LAWRENCE: Lawrence wrestlers showing steady progress

By Rudy Brandl, The Packet Group
   The Lawrence High wrestling team fully expects to continue improving as it prepares to tackle the meat of its season in January.
   Veteran head coach Chris Lynne has already seen great progress since the opening tournament. Lawrence didn’t fare too well at the Garden State Classic in Princeton on Dec. 20 but the team came back strong and finished 11th in a huge field of 18 teams at the East Brunswick Bear Invitational over the holidays.
   The East Brunswick tourney was a much better experience for the Cardinals on many levels. They faced some top-notch competition from within their own region. Wrestlers who were eliminated got a chance to compete in a consolation bracket. It was nine long hours of wrestling with 18 teams battling on four mats and Lawrence went home with three medals.
   ”We made huge strides over that first tournament,” Lynne said. “It was a beautifully-run tournament and it was great competition for the kids. A lot of the kids were able to come back and do well in the wrestle-backs. The kids are wrestling better. They’re making strides.”
   Sean Pearson finished second at 171 pounds for the team’s highest individual placement. The top-seeded Pearson, still competing up a weight class, was leading in the finals but got caught by Billy Youngblood of Bernards at 3:25.
   ”The size caught up to Sean,” Lynne said. “He wrestled three tough bouts and the kids kept getting bigger and stronger. He was winning the (final) match but got caught in an arm bar and couldn’t get out of it.”
   Pearson built a 4-1 lead with two takedowns in the first period but got reversed and pinned midway through the second. He pinned Montgomery’s Will Bacon in 5:09 and beat North Brunswick’s Ben Caturano in a 3-1 decision to reach the championship round.
   Lynne expects Pearson to be down at his regular 160-pound weight by Saturday’s quad meet at Hillsborough with Ridge and Bridgewater-Raritan.
   Tommy O’Rourke (130) and Ian Wolf (145) battled back from quarterfinal losses to finish 3-1 on the day to claim fifth-place medals. Heavyweight Glen Friedeborn split his four bouts with two pins to finish sixth. John Fleming also split his four bouts at 215 to take sixth place. Freshman Justin Scott (135) made a nice recovery from his first-round loss to go 2-1 in the tourney.
   The Cardinals won 18 bouts in the tournament, which was won by Bishop Ahr of Edison.
   ”All the kids were wrestling better,” Lynne said. “We’re still getting people where they should be. By Saturday, it should be where we want to be.”
   The Cardinals will get very busy on the dual meet scene this week with four matches on tap. They were set to battle a tough Robbinsville squad Wednesday night before heading up to Hillsborough to meet three Somerset County squads.
   Lawrence dropped its only dual meet of the season at Notre Dame on Dec. 23. The Cardinals squandered a few opportunities and Notre Dame took advantage in a 43-36 triumph.
   ”We let one get away,” Lynne said. “They’re kind of in the same boat as we are. We lost the coin flip so they could move away from Tommy O’Rourke and Sean Pearson. That killed us.”
   Notre Dame forfeited to Pearson at 171 and bumped up its big men, who came through with three consecutive falls to produce a 36-24 lead with four bouts remaining.
   ”They moved their guys up and we were out of position,” Lynne said. “It threw everything off, but we still should have won it.”
   Lawrence was still alive when the match reached 112 pounds but Joey Stevens gave up four points in the waning seconds and dropped a 9-7 decision. Even a Stevens decision would have left Lawrence one-point short on the team scoreboard, but the visitors had other chances.
   Another key swing came at 140 where Notre Dame’s Bryan Foley pinned Pat Reven at 5:35. Reven had a lead in the third period, so that was a potential nine-point swing.
   O’Rourke started the match with a 53-second pin at 130. Wolf also provided a 36-second fall at 145, while Gerrayl Bryson won by default at 152. Pearson and 103-pounder Dei Corrales accepted forfeits and 125-pounder Tom Yeager closed the match with a fall at 3:54.
   The busy month of January begins with four matches this week and continues with many big battles, including a Jan. 21 showdown at Hopewell Valley. The Mercer County Tournament is set for Jan. 30-31.