Naturally there were winners and there were losers when Delaware Valley Regional High School wrestled at Phillipsburg on Friday night in a battle of Top 20 state-ranked teams.
But some of the losers believed they walked away winners after No. 18 Delaware Valley prevailed 31-30 for just its third victory at No. 13 Phillipsburg since 1984.
“I was feeling confident, but I knew it was going to be a tough match because it always is with P’burg,” said Delaware Valley junior 165-pounder Marcus Gary, who contributed to the cause with a second-period fall. “This win means a lot. It is amazing. I’m so happy. This is a big stepping stone for us.”
The Terriers, who cracked the nj.com Top 20 for the first time this week, improved to 12-0 with their first win at Phillipsburg since 2006. It’s also the first time since 2006 that Delaware Valley defeated the Stateliners, North Hunterdon and Hunterdon Central in the same season.
“I told the kids it was just a total team effort tonight,” Delaware Valley coach Andy Fitz said. “I know there’s a difference in having a team that can beat P’burg, but actually doing it and actually getting the job done. Tonight, we did that.”
The match began at 106 pounds, and each team won seven bouts. The Stateliners were missing three starters and were forced to forfeit at 157 and gift the Terriers six points. However, freshman Jack Flynn (3-6), subbing for Zackary Swingle (11-7) at 113, shocked junior Owen Shuey (2-4) when he parlayed a takedown into a pin in 1:06 to negate the forfeit.
Flynn’s victory was an example why Phillipsburg coach Tim Longacre took more positives from Friday’s loss than the 36-28 victory over Watchung Hills on Wednesday.
“We had three starters that were out tonight sick. They’re all sitting home with fevers. We had to manipulate the lineup,” Longacre said. “I am so proud of these kids. We didn’t wrestle very well on Wednesday and we won. I’m happier with the loss than the win because of the way we performed today. With Flynn, it’s not just the throw. It’s that he battled every position, and that’s one of the things we talked about yesterday is battling everything, not giving it up and why we do that. It’s why we wear the ‘P.’”
The Stateliners (4-3) built a 21-11 lead through 150. Sophomore Matt Velez improved to 3-9 with a wild 14-12 win at 132 over senior Julian Bednar (11-5).
Senior Massimo Gonzalez (17-2) held off senior Tye Falkenstein (15-7) at 138. Falkenstein was oh-so-close to securing bout-winning back points in the closing seconds but was denied by the referees. Gonzalez had blanked Falkenstein 6-0 at the Hunterdon/Warren/Sussex Tournament.
Delaware Valley senior Mike Hasson (22-1) and sophomore Mason Hawk (13-5) clashed at 144 in another H/W/S rematch with Hasson prevailing again, 8-3, but unable to collect bonus points.
Then, came the night’s featured bout at 150 — which was a win-win for the wrestlers and the fans. Phillipsburg junior Owen Garriques (18-2) combined a pair of first-period takedowns with a third-period escape and a takedown with 9 seconds remaining to forge a 10-2 major to deal senior Sebastian Dobak (19-2) just his second loss of the season. They did not meet at the H/W/S tourney.
“Good kids want good matches,” Longacre said.
Fitz thought the Stateliners might bump Garriques up to 157 where Hunter Taffera (16-4) accepted the forfeit to close the gap to 21-17.
Gary followed with his pin to give the Terriers their first lead, 23-21, since Vincent Rainey’s decision at 106.
From there, Fitz began manipulating his lineup.
“They won the toss, and they picked the odd (bouts),” Fitz said. “I lost, but I wanted even (bouts) because I wanted the flexibility at 175. So, we got what we wanted. We lost the toss, but we won the toss inadvertently.”
Notice a theme here?
Senior Anthony Brito (4-2) stepped in at 175 so senior Olivier Paul (19-2) could move up to 190. Senior Gavin Geleta (16-2) cradled Brito for the pin in 1:49, and Phillipsburg regained the lead, 27-23.
But not for long. Paul compiled six takedowns and an escape early in the third period to post a 19-4 technical fall over senior Kevin Buonocore (4-9) to throw the advantage back to the Terriers, 28-27.
Junior Matt Sencher (13-6) weighed in at 185 but bumped up to oppose Phillipsburg freshman Ian Jankowski (7-9). Sencher had the 200-pound Jankowski near his back for the match-clinching fall in the first, but somehow the Stateliner survived the period. He even put a scare into the Del Val faithful when he charged back from an 11-3 deficit before losing 11-7.
“He (Jankowski) kept working and working,” Longacre said. “Like 48 hours ago it was a different story when we were in those situations. I’m happy with that tonight.”
The decision gave the Terriers a four-point cushion going into 285 where Phillipsburg senior Ben Ellis (14-4) was a heavy favorite in more ways than one against the Terriers’ regular 215-pounder Luke Cyphert. According to the weight sheets, Ellis weighed in at 243 and Cyphert 208.
Cyphert might’ve been the most surprised person in the gym when he was sent out to meet Ellis in the final bout. He figured it would be classmate Luken Alberdi, Del Val’s regular heavyweight.
“I’ve never wrestled 285, first time in my life,” said Cyphert, who joined the wrestling program as a sophomore at the urging of his pre-engineering teacher (Fitz) and many of his friends. “I was pretty shocked when Coach went over to shake my hand. He walked down the tunnel (of wrestlers) and made contact with me, and I thought, ‘Oh, I’m going in.’ I thought Luken was going in.”
Cyphert knew his mission even without Fitz’s final words of encouragement.
“When Coach shook my hand before the match, he said, “What do you have to do?’ I said, ‘Don’t get pinned.’ We were winning by four. I knew at 285 he wasn’t going to tech fall me. The only way they could win this match is if they pin me. So, in my mind, the guy had 60-70 pounds on me, I’m thinking, ‘Don’t even try to shoot anything that he’s going to drop all his weight on me.’ So, yeah, pretty much stall the entire match and don’t get pinned.”
It turned out Ellis wasn’t trying to just pin Cyphert, he also was trying to pin Alberdi with his power half.
“I wrestle my heavyweight in practice a lot,” said the 6-foot-3 Cyphert who played basketball before turning to wrestling. “He (Alberdi) loves to sink legs in and run the power half. So, I’m practicing that almost every single day in practice. I was extremely prepared for that situation. I honestly think, if I wasn’t wrestling Luken in practice, I would not have been prepared for that moment and I might’ve got caught with it.”
No matter how hard Ellis tried to sink the half, he was unable to turn the stubborn Cyphert who emerged with a “victorious” 2-1 loss.
Weather permitting, Delaware Valley will host Caldwell at 11 a.m., Saturday.
“Beating P’burg doesn’t happen often, and we’re going to enjoy every minute,” Fitz said. “We have a very tough Caldwell team, and I’ve been talking about them since the beginning of the week. We’re going to be happy tonight and get up and be ready to roll tomorrow.”
Phillipsburg wrestles at Rumson-Fair Haven on Monday, hosts Hunterdon Central on Wednesday and concludes the week with a home meet against arch-rival Easton on Saturday night.
Longacre took the big-picture look at Friday’s Skyland Conference cross-divisional defeat.
“I’d go 2-12 if we make a run at a state title,” he said. “It’s all good, it’s all part of the learning process. It doesn’t matter if we win 18 dual meets. These kids want to win a state title. If we have the best schedule we can, which we do, against a lot of tough competition, we’re making ourselves better. All these battles are going to help us down the road.”
