MANVILLE: Young wrestlers finish year strongly

    Manville wrestlers came into the Raritan Valley Wrestling League tournament on Sunday, Feb. 26, with no big expectations. But they left knowing next year’s season will be a good one.
    In the ‘A’ Tournament Gavin Potts came up big by finishing his league season undefeated.
    Gavin started off with a dominating win in the 77-pound bracket. After taking a 7-0 lead Gavin pinned his first opponent.
    In his toughest match Gavin took an early 2-0 lead but, after a penalty point and then getting reversed, Gavin was down, 3-2. Starting the third period Gavin was down, 4-2. After escaping to make it 4-3, Gavin gained a takedown and a 5-4 win.
    In the finals, for the third time of the day, Gavin had the first takedown for an early 2-0 lead. Gavin put his opponent to his back to take a 5-0 lead and win the title by that score.
    Timmy Whitenight, wrestling at 50 pounds, was seeded fifth. Wrestling the fourth seed, Timmy and his opponent battled back and forth. After an escape tied the score at 6-6 in the third period, they headed to overtime. Tim took his opponent down for an exciting 8-6 overtime victory.
    In his second match, facing the top seed, Tim had to wrestle his best match. He did just that. With the help of three takedowns, he won this match, 9-5, to get into the finals and receive the silver medal to go into next year with high hopes.
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Dylan Whitenight, wrestling at heavyweight, had the third seed. Dylan dominated his first match while pinning to get into the semifinals. With another dominating performance, 19-2, Dylan made it to the finals and took the silver medal in his weight class.
    Ethan Burlew took his first match at 57 pounds to get into the semis by way of a pin. Ethan took fourth place at his weight. Jack Lombardino had a win in the 73-pound bracket to take fourth place at his weight.
    In the ‘B’ tournament the wrestlers did a great job.
    Justin Petti had a win in his first match and took fourth at his weight.
    Jacob Reilly showed how far he had come with the silver medal. With a pin in his first match Jacob went into the semifinals. There he dominated his opponent, 9-2, to get into the finals and wind up with the silver medal.
    Alex Starzynski won his first match with a quick pin and captured a fourth-place medal. Danny Lyons recorded a 12-1 decision in his first league tournament. Brian Moyer won his first match and went on to take a third place with a 5-1 win in his consolation bout.
    Tore Lombardino with a pin in his first bout and took home the silver medal with an exciting overtime victory.
    With so little starting experience, the coaches had these kids ready. They wrestled their butts off all year and served notice that this will be a team to reckon with in the coming years.