Mangini, McLaughlin roll to third district titles

Returning state place-winners eye region repeats

By: Rudy Brandl
   Last weekend’s District 18 championships served as a nice training exercise for Hillsborough High wrestling stars Frankie McLaughlin and John Mangini, who rolled to their third titles without much opposition.
   Things expect to get more difficult at this week’s Region 5 tournament at Hunterdon Central, where both Raiders will be favored to repeat as champs. McLaughlin (31-1) will be the top seed at 152 pounds, while Mangini (23-0) will be ranked first at 160.
   Hillsborough’s defending region champs are also returning state place-winners. Mangini finished second in the state at 152 last year, while McLaughlin was sixth at 160. Both Raiders have state championship aspirations this year and fully expect to be wrestling on March 4, the final day of action in Atlantic City.
   The road to Atlantic City began last weekend in their home confines at Hillsborough. McLaughlin, who is now 98-24 for his career, wrapped up his third consecutive district crown with a 14-7 decision over second-ranked Wayne Hampton of Bridgewater-Raritan. Mangini, who is now 107-8 overall and 74-3 at Hillsborough, clinched his third district title by pinning Pingry’s Trevor Topf at 1:23.
   "It’s the first step to A.C.," Mangini said. "You’ve got to get through it and try to peak at the right time. I feel good, ready to go."
   Mangini pinned his way to the championship. He decked Manville’s Kevin Sellar at 1:47 in Friday night’s quarterfinals and flattened Bound Brook’s Carcamo Oscar at 3:55 in the Saturday morning semifinals. He worked a few moves and scored takedowns in all three bouts and was never in trouble.
   This weekend, Mangini expects to see an upgrade in competition. As long as he sticks to his plan, Mangini is confident he’ll repeat.
   "I always wrestle hard and try to do what I want to do," Mangini said. "I work hard and try to do the same thing. It’s just a matter of performing."
   McLaughlin also has plenty of reason to feel optimistic about his chances to repeat as region champ. In fact, he wouldn’t be surprised to see a familiar opponent standing in his way.
   "It might be me and Hampton again," McLaughlin said. "I’m pretty confident. I don’t think there’s anybody there who can beat me."
   McLaughlin has been more successful every time he’s faced Hampton the past two years. He won two close decisions (3-2, 4-2) before Saturday’s more lopsided match. McLaughlin decided to win the bout on his feet and used an array of takedowns to score points quickly.
   "I’ve been wrestling him a lot better every time," said McLaughlin, who received a bye in Friday night’s quarters and decked Franklin’s Payton Smith at 1:58 in the semis. "He’s one of the best wrestlers on top and he’s hard to keep down. I hit him really quick off the whistle and took him down. He switched his stance so I wouldn’t be able to get the low single so I mixed it up a little bit after that."
   McLaughlin and Mangini were expected to prevail, but junior 171-pounder Luke Dawson became only the second No. 3 seed to win a district title. Dawson’s 13-8 triumph over Somerville’s James Santamaria completed a Hillsborough hat trick of three consecutive titles for the host school.
   Dawson (24-8) was impressive in his first district tourney (see Athlete of the Week feature), posting a fall and two high-scoring victories to capture the crown. Although seeded third, Dawson considered himself a contender because the field was wide-open. Once Santamaria upset top-ranked Andrew Hampton of Bridgewater, Dawson felt even better because he had already defeated Santamaria.
   "I definitely thought it was possible," Dawson said. "All the other guys didn’t have any district titles or county titles either. I thought my chances were really good."
   McLaughlin, Mangini and Dawson will continue their seasons Friday night in the Region 5 quarterfinals. Winners will move on to Saturday’s semifinals (10 a.m.), while losers will try to work their way back through the consolation bracket. Saturday’s consolation finals are set for 1:30 p.m. with the finals to follow at 3 p.m.
   Three Raiders finished third to earn a trip to the regions – sophomore 135-pounder Will Goddiess, senior 140-pounder Chris Ambrose and sophomore 215-pounder Max Borisenko. All three will be making their first trip to the Region 5 Tournament.
   Goddiess (13-18) accomplished something his twin brother George did last year by pinning Ridge’s Kevin McWhorter in 1:16. Goddiess opened the tourney with a tough 4-0 win over Bernards’ Arlen Mase but was pinned in 3:39 by Bridgewater’s Adam Friedman.
   Ambrose (24-8) continued his great senior year in fitting fashion. He entered the districts on a 14-bout win streak and made it 15 straight before losing to eventual champ Dan Liss of Bridgewater, who was also the last wrestler to beat him. Ambrose battled hard in that semifinal but couldn’t finish his shots and suffered a 7-1 loss.
   The 140-pound weight class was arguably the deepest in the tournament. It included two district champs (Liss, Somerville’s Rob Bolomey) along with Ambrose and Ridge’s Steve Bercik. Ambrose had split two matches this season with Bercik, but won the rubber match by a 7-4 score in the consolation final to advance.
   "I thought of it as the last match of my career," said Ambrose, who opened the tournament with a 10-6 decision over Montgomery’s Abdel Abouhaib. "I wrestled as hard as I could. I have more confidence now and I know what he does. I took it to him."
   Borisenko (17-16) needed two tough victories to move on. He opened with a 7-6 thriller over Somerville’s Josh Sadler but was sent to the third-place bout when B-R’s Roy Dragon posted a fall in 30 seconds.
   The consolation final against Pingry’s Zac Flowerman went back-and-forth before Borisenko prevailed the way he’s done it most of the year – with a big pin. He used a five-point move to take a 9-5 lead late in the second period and pinned Flowerman at 5:00 to earn a spot in Flemington.
   Six Raiders qualified for the Region 5 Tournament, which is half of the number the team entered in the district field. Freshman 119-pounder Matt Millemann finished fourth, while freshman 125-pounder Issac Muck, 130-pounder Jesse DiBlasio, 145-pounder Billy Lopez, freshman 189-pounder Jared Leon and heavyweight Aaron Glenn were eliminated Friday night.
   Lopez nearly pulled off a huge upset but ran out of time with second-ranked Nate Arline of Franklin on his back in an 11-8 loss.
   "All in all, with the youth in our lineup, I’m pretty happy," HHS head coach Steve Molinaro said. "That’s about the number we were looking at. With a break or two, we could’ve gotten a few more guys in there. It’s nice to see the them progress at the end of the season."
   The Raiders just missed finishing third in the team standings. They were only 3.5 points behind Somerville, which also trailed runner-up Bound Brook and champion Bridgewater-Raritan.