By: centraljersey.com
Princeton High School heavyweight Nick Gillette had no problems motivating himself for Wednesday’s wrestling match against Sean Henry and Notre Dame.
Gillette had lost last season to Henry, and the Little Tigers junior was focused on returning the favor.
"Once the match came," Gillette said, "it was revenge time."
Gillette pinned Henry with one second left in the second period to finish off the Little Tigers’ 47-26 win at Notre Dame.
"I think it was a pretty big win," Gillette said. "Notre Dame is a pretty good team throughout their lineup. It was a pretty big win for us.
"I think we can get better. This is a pretty good start, but we’re still working. We still have a long way to go before we can call ourselves champs."
The Little Tigers will take their 3-0 record to the mats Saturday to take on Hopewell Valley, Lawrence and Voorhees.
"Saturday is the real deal," said PHS head coach Rashone Johnson. "There isn’t going to be that (easy) match. Those teams are going to be looking at us to have the easier match against, and I welcome that.
"We’re going in there to bang. It’s going to be a good day. We’re going to see where we are. All the work has been for Saturday. That’s your mid-season mark to see where you are."
So far, it’s been quite a promising start for Gillette and the Little Tigers. PHS forfeited at 103 pounds to Notre Dame, then took the next six weight classes. Ian Snyder and Tim Miranda pinned their opponents at 112 and 119 respectively, and Matthew Wong, Alex Charwin and John Marsh followed with wins, Marsh’s by major decision. Damian Freeman pinned his opponent in under a minute for a big PHS lead before Notre Dame won four of the next five bouts to make it interesting. After Frank Bozich pinned his opponent, the outcome was not in doubt, but Gillette still had something prove.
"I knew we were going to win," he said, "but there was some pressure."
Gillette, who also throws the javelin and shot put for the PHS spring track and field team, won just five matches last season and was winless as a freshman. This season, he has gone 4-1, including a second-place finish in the Patriot Invitational Tournament at Secaucus High, while making a big jump. Gillette has come in a different wrestler.
"Confidence," Johnson said. "It’s one word. He came into the season with a different sense of confidence with some of the offseason work he did."
Johnson knows first-hand where he got that confidence. Gillette spent the offseason wrestling his PHS coaches.
"I’ve been practicing with Coach Johnson a lot and wrestling a lot of our coaches and having them help me," he said. "It’s tough. I challenge them. Our challenges turn into a practice type thing. Me wrestling them pretty much turns into me learning something new."
Gillette has learned well and progressed as much as any wrestler in the area. He didn’t even make it out of the first round of the Mercer County Tournament last year, but credits his improvement to his offseason keys.
Explained Gillette: "Practice. Hard work. Conditioning."
They helped to develop him into a more complete wrestler. Notre Dame found out first-hand what a difference a year makes in the final match of the night.
"There’s so much I’ve learned," Gillette said, "so much Coach Johnson has taught me. My conditioning really came into play."
Gillette’s increased confidence mirrors that of the Little Tigers. After disposing of Nottingham, they earned another dual meet win against an Irish team that’s been tough for them to top.
"It feels good to get a monkey off our back," Johnson said. "Notre Dame, in the last eight years, I might have beat them once. They went on that run where they had a good team. They got us at the end of matches a couple times. We finally got it in our favor."
Gillette is happy to see that his efforts in the offseason are paying off for him and the team.
"I think I’ve been doing pretty well," he said. "I’m wrestling a lot better than I thought I would."
The Little Tigers, too, may be starting to surprise some teams, but they aren’t shocking themselves. Wednesday they had a good win, but it was one they were confident could come.
"It’s good. The guys have been working really hard," Johnson said. "And the work is starting to pay off.
"I think each match we’re getting better, we’re learning. Each match, you have to get better and learn from every experience out there. If we keep that kind of mentality, we should be all right his season. It shouldn’t be a surprise the amount of success we have."
Johnson actually came into this season expecting the sort of solid start that he has seen.

