WrestlingSeveral Lawrence High School wrestlers saw their seasons end at the Region V Championships this past week, but not before posting some impressive showings.
By: Mike Molaro
Senior Dale Emde, seeded fourth at 160, defeated Dan Miller of Hillsborough, 8-6, in last Friday’s Region V qualifying round after trailing, 5-4, entering the third period.
Emde, who finished third in District 17, pinned Spotswood’s Jason Mar in 3:59 in the quarterfinals before losing to top-seeded and eventual Region V champion Anthony Cavico of Bishop Ahr, 5-2, in the semifinals.
The Cardinal senior ended his Lawrence career at 19-11 when he fell to Mike Wojcik, 7-3, in the second round of the consolations.
Cardinal coach Chris Lynne credited Emde’s win over Miller to his experience, as well as his preparation.
"Dale (Emde) was a little better than Miller and that’s all it took," Lynne said. "I knew that with all his experience he could do it.
"The Bishop Ahr coach gave us ‘the book’ on Mar. He tires in the third period but builds up big leads in the first two periods. The key to beating Mar is staying close to him for two periods. Dale is not a pinner, but Mar relaxed for a second and Dale took advantage of it.
Lynne said Emde had nothing to be ashamed of in his loss to Cavico.
"Dale wrestled well against Cavico and the score (5-2) was as close as it sounds," Lynne said. "Cavico is the only wrestler to beat Mike (Savino) this year, and Dale did a great job staying with him."
Lynne appreciates all Emde has done for the Cardinals this season.
"I’m happy for Dale," Lynne added. "He has taken some lumps for the team this year. To finish his career the way he did was nice. Dale is a very competitive person and he probably doesn’t see it that way. There are a lot of guys who finished the year with 20 wins who would trade those to go as far as Dale did this year.
"He had a great season and a great career."
Junior Evan Kontos, the Mercer County champ at 112 and second in District 17, ended his season with a record of 22-8 when he fell to North Brunswick’s Chris Bellavia, 7-1, in the Region V qualifying round.
"Evan made some technical mistakes, but he knows what he did wrong and he’ll learn from them," added Lynne. "He’ll be back next year and he’ll want to improve on what he did this year. Evan understands what he has to do and how hard he has to work."
Freshman Mark Savino, second in District 17 at 119, was defeated by Kyle Poulsen of Piscataway, 10-3, in the Region V qualifying round and finished at 25-5.
"Mark has the technical ability; he needs more strength," Lynne said. "Mark is on track to do as well as or better than his brother (Mike). Mark has a great attitude. He has the mental makeup to do that. He’s five victories ahead of Mike after one year, although we wrestled less matches back then."