Wrestling
By: John E. Powers
The Lawrence High School wrestling team keeps winning and surprising their coach.
The 7-1 Cardinals completely dominated last Saturday’s quad meet with Allentown, Princeton and Hamilton. Lawrence opened by thumping Princeton 52-22 and Allentown 62-9, and then ripped Hamilton 56-19 in the feature match of the day.
"I didn’t expect that," Lawrence coach Chris Lynne said of the Hamilton result. "It was one of our matches where everything went our way. Even our losses were like wins."
The Cardinals were scheduled to wrestle Notre Dame last night. On Saturday, the Cardinals are scheduled to host Trenton at 1:30 p.m. and West Windsor-Plainsboro North at 3 p.m.
Last Saturday, the Cardinals took another big step in establishing itself as the best team in the Colonial Valley Conference.
Leading the charge were Andy Chalofsky (160) and Alex DeHart (119), who both won all three of their bouts for the day. Chalofsky had two pins and a technical fall for the day.
The Cardinals registered eight falls, a technical fall by senior 130-pounder Mark Savino (13-1) and a decision by 189-pounder Brian Friedeborn (11-4). But it was the balance that had Lynne impressed.
"Coming in, I had a 7-7 split in matches," Lynne said. "I assumed it was going to be a close match like between six and 12 points. But I would never have expected to beat Hamilton by 37."
The Cardinals last beat Hamilton in 2001.
"I think we’ve only beaten them twice since I’ve been coach," Lynne said.
The match started at 125 pounds, and Hamilton won five of the first six. Lawrence answered by winning the last eight. One of the pins was supplied by 112-pounder Matt Friedman, who recorded his seventh fall of the year and improved to 12-1. Adam Oliszewski, normally a 215-pounder, raised his record to 11-2 with two falls at 275 and another at his usual weight.
Even the wrestlers who lost performed well. Senior Kyle Miller limited Eric Ammirata to a 14-6 major at 145. Ammirata is 11-2.
"Kyle was so pumped, being a senior and wanting to contribute," Lynne said.
Lynne is also mindful of his team’s progress in the Central Jersey Group III playoff race. Last year, the Cardinals didn’t even know they had gotten into the sectionals until a local sports writer informed their coach. This year, there is no question that the Cardinals will qualify; the only question is where they will end up.
The latest power-point rankings had Lawrence third behind Wall and Ocean Township.
"We really got some power points last Saturday," Lynne said.
The cutoff date for qualifying for the sectionals is Feb. 7. In the meantime, there is a lot of work to be done. On Sunday, Savino will wrestle in the annual Coaches All Star Meet at Rider University, a great honor for the Penn-bound star. Savino will wrestle Randolph’s Matt Kaplan at 130 pounds.
Then it’s back to the team focus. The Cardinals still have matches against out-of-conference teams like unbeaten Hillsborough and struggling North Hunterdon of the Skyland Conference.
"Last Saturday was just another step in a long season," Lynne said. "We not only want to win the Colonial Division and win every one of our league matches, but we want to win every one of our matches. I keep telling the kids that our next match is our biggest."