HHS advances 4 to Region quarters

Trivisonno, Calamari, Boyle & Amponsa still going

By: Sean Moylan
   After defeating Northern Burlington’s 145-pounder Greg Bauma 7-5 in the District 25 Tournament consolation round at Rancocas Valley on Saturday, Hightstown High boys’ varsity wrestling standout Tommy Boyle was not thinking of himself.
   "It was great to step up for the team and get some points," said Boyle with a smile. "I had an escape and a takedown at the end (to win it)."
   Since his career started as a freshman at Hightstown High School four years ago, Tommy Boyle has always been all about team. But in this past Tuesday night’s opening round of Region VII action, he got a moment all of his own as he beat Collingwood’s Eric Davidson, 6-4, to advance to tonight’s (Friday) Region VII quarterfinals.
   "It was a great win for him. Everything he has done has been through hard work. He’s worked hard for weeks. He’s worked hard for four years and now it is paying off," said Hightstown head coach Mike Russo of Boyle (21-16), who earned the 8th seed and will wrestle Trenton’s Jaaziah Bethea tonight.
   Tim "The Italian Tank" Trivisonno’s 7-1 win over Haddon Township’s Mike Dunn on Tuesday night was hardly a surprise. The Hightstown 125-pounder, who had captured the Mercer County Tournament 130-pound title only weeks before, is considered to be one of the area’s better wrestlers.
   However, Dustin Renelt, a four time District 25 champ, defeated Trivisonno 16-1 in the District 25 championship round on Saturday to force "The Italian Tank" to wrestle this past Tuesday.
   Yet even in a 16-1 loss, Trivisonno was able to make incredible moves to keep Renelt from winning by fall.
   "I just didn’t want to get pinned," added Trivisonno, a warrior who earned the third seed tonight. Trivisonno (32-6) will face Camden Catholic’s Alan Dyer.
   "The seeding is (partially) based on how far you went last year at Regions," Russo added.
   Unfortunately, Tuesday night was the end of the line for Hightstown’s gritty 171-pounder Dan Ratner, who lost a tough 12-7 decison to Eastern’s Cedric Gonnett at Regions.
   "Ratner had a great career. He’s gradually getting better from year to year," noted Russo.
   Previously, Steinert’s Andrew Rubio had tech-falled Ratner, 19-3, in Saturday’s District 25 finals.
   "It was just not my day," said Ratner (26-11) of the match versus Rubio. However, Ratner, ever the great teammate, was one of the first guys on Saturday to congratulate "Cool" Kenny Amponsa (215) and Ricardo Calamari (130) for winning District 25 titles on Saturday.
   Amponsa (36-1) drew the top seed in Region VII and he will battle Willingboro’s Drew Harris tonight. Calamari also earned a great seed tonight.
   Hightstown’s Sean McEvenie (135) lost a 12-2 decision to Lenape’s Drew Williams in the Region VII first round. McEvenie, a former District champ, had previously lost in the District finals to Northern Burlington’s Phil Bowen. Nonetheless, McEvenie, who ended the year with 21 wins, had a great career.
   "We’ve never had four guys wrestling in the Region quarterfinals before," said Russo, who works well with his assistants Roger Weck and Jim Peto. "They (Weck and Peto) do a great job. I thank them for what they do all year long."
   Now let’s see if Hightstown can make a great season a spectacular one.