McLaughlin still looking for a match
By: Rudy Brandl
Nobody wanted to wrestle Frankie McLaughlin.
Watchung Hills and Warren Hills came to Hillsborough High for a tri-meet Saturday and neither school produced a wrestler to oppose McLaughlin at 160 pounds. Both opponents could have sent out very talented grapplers but elected to forfeit to McLaughlin, who remained undefeated at 16-0.
McLaughlin, who is now 83-23 for his career at Hillsborough, hasn’t really been tested this winter. Watchung Hills sophomore Brendan Ard and Warren Hills senior Chris Hrunka could have provided some much-needed competition for the Raider star. Hrunka posted a 3-1 decision over Ard in the other match, but neither wrestler faced McLaughlin, who was disappointed to receive two forfeits.
With HHS senior John Mangini sitting out with a knee injury, McLaughlin expected at least one good bout Saturday. Mangini came from behind to defeat Ard by a 5-2 count in the Somerset County championship bout in December. Hrunka was coming off two superb victories against Bridgewater-Raritan’s Wayne Hampton and Brian Erdek of Voorhees, two wrestlers Mangini also defeated within the last week.
There was high anticipation for a Mangini-Ard rematch Saturday. Fans who showed up at HHS also expected to see McLaughlin face Hrunka. Neither bout took place, leaving fans to settle for the Ard-Hrunka battle.
"Frankie wants to get the higher level bouts because he knows it will help him in the postseason," HHS head coach Steve Molinaro said. "We figured he’d get at least one good match today."
HHS won the toss but Watchung Hills opted to forfeit at 160. McLaughlin had weighed in at 152, so he couldn’t move any higher than 160. Ard simply sat out the match.
The Warriors didn’t need him to win the match. They won the first seven bouts from 215 to 130 pounds and rolled to a 54-21 victory.
Hillsborough finally got on the board at 135 when sophomore Will Goddiess held on for a 3-2 decision over Jimmy Huff. Goddiess took control of the bout with a takedown in the first period and wrestled smart the rest of the way.
"That was an important match for Will," Molinaro said. "He wrestled the whole match with a kid he was pretty even with and came through."
Senior 140-pounder Chris Ambrose followed with the first of his two pins on the day. Ambrose flattened Watchung’s Peter Tachnev in 3:10 and later flattened Gerard Pickett of Warren Hills in 5:35.
Junior 152-pounder Luke Dawson also had a good day for the Raiders. Dawson stormed to a 13-1 lead and eventually decked Watchung’s Anthony Rizzo in 3:41. He later posted a 14-5 major decision over Warren Hills’ Matt Artgliere.
Ambrose, Dawson and McLaughlin all went 2-0 and combined for 33 team points in the two matches. McLaughlin posted a 21-5 technical fall against Peter Stapson of Warren Hills.
The Raiders only scored 42 total points, also dropping a 56-21 match to Warren Hills. Three came from the Goddiess decision over Watchung and David Montagna produced the remaining six points by pinning Anthony Gaito of Warren Hills in 5:55.
Hillsborough has dropped 12 straight regular season matches since defeated Conwell Egan (Pa.) in December. Molinaro isn’t looking at the team record to judge progress. He’s got a lineup filled with youth, so he’s looking at individual improvement.
"The young kids are all making progress," Molinaro said. "We just want to do better each match."
Hillsborough won seven of the 12 contested bouts in last week’s 41-26 loss to Voorhees. The two forfeits at 103 and 112 proved costly again.
HHS winners included 125-pounder Isaac Muck (decision), 140-pounder Ambrose (decision), 145-pounder George Goddiess (decision), 152-pounder McLaughlin (technical fall), 160-pounder Mangini (decision), 171-pounder Dawson (technical fall) and 189-pounder Jared Leon (decision).
The Raiders figured to have a shot to end the losing streak at Montgomery Wednesday night.