Top S.J. grapplers advance on Day 1 of states

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. - South Jersey's top competitors have advanced to Saturday's quarterfinal round of the NJSIAA state individual wrestling tournament at Boardwalk Hall.

Last year's state runners-up, Willingboro's Tyler Scotton and James Green, won their bouts at 135 and 145 pounds, respectively, Friday night to move onward.

Eastern's Rob Deutsch (119), Camden Catholic's T.J. Miller (135), and Williamstown's C.J. Cobb (145), all of whom placed third in the tournament last season, also advanced.

Quarterfinals are scheduled to start at 10 a.m., wrestlebacks at noon, semifinals at 5 p.m. and wrestlebacks at 7.

Second- and third-place finishers in each of the eight regions had to wrestle in a preliminary round Friday, while the region champions such as Scotton sat out with byes before competing in prequarterfinal bouts.

Green was warming up for the 145-pound bout when his friend, Scotton, took the mat against Rutherford junior John Boyle at 135. And Scotton was still wrestling when Green squared off against Ocean City senior Daniel Pettit.

Scotton's bout went to an ultimate tiebreaker period with the score tied, 2-2. Then the Willingboro senior escaped for a 3-2 victory.

"The last time I was in an ultimate tiebreaker was sophomore year in the quarterfinals," said Scotton, whose record is 31-1. "I couldn't get up [and lost].

"It felt good to win [Friday]. I was a little nervous because it was a double elimination match. It was my first match.

"My conditioning is [such] that I feel better than I did at the beginning of the year. I think it helped me going into the ultimate overtime. I want to keep the momentum going."

Scotton stuck around to congratulate Green, who won by technical fall in 4 minutes, 22 seconds over Pettit.

The victory improved Green's record to 26-0, and it eased the pain of a bloody nose.

"I always [seem to] have a bloody nose," Green said. "I felt real strong. My weight's not a problem, my confidence is good, I can go six minutes plus, and I have three [bouts] to go."

A four-time district and region champion, Deutsch appears to have the best chance of any area wrestler to win a gold medal.

"I'm glad it was a full match," Deutsch said after he won a 5-3 decision over Delbarton sophomore Nick Anderson to improve to 39-0. "I'm glad I [cleared] out my lungs.

"I always felt that I was in control. Now I have three more to go."

That would be the quarterfinal, semifinal and final.

At 135, Miller, a senior, led South Plainfield sophomore Scott DelVecchio, 3-0, after two periods and earned a 3-1 decision.

"It feels really good getting the first one out of the way," Miller said. "Hopefully, I have three more left. I knew he was hard to score on, so I knew that if I got the first takedown I'd be in good shape."

Miller got the takedown in the first period for a 2-0 lead.

"Last year, I was so nervous looking at all these people, but this year, I knew what to expect," Miller added.

Cobb (34-1) edged Middletown South junior Nick Herring, 3-2, for the win at 145. The senior said he wasn't surprised that the score was so close.

"It was a tight but good match," Cobb said. "It's better to get the butterflies out now. He was a very good wrestler, long and strong."

Cherokee senior Ben Fanjoy, who won, 2-0, over Governor Livingston's Pat Eichner at 160, reflected the sentiments of so many other preliminary-round wrestlers who were keenly aware that a loss meant a hasty exit from the tournament.

"My conditioning was affected," Fanjoy said. "You lose and you're done is part of it. I was tired and nervous. It feels good to get by."

Fanjoy, who lost in his first bout at Boardwalk Hall last year, improved to 38-1.