Ken Weingartner

By: centraljersey.com
Chris Lynne cannot predict what will happen in this weekend’s Mercer County Tournament, but he’s not without an opinion.
"It’ll be interesting, I’ll tell you that," he said.
The Lawrence High coach is most likely safe with that assertion. In a season in which it seems nearly every dual meet comes down to the final bout, there could be a slew of schools with the chance to have at least one individual champion crowned in the MCT finals Saturday at Robbinsville High.
Lynne counts the Cardinals in that group.
"It all depends who is at each weight class," Lynne said. "It all depends on everybody else. My guys aren’t moving. We don’t have the depth to move people around. But they’ll be ready to go."
Lawrence, which entered this week with a 4-5 record and was scheduled to face Robbinsville Wednesday, could do well in the MCT.
Tommy O’Rourke, who was the MCT runner-up at 145 pounds last season, is 9-1 with his only setback coming against nemesis Ray Bethea of Trenton. Bethea upended O’Rourke, 7-5, in last year’s MCT as O’Rourke just missed scoring a reversal at the final buzzer.
O’Rourke already has one tourney title to his credit this season having won at 152 in the season-opening Garden State Classic.
Freshman Mike Jennings also has a title. He won the 130-pound weight class at the East Brunswick Tournament during the holidays. Jennings is 13-2 this season, with his losses coming against Washington Township’s Charlie Huff and Princeton’s Damian Freeman. Huff placed fifth in the state last year and Freeman was a win from advancing to states.
Jennings’ classmate Gordon Wolf finished second at 112 at the East Brunswick tourney. Wolf is 14-2 this season and has a win over Princeton’s Ian Snyder, who was a district runner-up last year at 103.
"You can have three big winners – three guys in the finals – and score some points to make a difference," Lynne said. "The question is what can the other guys do in the wrestlebacks?"
The Cardinals’ potential for points doesn’t end with the aforementioned trio.
Freshman Gavin Schenek is 9-6 with six consecutive wins at 103 and Justin Scott is 12-4 while splitting time between 152 and 160. Ben Kraun is 7-5 with five wins in a row at 135/140.
"We could score some points," Lynne said. "We probably have better tournament wrestlers than a dual-meet team right now. We’ll find out."
Robbinsville won last year’s MCT over two-time defending champion Hopewell Valley.
Six champions return from last season (with last season’s weight): Robbinsville’s David Bossie (103) and Jared Icenhower (119), Ewing’s Josh Garzio (130), Allentown’s Sam Shonk (140) and Ross Scheuerman (160) and Trenton’s Bethea.
Also returning are five second-place finishers, including Hamilton’s undefeated 112-pounder Jared Staub, and five third-place finishers.
BACKPOINTS: Last week, Lawrence beat North Brunswick and dropped duals to Hightstown and Steinert. Schenek, Wolf, Jennings and O’Rourke posted three victories for the Cardinals. Kraun went 2-for-2.