Gewain remains undefeated
By: Rudy Brandl
You can’t blame the Hillsborough High wrestling team for taking out a few frustrations on Bridgewater-Raritan. The Raiders were overdue to break loose and flex their muscles in a season that’s mainly been characterized by near-misses.
Five narrow defeats have prevented the Raiders (5-7) from returning to the Central Jersey Group 4 playoffs this season. Hillsborough had been hoping that a victory in last Saturday’s matchup against local rival B-R would clinch a second straight trip to the team playoffs, but schools need at least a .500 record to qualify.
The Raiders certainly had the power points to qualify for the playoffs, but not the dual meet record. Veteran head coach Steve Molinaro could point to a plethora of key bouts his team didn’t win along the way. There were also a series of bad breaks, including a key injury to junior standout Mike Detsis that left a gap in the middle of the lineup. Then, there were some more intangible factors that contributed to the scenario.
For example, the Raiders appeared to be stronger than Somerville on paper and didn’t wrestle badly in their Jan. 23 match. However, Somerville had a surprise waiting in heavyweight Jesse Miller. The Raiders had expected to receive a forfeit in that weight class, but Miller edged Antonio D’Amelio in a controversial double-overtime bout for a crucial nine-point swing. The absence of Detsis helped the Pioneers score the remaining points necessary for victory.
In other cases, the Raiders gave up points late in periods or lost one-point decisions in matches that were decided by one or two swing bouts. If the Raiders had done a little bit better in those situations, they could be preparing for the playoffs.
"These bouts we’re losing by one or two points involve experience and managing your match and taking risks at the right time," Molinaro said. "It’s all about mat sense. We need to polish some things."
Hillsborough figured it would be difficult to sweep last week’s matches with Hunterdon Central standing in the way. But the Raiders had their opportunities long before the week before the Feb. 8 qualifying deadline. Close losses to Roselle Park (34-30), Voorhees (33-32), North Hunterdon (34-27), Somerville (34-23) and Delaware Valley (30-23) left the Raiders hoping for a miracle last week.
Central officially ended those hopes with a 44-30 triumph in the middle of the week, but the Raiders responded with a 56-6 pounding of the Panthers last Saturday afternoon.
Hillsborough’s points were distributed evenly between decisions (4), forfeits (3), pins (3) and majors (2). Bridgewater’s only points came at 171 pounds, where John Rothman notched a fall.
HHS opened the match with consecutive forfeits at 130 and 135, with Chris Damiano and Mike Detsis accepting the free passes for a 12-0 lead. Junior 140-pounder Griff Campbell maintained the momentum by decking Ross Sims in 2:49.
The Raiders extended the shutout to 32-0 with consecutive majors at 145 and 152 and a fall at 160. Pat Jastrzebski and John Newman dominated their bouts but settled for major decisions, while Phil Lavoie decked Andrew Johnston at 1:18 in the quickest bout of the day.
After Rothman’s pin of Chris Monticchio at 171, the Raiders ran the table with six more wins to complete the rout. James O’Hara (189) edged Don Gaffney in a 4-3 decision, Mark Amerman (215) won by forfeit and D’Amelio (Hwt) decked Rob Kane at 3:41.
The bout of the day featured a rematch of the Somerset County final between undefeated four-time champion Andrew Gewain and Bridgewater standout Dan Boemio. Gewain escaped for a thrilling 3-2 victory to extend his season unbeaten streak to 17 straight victories.
Tye Wagner (119) and Kevin Lynch (125) added decisions to complete the assault. There was no match at 112.
While the Raiders felt good about rocking B-R for the second straight year, they fell just short of one team goal. Last year, the team made school history by becoming the first ever to qualify for the CJ 4 tournament.
"It’s a little frustrating," Gewain said. "We know we can beat all these teams we lost to. We lost to them by one match, just a three-point swing."
Amerman, one of the juniors who plans on returning to the team playoffs in his final year of high school, took a different view.
"This is still a very young team," Amerman said. "This is a rebuilding season. We only lost to North Hunterdon by six points. I think we’re really underrated."
With all other team goals no longer within reach, the Raiders will begin to focus on their final mission to repeat as District 18 team champions. They’ll face some top-notch competition throughout the rest of the regular season, tackling a list of schools that includes Middlesex County powers South Brunswick, East Brunswick and Piscataway.

