RAIDER ROUNDUP
By: Rudy Brandl
The Hillsborough High wrestling team dropped three matches on the road last week to start the New Year.
Hillsborough (1-3) was set to complete its five-match road trip with matches at North Hunterdon and Lawrence Wednesday and Thursday nights, respectively, before hosting Ridge Saturday at noon. The Raiders haven’t competed on their home mats since the Somerset County Tournament over the holidays.
The team’s January road trip began with a 50-17 loss at Roselle Park and continued with a 42-28 setback against Warren Hills in a Skyland Conference crossover match. The Raiders suffered their first Delaware East Division loss Saturday at Bridgewater-Raritan by a 42-25 score.
Hillsborough had spanked B-R by lopsided margins the last two years but these are different teams. The Panthers, who finished second in the county team standings, are improved and the Raiders are rebuilding.
Sophomore 145-pounder Frank McLaughlin gave the Raiders a good start with a 57-second pin of Jeff Timmick. Senior 152-pounder Joe Ambrose kept it going by decking Ian Weeks in 36 seconds.
Bridgewater (3-0) evened the match with a pin at 160 and forfeit at 171. HHS senior Chris Monticchio bumped to 189 pounds and posted a 14-5 major over Dan Frias. Ernie Guaimano moved up to 215 and doubled up Tony D’Ovidio by a 10-5 score and the Raiders had a seven-point lead.
That cushion evaporated after consecutive forfeits at heavyweight and 103 pounds. The Raiders never recovered from giving away those 12 free points as the match wrapped around to the lower weights.
HHS junior 119-pounder Adam Kull won the headline bout of the day when he edged rival Adam Friedman by a 1-0 score in a rematch of the county semifinal. Kull won that bout in overtime en route to the county title and didn’t allow Friedman to even the score for the season.
Senior 140-pounder Kevin Lynch closed the match with an 8-5 decision but those three points weren’t enough to offset B-R’s wins at 125, 130 and 135. The Raiders actually held a 6-5 lead in contested bouts but gave away three forfeits. Those 18 points created the final deficit.
The Raiders also won six bouts at Warren Hills but couldn’t stay off their backs. The Blue Streaks notched five falls en route to victory.
Kull, Lynch and Ambrose produced pins for the Raiders. James McMahon (130), Bobby Wolf (135) and Guaimano (189) added decisions.
Hillsborough had only three winners at Roselle Park. Lynch and Monticchio won by fall and McLaughlin scored five points for a technical fall. Kull dropped his first bout of the year to Park standout Joey Blackford, who’s ranked in the top 10 in the state at 119 pounds. Blackford battled for a 3-1 decision.
Swimmers sweep
in small pool
The HHS swim teams traveled to Centenary College and spread the wealth as much as they could in a four-lane pool. Head coach Todd Sudol juggled his lineup and rotated in different swimmers against Warren Hills and the HHS boys and girls produced 52-42 victories.
Five different boys produced individual victories for the Raiders Robert Webb in the 200 free (2:03.16), Tim Rauch in the 200 individual medley (2:16.03), Pat Kuehne in the 100 fly (59.97), James Vanbiervliet in the 100 free (54.03) and Sean Downey in the 500 free (5:31.51).
The HHS boys also won the 200 medley relay with Devin Gunasekara, Frank Ippolito, Rauch and Eric Horowitz hitting the wire in 1:51.36.
Double winners Missy McCormick and Lauren Horowitz powered the girls to victory. McCormick took first in the 50 free (26.60) and 100 fly (1:08.57), while Horowitz prevailed in the 200 free (2:12.81) and 500 free (5:55.75).
Ariel Newman won the 200 IM (2:23.43) and Jessica Stever captured the 100 free (1:00.01). The HHS girls also prevailed in the 200 free relay with Miranda Steel, Stephanie Hannold, Carolyn Mehrtens and Sara Miller finishing in 1:52.53.
The Raiders were scheduled to face Watchung Hills and the Berkeley Pool this week.