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01/20 - 12:00 AM Wrestling Final Phillipsburg 26 Easton (PA) 28
Easton 28, Phillipsburg 26 – Independent wrestling -- Rapid Recap
The Rovers put on a classic display of timely, smart and savvy wrestling to outlast their fierce archrivals in front of a very big and very loud crowd at a rocking Easton Area Middle School gym Saturday night.
The Rovers (7-1) won the final two bouts behind junior Tyler Pellechia at 195 and Jacob Frank at 220 to erase a Stateliner (6-2) lead and take the 81st meeting. Easton leads the all-time series 64-17.
Earlier, Easton freshman Evan Gleason, who won the Brad Weaver Memorial Award as the Most Outstanding Wrestler of the Meet, had delivered a 7-4 win at 113 pounds over senior Cullen Day in a key spot. Gleason scored three back points with five seconds left in the second period to take control.
Easton denied Phillipsburg bonus points at key spots and gained them at key spots such as 152, where freshman Isaiah Reinert won a 10-0 major over junior Jayson Zinsmeister and won the Most Aggressive Wrestler Award presented by the Easton Lions Club.
The match opened at 285 pounds where Easton senior Jonathan Pineda surged late in the match to post a 20-7 major decision over Phillipsburg senior Patrick Sharpe. Pineda' athleticism and aggressiveness made a big difference but the Rovers may have thought they'd gain six points via a fall.
A fall is precisely what the Stateliners needed and got at 106 where freshman Logan Maczko decked Easton frosh Alex Cameron in 2:49.
The Rovers revived quickly at 113 though where Gleason came up big. Travis Jonesanswered a pin for Phillipsburg before the match entered tossup country at 126 and 138 sandwiched around Rover sophomore Jonathan Miers' tech fall at 132, and Rovers Brett Scalzo (120) and Blake Daniel (138) delivered clutch decisions in tight bout.
Phillipsburg got a major decision at 145 from Cody Harrison, but Reinert's resounding major at 152 erased any momentum the Stateliners got from that and held Easton's lead at 22-16.
The Stateliners won the next three bouts, Brian Meyer 11-1 at 160, Lance Wissing9-3 at 170 and Austin Roth 3-0 at 182 to take a 26-22 lead with two bouts to go.
At 195, Phillipsburg senior Shamyr Brodders scored the first takedown and led 4-3 into the third period. But Brodders took neutral for the third period, perhaps fearing Pellechia's extra weight (five pounds) and so when Pellechia scored a takedown with 35 seconds left he led 5-4 and was able to ride Brodders out and pull the Rovers within one at 26-25.
Pellechia's win kept Easton in the match -- had Brodders won it Phillipsburg would have clinched -- and Frank triumphed 3-1 at 220 to give the Rovers the win, set off wild celebrations on the Easton side and drape a black curtain of gloom over the Stateliners.
Turning point: When Phillipsburg got just two bonus points from three of its top wrestlers right through the middle – Harrison (138), Meyer (160) and Wissing (170). Easton's Mason Werkheiser, Gaven Krazer and Dominic Falcone, respectively, wrestled terrific defensive performances to keep the Rovers in the match.
Top Phillipsburg performer: Junior Travis Jones at 120 who gave his team just what it needed with a fall in 1:47. In big spots Jones delivers.
Top Easton performer: Gleason, to be sure. Pellechia, another. among many to pick from. Rovers had lots of athletes come up big.
What it means: Big-time bragging rights. A perfectly-timed emotional surge into the postseason for the Rovers. A lot of Easton's less experienced athletes may well have grown up Saturday night. For the Stateliners, they will rue so many missed chances to put the meet away en route to a brutal, demoralizing defeat. They'll need to bounce back quickly with North Hunterdon ahead next week.
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