RAIDER ROUNDUP
By: Rudy Brandl
Hillsborough High’s 42-21 victory over visiting Roselle Park may not prove that Somerset County is stronger than Union County in wrestling, but it shows that the Raiders have a pretty talented team this year.
Saturday night’s matchup between the respective county champions figured to be a close one. HHS was hoping to avenge last year’s tight 33-29 loss to the perennial Union County champs and opened the New Year by settling that score in a big way.
While most of the close bouts when Roselle Park’s way in last January’s meeting, this year’s rematch produced the opposite results. Hillsborough won all three bouts decided by one or two points, taking 10 of the 12 contested matches to prevail rather easily.
Senior 215-pounder Mark Amerman opened the match with a big 5-3 decision against Chris Bouhoutos. The undefeated Amerman’s victory set the tone for the night.
The Raiders trailed briefly after forfeiting the heavyweight bout but tied the score when Adam Kull posted a 3-2 victory over Kevin Blatt at 103 pounds. Freshman phenom John Mangini remained unbeaten by flattening Tom Degman in 52 seconds for six team points that put the Raiders on top to stay.
Senior 119-pounder Tye Wagner kept it going with an 11-0 major and 130-pounder Griff Campbell fought hard for a 2-1 triumph to continue Hillsborough’s dominance in the close bouts. Kevin Lynch (140) and John Newman (152) added major decisions, Mike Detsis (145) won by decision and Pat Jastrzebski (171) and Phil Lavoie (189) posted falls to close the match in style.
The Raiders (2-0), who haven’t lost a meet or tournament this season, were slated to wrestle at Voorhees tonight and at Bridgewater-Raritan Saturday afternoon.
Girls suffer
first defeat
The HHS girls saw their perfect season end Saturday afternoon when visiting Scotch Plains-Fanwood stormed into town and rolled to a 62-38 victory.
Hillsborough (5-1) couldn’t recover from a horrendous start that saw SP-F roll to a 19-4 lead after one quarter. The visitors were led by a huge game from junior center Hilary Klimowicz, who netted 28 points in a dominant performance.
Senior Jess Rainey scored nearly half of her team’s points, firing in a season-high 18 to lead Hillsborough. Freshman Kelsey Kutch added six points off the bench.
The Lady Raiders, brilliant offensively in most games this winter, struggled early and managed only 10 points in the first half. Hillsborough entered the game averaging more than 63 points per game, having eclipsed 70 three times. Saturday’s loss significantly reduced that average.
Hillsborough will need to regain its offensive potency this week when Delaware Division action resumes. Division rivals North Hunterdon and Bridgewater-Raritan are first on tap.