LAWRENCE: Lynne gets 200th win as wrestling coach

By Rudy Brandl, The Packet Group
   The second 100 wins might have come quicker than the first 100, but Lawrence High head wrestling coach Chris Lynne has worked hard for every one of them.
   Lynne reached the special milestone of 200 career coaching victories last Thursday night at Hamilton West when the Cardinals posted a 43-36 victory. It was a tight match that included a few strategic twists, the perfect scenario for a crafty veteran like Lynne.
   When he first took over the LHS wrestling program in 1987, there were some humble times and lean years. Twenty-three years later, Lynne takes great pride in the program he has developed.
   ”The first 100 wins took me 14 years and the next 100 took me nine, so that shows you how fast this program has grown,” Lynne said. “By those numbers, we should get the next 100 in about four years.”
   What makes 100 wins in four years most unlikely is Lawrence’s challenging schedule. Lynne knew he didn’t have one of his top teams this year, but he still beefed up the competition to help his individual wrestlers improve. That goes back to a valuable lesson he learned from former Hamilton coach Ralph DiLiebro.
   ”He told me you don’t get better by wrestling average to below average schools,” Lynne said. “You learn by wrestling good competition. If you get your butt kicked, it doesn’t matter. You have to get your kids used to tough competition.”
   This year’s Cardinals have been hardened by facing the likes of Hunterdon Central, Hillsborough and Delaware Valley. Taking a few lumps against those schools made a match like last Thursday’s seem much easier.
   Senior captain Sean Pearson, also the team’s leading wrestler this season, won the all-important coin flip that allowed the Cards to control the matchups. Lynne wanted to be sure Pearson and sophomore 130-pounder Tommy O’Rourke were able to produce points against opponents and not via forfeit.
   ”If we lost the toss, they could move away from Sean and Tommy,” Lynne said. “Once that happens, they control the matchups. I needed them to put the man on the mat against Sean and Tommy. We spent an hour and a half going over the different scenarios.”
   Pearson opened the match with a pin at 171 pounds, Brad Hector won by forfeit at 189 and Lee Wing Zhou decked his man at 215 to give the Cards an 18-0 start. Hamilton fought back with a forfeit at heavyweight and pins at 103, 112 and 119 and a forfeit at 125 to take a 24-18 lead.
   Freshman Ben Kraun delivered the debut performance of the year with his pin of Juddah Flowers in 39 seconds at 130 pounds. Lynne gambled and bumped O’Rourke to 135, leaving a freshman in a tough spot.
   ”A pin in under a minute in your first varsity match – you can’t come up bigger than that,” Lynne said.
   O’Rourke gave the Cardinals the lead with a 6-0 decision and 140-pounder Ian Wolf continued the momentum with a 14-2 major. The Cardinals still needed one more victory in the final two bouts to clinch it and junior 152-pounder Gerrayl Bryson provided it. Fittingly, Bryson used the trademark cradle that Lynne teaches and put away Dillon Kelly at the 1:00 mark.
   ”Yeah, Gerrayl finished it with a cradle,” Lynne said with a laugh. “We changed our whole philosophy to go for cradles. It’s a great equalizer.”
   Lynne’s 200th win came almost exactly nine years later than when he hit the century mark. The Cardinals beat North Brunswick in the final regular season match of the 1999-2000 season for No. 100. Nine years later, Lawrence won another road match in the last match before the District 17 Tournament.
   Much has happened in Lawrence wrestling history since Lynne took over the program 23 years ago. Lynne’s greatest moment came in 2004 when Mark Savino became the first Mercer County wrestler to capture a state championship. Savino ranks first on the school’s all-time victory list with 115.
   Savino’s younger brother, Mike, finished his outstanding career with 105 wins. Both Savino boys are two-time state place-winners. Doug Mazzoni was the first Lawrence wrestler to place at the state level when he took seventh in 1989.
   Lawrence has produced 10 district champions, 45 region qualifiers, four region champions and 15 state qualifiers. Mike Savino became the school’s first Region 5 champ in 2001 before Mark Savino won consecutive Region 5 crowns in 2003 and 2004. Adam Oliszewski captured a Region 5 title in 2005.
   The Cardinals have won four CVC titles and two Mercer County championships under Lynne’s watch. The Cards captured back-to-back county team titles in 2003 and 2004, starting a three-year run during which they went 12-for-12 in the finals to crown a dozen individual champs.
   Lynne credited longtime assistant varsity coach Jeff Berga, who’s been working with him for the past 13 years.
   ”Jeff and I make a great team,” said Lynne, who also cited assistants Neal Amato and Matt Friedeborn. “Every since he joined me, we’ve gotten really good. He’s a good technician, a good teacher.”
   Lawrence has come a long way since Lynne’s first victory over Jamesburg Correctional Institute in 1987. Lynne didn’t enjoy his first winning season until 1994, but Lawrence has finished over .500 in 13 of the last 16 years.
   The Cardinals have appeared in the sectional team playoffs 10 times and own two post-season victories. Lawrence has won county and conference titles, crowned district and region champs and proudly boast the county’s only state wrestling champion in history.
   ”When I started here I had five kids who knew how to wrestle,” Lynne said. “It’s taken a long time to develop. There was no middle school program, nothing back then. It took 10 years to get a middle school program. I had to start from scratch every year. Now, we’ve built up a good middle school program and a good feeder system. We’re starting off with more numbers every year.”