Following a busy Jan. 7 during which they wrestled three matches in two locations, the Howell High School Rebels got back to the business at hand — securing another Shore Conference A North Division championship.
On Jan. 10 in Lincroft, the Rebels dispatched Christian Brothers Academy, 44- 12, to remain undefeated in A North. The Rebels are the only undefeated team in the division.
CBA was expected to be one of the biggest A North hurdles for the Rebels to clear this winter, but after the Colts won three of the first five matches and took a 12- 6 lead, they had no answer for the Rebels’ onslaught.
Howell’s run started at 120 pounds where Jack Rada won by decision, 10-5, and Ben Esposito followed with a 5-1 decision .
Matt Lindemann gave Howell its first lead when he scored a 13-2 major decision at 132. Cole Cameron matched that with a 19-8 major decision and Howell led 20-12.
Howell’s Ashanti Maurice won one of the night’s featured matches, 4-1, over CBA’s Mike Matlaga at 145. Maurice clinched the win with a takedown in the final seconds.
CBA forfeited 152 and 160 to Joey Schults and Zach Bohm, respectively, conceding the match to Howell.
Cody Kirk used a late takedown to win, 5-3, at 170, and Nate Litowsky ended the night on a high note for Howell, winning by pin in 3:38 at 182.
George McCoy (220) and Jimmy Slendorn (106) each won by decision to record Howell’s first six team points.
Howell returned to action on Jan. 11, beating Burlington Township, 51-12, on the road. Jimmy Sisolak (132), Maurice (145), Kirk (170) and Matt Sulkowski (195) all won by pin, while Mike Sisolak (106), Litowsky (182) and McCoy (220) won by technical fall.
The back-to-back wins were the perfect prescription for the Rebels (11-1) following their first loss of the season at Phillipsburg (4-2) on Jan. 7. After 12 dual meets, coach John Gagliano said he believes the 2011-12 team has the potential to be as good as any squad he has had in recent years.
“This team is very balanced,” he said. “We are getting great leadership from our seniors.”
What the Rebels need to do, he said, is to “pull out one of the big matches” like the one at Phillipsburg, where Howell lost its only dual meet of the season, 28-27. Both teams were ranked in the top 10 in the state. “It was a great match,” Gagliano said. “It went back and forth.”
Jan. 7 began for the Rebels with a double dual meet at Central Regional High School in Bayville, where Howell beat Central Regional, 59-10, and Point Pleasant Boro, 42-12.
Then it was time for a bus ride across the state to meet P’burg. The loss to the Stateliners, Gagliano said, proved that “we have work to do.”
Bohm, who is one of the seniors Gagliano referred to as being a leader, said the Phillipsburg loss was a “setback” that was motivating the Rebels to improve themselves.
In addition to the challenge of facing tough competition in the A North division and outside the division, the Rebels are succeeding without the luxury of home matches. During the regular season the team has only three home dual meets, not including the Rebel Classic that Howell hosted to kick off the season in December.
“It’s rough,” Bohm said of being on the road so often. “The seniors … would like to be at home [more].”
Bohm said the Rebels are taking it in stride, however, and have a core group of parents and students who give the team a lot of support on the road.
The Rebels enjoyed a rare home match on Jan. 14 when they won a double-dual against Robbinsville, 56-19, and Northern Burlington, 56-15.
Howell has a big match at Ocean Township High School, another state-ranked opponent, on Jan. 21. Ocean Township has developed quite a rivalry with Howell which started when the Spartans were in the A North division and they dueled with the Rebels for league supremacy.
The Rebels and the Spartans will be wrestling for a high seed in the upcoming Shore Conference Tournament. The winner of the match will likely be seeded in the top four and get a home advantage for the first two rounds of the tournament.
An added home match is something the Rebels’ seniors would relish.
On Jan. 22, Howell’s road tour will take the Rebels to the Rutgers Athletic Center in Piscataway, where they will wrestle David Brearley High School of Union County.
Rutgers (8-1), which is ranked No. 18 in the country and is coached by former Jackson Memorial High School standout wrestler and coach Scott Goodale, will be taking on Navy at 1 p.m. Joey Langel, the last Howell High School grappler to win a state championship, wrestles at 125 pounds for the Scarlet Knights.