Dawson finishes fourth in first trip
By: Rudy Brandl
FLEMINGTON Frankie McLaughlin and John Mangini took another convincing step toward state wresting championships with impressive title runs in last weekend’s Region 5 Tournament at the Hunterdon Central Fieldhouse in Flemington.
Late Saturday afternoon, the Hillsborough High senior stars repeated as region champs with victories in back-to-back bouts of the finals. McLaughlin (34-1) and Mangini (26-0) traded places from a year ago, each winning at a different weight class.
McLaughlin, who prevailed at 160 last year, captured the 152-pound crown with a 12-4 major decision over Bridgewater-Raritan rival Wayne Hampton. Mangini, last year’s 152-pound region champ, pinned Brian Erdek of Voorhees in 1:26 for the 160-pound title Saturday.
"If you get a kid on his back, you have to pin him," Mangini said. "You really can’t take chances in a match like this. These guys are good enough to come back and beat you, so you have to pin when you get the chance."
Mangini, who improved to 110-8 for his career and 77-3 as a Raider wrestler, worked more moves and went six full minutes to win his first two region bouts. He didn’t waste any time in the finals, spinning around for the first takedown with 1:05 to go in the first period. Mangini used a vicious arm bar to turn Erdek and the official slapped the mat a few seconds later.
"I knew he was a tough kid," said Mangini, who had posted a 9-2 decision over Erdek in a January dual meet. "I was trying to wear him down and push him on top. Then I got the bar in and went for the pin."
McLaughlin, who improved to 101-24 for his career, faced a familiar rival in Saturday’s region final. He anticipated a rematch of the District 18 final against Hampton and got it. Once again, McLaughlin improved on his previous performance against Hampton and posted a major decision.
"It was the same match against Hampton," McLaughlin said. "It gets more difficult each time because they know how to wrestle you. It’s kind of like taking the SATs over and over. My confidence is higher every time and I’ve beaten him by more every time."
McLaughlin shattered the old adage that it’s tough to beat the same opponent three times. He doesn’t believe that necessarily applies to wrestling.
"When you wrestle a kid three times, if you don’t make any mistakes, you shouldn’t lose," McLaughlin said. "It’s not like basketball where you can do everything right but still lose if the other four guys mess up."
McLaughlin was somewhat surprised that the same takedowns worked against Hampton. He used the low single to register three takedowns and mixed in two doubles to score 10 of his 12 points. The other two came on a reversal early in the second that produced a commanding 6-1 lead.
"I hit him with it in the district finals," McLaughlin said. "I didn’t think it would work again today but it did."
Mangini started his run to the title with a 16-6 major decision over Ewing’s Dan Barlow in Friday night’s quarterfinals. He started fast again in Saturday morning’s semifinal round, nearly pinning Hunterdon Central’s J.R. Nettuno early before coasting to a 16-10 decision. Mangini bolted to a 9-2 lead and nearly had Netttuno stacked for a fall early in the third period. Nettuno rallied with two takedowns but couldn’t make up the deficit.
McLaughlin coasted through the first two rounds of the tournament. He put on a takedown clinic in Friday night’s 19-4 technical fall triumph over JFK’s Dustin Rudy. McLaughlin needed 4:19 to take the 15-point lead required to end the bout.
Saturday morning, McLaughlin faced a familiar foe in Bound Brook’s Reggie Perry in a rematch of the Somerset County final. McLaughlin scored three takedowns and three bonus points en route to a 9-2 lead before pinning Perry just before the first-period buzzer in 1:58.
The victory was the 100th of McLaughlin’s fine scholastic career. He joins teammate Mangini (110), Bryan Robinovitz (105) and Andrew Gewain (102) on the HHS century list.
"It’s not really something you think about when you start first come in as a freshman," McLaughlin said. "It’s nice to do it."
Junior 171-pounder Luke Dawson fell one match and two points short of advancing to the NJSIAA finals. Appearing in his first Region 5 tourney, Dawson made an exciting run with two victories Saturday and wound up placing fourth.
Dawson (26-10) locked up in an entertaining, high-scoring duel with Delaware Valley’s Brad Gelegonya in the consolation final. The HHS junior gave up the first takedown but took control of the match with three straight takedowns for a 7-4 lead.
Still leading 9-7 after two periods, Dawson chose the neutral position to start the third. Gelegonya caught Dawson in a throw at the edge of the mat to tie the bout at 9-9 with 1:45 remaining. The Del Val wrestler scored the crucial go-ahead points by putting Dawson to his back with 1:30 left. Dawson avoided the pin but Gelegonya picked up three bonus points with 39 seconds left and held on for a 12-10 decision.
Dawson reached the consolation finals with two impressive decisions in the earlier wrestleback rounds. He posted an 8-2 decision over Bishop Ahr’s Duane Quarles and a 12-6 win over South Brunswick’s Malcolm McQueen to stay alive. Dawson broke a 2-2 tie with six points in the third period vs. Quarles and beat McQueen on his feet.
It’s never easy to recover from a Friday night defeat, but the region format allows wrestlers who lose in the quarterfinals to come back and battle for third place Saturday. Dawson, the seventh seed, shook off Friday night’s 2:57 fall to JFK’s Pete Simon and came back strong Saturday.
"It was disappointing, but I had to regroup for today," Dawson said. "I had to focus and not get caught in any big moves."
Dawson spent the entire tournament battling bigger and heavier foes. Giving up 10 pounds in just about every bout, Dawson nearly advanced to the states. He faced a physical specimen in McQueen but used savvy and superior takedown techniques to win that match.
"I was trying to get low singles and things on his ankles," Dawson said. "I was pretty confident on my feet."
Three more Raiders qualified for the Region 5 Tournament after placing in District 18. Sophomore 215-pounder Max Borisenko made it all the way to Saturday’s final day of region action after posting a 6-3 decision over Edison’s Brian Pascal. Borisenko met eventual champ Roy Dragon of Bridgewater-Raritan in the quarters and was decked in 23 seconds, but he still had a shot Saturday.
Borisenko (18-18) took a 3-2 lead in the first round of wrestlebacks vs. Monroe’s Jake Nale but got caught at the edge of the mat and pinned at 3:40.
Sophomore 135-pounder Will Goddiess (13-19) and senior 140-pounder Chris Ambrose (24-9) made their first appearances on the Region 5 mats and were eliminated in the first round. Goddiess was pinned by Jeff Rotella of West Windsor Plainsboro North in 4:29, while Ambrose dropped a 14-7 decision to Bishop Ahr’s Joe McAuley.
Three of the four Raiders who qualified for the regions but didn’t make the states are eligible to return for at least one more year. Two-time champs McLaughlin and Mangini will go for the gold this weekend in Atlantic City.

