, but we had a lot of guys wrestle well and place well."
After losing by four points to Hamilton in the dual meet and tying the Hornets last year for the MCT team title, the Pirates trailed Hamilton, 203-181, Saturday. WW-PS finished 18 points ahead of Hightstown.
"When Hamilton won," said WW-PS head coach Keith MacDougall, "They had a tendency to win big. They had tech falls and pins. We just all won. It was pretty even. That’s our strength. We only had two, maybe three, letdowns the whole tournament.
"Hamilton and West Windsor both had missions, and they did it. We didn’t get too much help from other schools. Hamilton has a very balanced squad and their balance won."
It couldn’t take away what was otherwise another strong MCT for the Pirates.
"In a nutshell, the good news was the every single kid who got a legitimate seed of eighth or higher, lived up or exceeded it," MacDougall said. "Some guys Randy, J.T. and Tim did a tremendous job. Even guys who placed third or fourth Nick Avery wrestled a great, great tournament. He beat (third-seeded Chris) Floyd from Lawrence on Friday. And Little Matt Charette came in with about a .500 record and he took third."
WW-PS returns to Tornado Alley to face Trenton 6:30 p.m. Wednesday before hosting Hightstown on Saturday in a key Colonial Valley Conference matchup. Woodhull, who improved to 15-2 with a perfect MCT, is hoping to continue his momentum.
It’s been quite a season, one that MacDougall wasn’t even sure would happen after Woodhull had surgery to repair cartilage in his right shoulder following the high school baseball season. It’s an injury that began in wrestling and cost him a chance to pitch for the Pirate baseball team. Woodhull, who was WW-PS’ top offensive threat as well last spring, is a top area prospect.
"When he was wrestling top quality state wrestlers, those kinds of things wear and tear on your shoulder," MacDougall said. "Tim and I had to sit down and discuss whether he had to wrestle or not. It was one of the hardest things for me, but I told him that if he didn’t come out for the team, it was OK with me. If it was going to help him get a scholarship or an amateur tryout, I was 100 percent behind him."
Woodhull is trying to put the surgery behind him. He’s been throwing throughout the winter to test the shoulder. It was the throwing motion that hurt the most when he injured the shoulder last year.
"It’s feeling fine," the 17-year-old said. "I haven’t felt any pain since the surgery. I’ve been real cautious about it."
But cautious isn’t the norm for Woodhull, who played football closer to 220 pounds, and calls his melting down to 189 as big an accomplishment as any. It’s been hard at times for him to be careful.
"If you feel so good, you want to go 100 percent," he said. "So many people were telling me not to come out this year, to get ready for baseball. But I like wrestling. I like Coach and I like the team.
"It was the same thing in football. I took off half the preseason. I didn’t really hit until almost the first game. Everyone was really understanding about it. Initially, they didn’t think it was that serious, but it ended up being worse and the recovery was two to three months instead of six weeks."
MacDougall still reminds Woodhull’s wrestling partners not to work his shoulders too much in practice. And with a MCT gold in hand, Woodhull doesn’t have much left to prove.
"We’re trying to alleviate as many possibilities of him getting hurt," MacDougall said. "If he wants to bow out honorably, I would respect that. We’ve taken this thing in levels."
It’s down to the personal level with the MCT decided, but Woodhull thinks it would be too difficult to walk away before a chance to better his second-place District 20 finish last season.
"That’s been the big thing deciding if I’m going to wrestle districts," Woodhull said. "The higher you get up, the more difficult it is on you. It will be tough when districts roll around not to wrestler. I want to."
It’s all that MacDougall needs to hear. He knows exactly what to expect when Woodhull takes the mat.
"He’s a great kid," MacDougall said. "Sometimes if he wrestles poorly in his opinion he’ll tell me he’s sorry. He comes back and works so hard. I wish more kids would have as much heart as he has. Kids with heart are a dying breed."
And as was proven with his second straight MCT title, Tim Woodhull’s heart and shoulders were plenty strong for the WW-P South wrestling team.

