PHS wrestles away elusive division title
By Justin Feil, Assistant Sports Editor
Whenever James Verbeyst has a chance, he helps coach middle school wrestlers.
While the Princeton High School sophomore is aiding the future, he is also part of a pretty special group that has made history in the present. Verbeyst scored a major decision at 126 pounds over Jon Bernstein to help PHS top Steinert, 46-30, Saturday and sew up their first Colonial Valley Conference Colonial Division championship in more than 15 years.
”All the hard work we put in together,” Verbeyst said, “it’s all paying off now.”
The Little Tigers had been well aware of how long a drought it had been. The reminder was right there in the gym.
”We have a banner with all the accomplishments,” Verbeyst said. “We know all the years and everything. It was a while ago.”
The Little Tigers were trailing, 12-6, when Verbeyst started a four-bout run that keyed the reversal for PHS. Verbeyst had to get by a tough opponent, and scored a 10-2 major decision.
”We watched my match against him from before,” Verbeyst said. “I wrestled him for a couple years. I was able to capitalize on it.”
Verbeyst could use the match as a measuring stick for how he has developed through the years. He started wrestling when he was 5 in Hopewell, and by 10 he was wrestling with Apache Wrestling, where he continues to train outside of high school. Through the years, he’d met up with Bernstein and he’s seen the results swing.
”It used to be in his favor,” Verbeyst said, “but now the table is turned a little bit and I’m getting the edge on him.”
Patrick Sockler picked up a pin at 132 pounds, Thomas Miers won by forfeit when Steinert bumped up its regular 138-pounder, and Andrew Beamer made them pay when he won by pin at 145 for a 28-12 lead.
”He’s been having a fun year,” Verbeyst said of Beamer, who is a freshman. “I wrestle him a lot in practice, and I wrestle Remington (Herbert, PHS’s outstanding 106-pound freshman). I try to develop him and get him better.”
Victor Bell won by pin in the first period at 182 pounds, Ethan Guerra picked up a win by forfeit at 195, and Noah Ziegler was a winner by pin at 220 pounds for PHS, which improved to 10-11 overall and could celebrate an elusive division title.
”We’ve been close,” said PHS head coach Rashone Johnson, who had not won a title in his 15-year tenure. “We finished second six or seven years. It’s all about timing and the moon and stars lining up for you to be able to make a run at something.
”I have a decent group of kids. Those three guys I have in the middle, the upper weights are coming on strong in the second half of the season, my young guys down low, my freshman 106 ended up coming out and being one of the best in the county. It took some time, but we got the team together as the season progressed. Everyone kept improving.”
The Little Tigers knew their history, but they also started to develop some confidence in their chances to win the division this year. PHS had looked good in a number of CVC matches and felt like a favorite against Steinert as they improved to 7-5 in the CVC.
”We felt pretty confident,” Verbeyst said. “They lost to (West Windsor-Plainsboro High) South and we destroyed South so we felt pretty confident to be able to wrestle in our own gym.”
The Little Tigers are a more balanced team this season than a year ago when Verbeyst broke into the varsity lineup in his freshman year. PHS has experience and some strong additions that have made them a more formidable team this year.
”We’ve become a really well rounded team,” Verbeyst said. “We’ve gotten a lot better at every meet. We were forfeiting a couple weights last year. We had some freshmen come in and put up some points for us.”
Verbeyst benefitted from his experiences a year ago. He went 23-7 in his freshman year, and he’s already ahead of that pace this year at 26-4, including a runner-up finish in the Mercer County Tournament.
”My goals were to be county champ, Secaucus champ and district finalist and region top four and win a Garden State title,” Verbeyst said. He came close at the county, won another Secaucus tournament title and just missed on a Garden State Classic crown.
”It’s been a decent season,” Verbeyst said. “I’m happier than I was last season. I would have liked a county title and the Garden State Classic.”
Verbeyst is looking forward to the start of the district tournament Saturday. Pairings were due out by Thursday, and he could get a high seed in what figures to be a difficult weight class.
”He’s going to be an OK seed, but we have some bears there,” Johnson said. “He’s going to have to beat somebody to get out. There are four tough kids in that weight class. Someone is staying home.”
The top three in each weight class advance to a region tournament. It’s something that is driving Verbeyst as he gets to the championship portion of the season.
”I love to wrestle at the big tournaments,” he said. “They have a different vibe to them. They’re more interesting and more fun. I’ll be excited to wrestle them this coming week.
”I’m just going to go and wrestle whoever I can, as best I can, wherever I can.”
Verbeyst concentrated on improving on his feet for this season. He spent more time wrestling in the offseason than ever, and it has helped him.
”I think he believes in himself more,” Johnson said. “He has more confidence in himself when he goes out there. It’ll be even better for the next two years.”
PHS knows it can rely on Verbeyst, and he was critical to turning the tide against Steinert to set in motion the Little Tigers’ win. PHS needed all of the points it could get to pull away from them.
”Drew Beamer coming through strong like that, that was huge,” Johnson said. “He’s another freshmen. He came through when he needed to come through. That was big. What else was big was Verbeyst getting that major. He almost had him stuck twice. He wrestled his butt off and came through strong. It was a solid performance all-around. A lot of the guys on the team stepped up to do what needed to be done.
”I feel like the team is wrestling solid going into districts,” he added. “Hopefully we’re going to peak at the right time. That’s the goal of the entire season — to get them to peak for the end of the season. There’s a mini peak for counties and then have your best for the end of the season.”