Woodstown goes down to the wire, but falls in South Jersey Group I semifinals; Pennsville falls in sectional quarters
SOUTH JERSEY GROUP I TOURNAMENT
At Woodstown
Audubon 44, Palmyra 25
Woodstown 52, Haddon Twp. 18
Audubon 37, Woodstown 32
At Paulsboro
Paulsboro 70, Pitman 4
Gloucester 60, Pennsville 16
Paulsboro 48, Gloucester 28
Championship match
Wednesday
Audubon at Paulsboro
OTHER MATCHES
Penns Grove 42, Camden 22
Penns Grove 54, Lindenwold 18
Penns Grove 36, Riverside 21
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
WOODSTOWN — In any match, no matter the time of the season ,it’s the little things that can make all the difference between in moving on to the next round of a tournament or going home disappointed. Woodstown didn’t do enough of the little things Monday night.
The Wolverines got to the semifinals of the South Jersey Group I team tournament, but failing to pick up a point here and there in key matches meant the difference in Audubon taking a 37-32 victory to derail their second-half express.
The Wolverines were 2-9 at one point in the season, but rallied in the second half of the year to become the second seed in the sectional team tournament. Five of those early matches came down to the final bout (1-4). Once they turned it around, they had won 10 of their previous 11 entering the tournament.
The Wolverines grabbed a 26-6 lead at the midpoint in the match, winning six of their first seven bouts, but even then they left points on the table. Their fortunes changed when they turned to the lighter weights, opening with back-to-back forfeits and winning only one of the last seven bouts.
The match was decided in the final bout when Audubon junior Tyler Perrozi scored a 10-2 major decision over Laitton Roberts at 144.
“We needed to pin in some areas, where at ’65 and ’75 we had them flat, close to flat, they were almost pinned, we didn’t get it,” Wolverines coach Adam Hyland said. “We get those two pins, we win by one, and we lost by five.
“Those little things are the big differences. We just didn’t come through on those pins tonight. It’s probably happened to us 10 times this year where it came down to the last match. It’s just the way it is. Sometimes you get the bull, sometimes you get the horns.”
The back-to-back forfeits were intended to keep Audubon from building any momentum, but it led the Green Wave to change its strategy and just go best-on-best the rest of the way to chase the points it missed on earlier in the match. The free points became the front end of four straight wins that gave Audubon its first lead of the match, 27-26.
Alex Torres put the Wolverines back on top when pinned Brayden Ervin in the second period at 132.
Torres got in a pickle early in his match, but he quickly turned his fortunes with the help of a headlock he’d been practicing since middle school and got his opponent on his back. It wasn’t long thereafter the Wolverines were back on top 32-27 with two matches remaining.
“When I was about to run out on the mat I was like, ‘This is going to be an important match,’ and it was,” Torres said. “So I ran out there, just giving it my best. It’s about the team at this point and I’ve got to do whatever it takes to help us.
“I had a little trouble when the kid put me to my back but all I was thinking about was I’m not going to give up and that’s when I turned the kid.”
The Green Wave retook the lead with Rocco Noce’s pin at 138, setting up the winner-take-all match at 144.
Angel Hernandez wrestled the 144 match for Woodstown in the quarterfinals, but the Wolverines have been alternating there all season and Hyland sent out Roberts against Audubon because “he does a little bit better job of not getting in danger.” Perrozi was wrestling up from his usual 138, but he was aggressive from the start and scored a dominating 10-2 decision to clinch it.
“I love it,” Perrozi said. “It’s so nervous, but it’s always the best having the last match, just coming down to it. I love the thrill of it and everything. As soon as I got the first takedown it relieved me so much.”
The Green Wave dedicated the victory to heavyweight Jacob Dutill, who spent Monday in the hospital after taking ill Sunday night. His teammates face-timed with him after the match to deliver the news of their victory.
“I was talking to our guys and just said our bullets have to make a bigger bang because we’re shorthanded and we went for it,” Audubon coach John Walsh said.
The Green Wave now faces top-seeded Paulsboro for the South Jersey Group I championship Wednesday.
Woodstown reached the semifinals with a dominating 52-18 win over Haddon Twp. The Wolverines established control with seven straight wins after losing the opening bout and Travis Balback clinched the victory with a decision at 120.
SJ GROUP I QUARTERFINALS
WOODSTOWN 52, HADDON TWP. 18
144: Damian Shepherd (H) pinned Angel Hernandez, 5:22
150: Jayden Donahue (Wo) pinned Jaden Chanthavanh, 5:07
157: Brett Roland (Wo) pinned Antonio Reyes, 0:53
165: Zach Bevis (Wo) maj. dec. over Richard Poblano Benito, 14-5
175: Greyson Hyland (Wo) pinned Joseph Sum, 0:59
190: Bradley Snitcher (Wo) pinned Elijah Borowicz, 1:36
215: Mateo Vinciguerra (Wo) won by forfeit
285: Andre Sinou (Wo) dec. Sean Weikel, 4-3
106: Andrew Marshall (H) pinned Chase Blandino, 1:35
113: Owen Ziegler (H) won by forfeit
120: Travis Balback (Wo) dec. Thomas Andrews, 5-3
126: Carson Bradway (Wo) dec. Blake Thoder, 9-2
132: Alex Torres (Wo) pinned Brady Monoid, 2:00
138: Willem Groom (Wo) dec. Jake Andrews, 4-2
GLOUCESTER 60, PENNSVILLE 16
285: Jeremy Smith (G) pinned Trevor Waddington, 2:54
106: Kloi Tighe (G) pinned Gina Shinn, 0:47
113: Josh Quinones (G) pinned Lucas Thomas, 1:08
120: Christopher Daniels (P) pinned Edgar Morales, 2:44
126: Mason Johnson (G) pinned Kameron Drummond, 5:09
132: John Pfeffer (G) dec. Ayden Perez, 6-1
138: Travis Hagan (P) pinned Greg Harris, 2:21
144: Harry Ulmer (G) pinned Joseph Maurer, 3:20
150: Ashton Wall (G) dec. Sky Eppes, 1-0
157: Robbie McDade (P) maj. dec. over Collin Morrell, 9-1
165: Jacob Zearfoss (G) pinned Cole Campbell, 1:50
175: Jason Chiodi (G) pinned Connor Ayers, 2:48
190: Kaleb Wright (G) pinned Elias Lussi, 2:55
215: Jaden Thompson (G) pinned Daniel Emmons, 4:33
SJ GROUP I SEMIFINALS
AUDUBON 37, WOODSTOWN 32
150: Jayden Donahue (Wo) dec. Giovanni Patti, 7-4
157: Brett Rowand (Wo) won by forfeit
165: Zach Bevis (Wo) maj. dec. over David Borodziuk, 13-1
175: Greyson Hyland (Wo) maj. dec. over Gabriel McCracken, 9-1
190: Christian Burton (A) pinned Bradley Snitcher, 0:32
215: Andre Sinou (Wo) pinned Syncere Faulk, 0:59
285: Mateo Vinciguerra (Wo) dec. Sam Myers, 6-1
106: Rocco Monteferrante (A) won by forfeit
113: Nicholas Sassany (A) won by forfeit
120: Lucas Stinger (A) dec. Travis Balback, 11-5
126: Blaise LaFrance (A) pinned Carson Bradway, 2:40
132: Alex Torres (Wo) pinned Brayden Ervin, 2:54
138: Rocco Noce (A) pinned Willem Groom, 1:53
144: Tyler Perrozi (A) maj. dec. over Laitton Roberts, 10-2
Riverview Sports News 