Newcomers join veterans in winner’s circle
By: Rudy Brandl
It was home sweet home for the Hillsborough High wrestling team in Saturday afternoon’s match against Ridge. The Raiders came home for the first time in the New Year and broke a five-match road losing streak with a 47-21 victory.
Hillsborough had shown some progress in previous matches against North Hunterdon and Lawrence but didn’t have enough manpower to post team victories. The Raiders forfeited three bouts in a 47-27 loss at Lawrence and have been giving away points in every match.
The Raiders and Red Devils were on equal footing in Saturday’s match, with each team forfeiting one bout. Hillsborough won nine of the 12 contested bouts to capture a solid victory.
"The kids really needed something like this," HHS head coach Steve Molinaro said afterward. "They’ve been working hard. We’ve been winning a lot of the contested bouts but giving away points on forfeits. It’s good that it finally worked out for us, team score-wise."
While Hillsborough leaders Adam Kull (119), Kevin Lynch (140), Frank McLaughlin (145) and Chris Monticchio (171) continued their winning ways, several younger wrestlers prevailed in Saturday’s match. Guys like Ernie Guaimano, Scott Sliker, Andrew DeSanto and Bobby Wolf won bouts to boost the team score.
Lynch started slowly but eventually pinned Bennett Radmovic in 5:39 to give the Raiders a 6-0 lead. The HHS senior was clinging to a 3-1 lead midway through the third period, with Radmovic’s point coming after a pair of stalling warnings. Instead of staying conservative, Lynch became more aggressive and clamped down with a nasty cradle for the fall.
"I tried to lift and turk the whole match," Lynch said. "I finally got it and twisted him into a cradle at the end. I knew I was going to beat him. It was just how I was going to beat him. Once I got him in the cradle, I wasn’t going to let him go."
McLaughlin followed with a 13-2 major decision over Tom Zaborsky. The HHS sophomore wasn’t satisfied but realized that Zaborsky was simply trying to stay off his back.
"He was just trying to prevent my offense instead of doing something," McLaughlin said after giving his team a 10-0 lead.
Senior 152-pounder Joe Ambrose scored a takedown in the first period and it held up for a 3-1 decision against Andrew Wass.
Ridge got on the board at 160 when Greg Scheffier pinned Dale Mathewson at 5:11 in a very entertaining bout. Mathewson trailed early, rallied to an 8-5 lead with a couple of exciting reversals but ran out of gas in the third period.
Monticchio got the points right back for the Raiders by flattening John Lorio in 1:56. The HHS senior, who won the Mount Olive Tournament title to open the season, beat the buzzer with a quick pin.
"I was looking at the clock, I knew it was going to be tight," Monticchio said. "I was going for it at the beginning but he wouldn’t let me get it. When I got him turned over again, I knew I had it tight."
Guaimano, the team’s vastly improved junior 189-pounder, won his fourth straight bout by decking Nick Wilson in 2:26. Guaimano, who rode out the first period with a 2-0 lead, reversed off the bottom and pinned to add six points to enlarge the Raider lead to 25-6.
"In the second period, I felt pretty good on bottom," Guaimano said. "His hips were a little funny on top. Once I got him over, he couldn’t get his hips back and he was done."
Sliker followed by pinning Kyle Franks in 2:32 after the Ridge wrestler had taken a 5-2 lead late in the first period. Sliker reversed and pinned in the second period to make it 31-6.
After HHS heavyweight Mike Trani and Ridge 103-pounder Steve Woodford accepted forfeits, the Raiders went back to work at 112 and 119. DeSanto bolted to a 7-2 lead and held off a late charge to take a 9-6 decision over Carl Kane.
Kull, the county champ, dominated Adam Stager for a 10-0 major. Wolf closed the match in appropriate fashion, escaping Sean McKiernan’s grasp with 13.7 seconds left in double overtime for a 2-1 decision.
"This was a good match to get some of the younger kids a little more confident so they know they can do it," Monticchio said. "We’re definitely tight (as a team). We’re always there for each other."
"They’re making progress each week and that’s all we can ask of them," Molinaro added. "It’s a good group of kids and it’s a credit to them. They work together and they’re easy to keep focused. That’s going to be a factor in their future progress."
The Raiders (2-5) were scheduled to wrestle at Voorhees last night and host Somerset County champion Watchung Hills Saturday afternoon.

