Haddonfield tops W. Deptford in Colonial clash

Kris Rahn was giving up 51 pounds.

But the Haddonfield senior heavyweight used his experience and know-how to score a dramatic pin of West Deptford's Jamil Pollard and spark the Bulldogs to a 47-17 victory over the Eagles on Wednesday night in a Colonial Conference clash of two of South Jersey's best wrestling teams.

Haddonfield (9-0) received one-point victories from Nate Finnegan at 103, Rob Schlitt at 160, and Sam Haley at 171, as well as pins from Kyle Klaus at 112, Kevin Gregorio at 130, Whitten Oswald at 135, Bill Dengler at 145, Carson Stack at 215, and Rahn.

West Deptford (2-1) had leads of 4-0 and 8-6 after major decisions by Drew Spector at 140 and James Shields at 160, but Haddonfield won the next seven bouts - three by pin, three by one-point decision - to silence the visiting crowd and stun the defending South Jersey Group 2 champions.

"Everything went our way," said Rahn, who improved his record to 10-3. "It couldn't have worked out any better."

Klaus' pin pushed the Bulldogs' lead to 35-8 and clinched the match.

It was some scene in Haddonfield's old gym: A capacity-plus crowd, chanting student sections, and coaching staffs leaping off the bench at every turn in the action.

"We lost some toss-up matches," West Deptford coach John Craig said. "It's a long season. We've got to put this in the rear-view and get better from here."

Haddonfield received a big lift from Schlitt, a junior who earned a dramatic, 9-8 victory over Sean Bonner in a matchup of talented wrestlers at 160 pounds.

Bonner scored a reversal with five seconds remaining in the match to tie the score, 8-8. But Schlitt escaped with the clock winking under 0:01 to secure the victory.

Late lightning struck again for the Bulldogs in the next match. This time, Haddonfield's Sam Haley escaped from Rory Bonner, Sean's younger brother, with just 23 seconds remaining to secure a 3-2 victory.

Joe Testa earned another victory in a toss-up match for Haddonfield, scoring an 18-12 decision at 189 pounds, and Nate Finnegan came through in the same way with a 5-4 victory for the Bulldogs at 103 pounds.

"We said we had to win the toss-up matches, and our guys came through," Haddonfield coach Pete DiPol said.

Haddonfield also scored big with pins, and none was more dramatic than Rahn's victory at heavyweight.

Rahn, who weighed in at 212 pounds, was taken down twice by the 263-pound Pollard in the match's first minute.

But the Haddonfield athlete used a quick takedown and pinned Pollard, a star football lineman but an inexperienced wrestler, just 1 minute, 11 seconds into the match.

"I was rushing at first," Rahn said. "He's a big, strong kid, a good athlete. I needed to go for his legs. I used a sweep single and then went right to a half."

Haddonfield 47, W. Deptford 17

140: Drew Spector, WD, major dec. Chris Dengler, 14-2. 145: Bill Dengler, H, pin Dan Eckley, 1:16. 152: James Shields, WD, major dec. Logan Vielehr, 9-0. 160: Rob Schlitt, H, dec. Sean Bonner, 9-8. 171: Sam Haley, H, dec. Rory Bonner, 3-2. 189: Joe Testa, H, dec. Frank Willerton, 18-12. 215: Carson Stack, H, pin Brian Snow, 4:34. 285: Kris Rahn, H, pin Jamil Pollard, 1:11. 103: Nate Finnegan, H, dec. Dustin Zuzulock, 5-4; 112: Kyle Klaus, H, pin Tyler Kaminski, 3:47; 119: Evan Zuzulock, WD, pin Asher Weinstein, 4:46. 125: Christian Terinoni, WD, dec. Bill Ritchings, 3-2. 130: Kevin Gregorio, H, pin Josh Gilliano, 3:46. 135: Whitten Oswald, H, pin Scott Dennis, 3:43.