Paulsboro rebounds by hammering Haddonfield

There were too many points left on the mat in lightweights. There were opportunities missed in more than a few matches.

But, hey, there are worse ways to erase the memory of a thrashing taken two days prior.

After being trounced by Delsea on Wednesday, the Paulsboro wrestling team bounced back with an authoritative, 40-21 win in front of a packed gym Friday night at Haddonfield.

"I was happy with the performance," Paulsboro coach Paul Morina said. "We did a good job regrouping and getting ready for this match. For a young team, it was very nice to see."

The meet opened with a heavyweight bout in which, despite his wrestler taking a 5-3 loss, Morina praised senior Austin Kim's performance, citing it as setting a tone for the night.

"This is his first year wrestling, and I thought he did a nice job," Morina said. "That was good for him."

Paulsboro breezed through the lightweight matches, where the only suspense was whether Haddonfield could hold off bonus points.

Sam Morina earned a major decision at 120 pounds, and Ron Gentile pinned Dave Hessert at 132. But Haddonfield's Jake Klaus, at 113, and Christian Kreps, at 106, earned praise from both coaches for holding off extremely talented opponents - John Gentile and Mickey Claus, respectively - and not allowing bonus points.

"I think our little dudes did their job," Haddonfield first-year coach Bill Heverly said. "And Paulsboro is stacked in the lighter weights. We have some work to do. But I totally expect to keep getting better as the year goes on."

Paulsboro freshman Niko Savaiinaea, at 145, continued a solid start to his high school career with a 5-0 decision over Will Ritchings.

"At practice yesterday, our coaches just told us to wrestle our [butts] off and work hard all three periods," said Savaiinaea, who improved to 5-3. "So we just did what we had to do.

"I was happy with my performance tonight. The kid was tough, but I was able to get the win."

Savaiinaea looked at Paulsboro's win as a sign that the young team is coming together. Paulsboro certainly looked stronger Friday night than it did after Wednesday's 48-27 loss.

"Everybody is coming together," Savaiinaea said. "We're pushing ourselves every day. The young guys, even us freshmen, are starting to pick it up."

Also for Haddonfield, Carson Stack pinned Davontae Randall in 27 seconds in the night's final matchup, at 220 pounds.

The Results

Hwt.: Charlie O'Neil, Haddonfield, dec. Austin Kim, 5-3; 106: Mickey Croce, Paulsboro, pin Christian Kreps, 5:39; 113: John Gentile, Paulsboro, dec. Jake Klaus, 12-5; 120: Sam Morina, Paulsboro, major dec. Nate Finnegan, 9-1; 126: Juan Rivera, Paulsboro, dec. Phil Tenenbaum, 6-1; 132: Ron Gentile, Paulsboro, pin Dave Hessert, 3:08; 138: Cody Croce, Paulsboro, dec. Crawford Oswald, 4-0; 145: Niko Savaiinaea, Paulsboro, dec. Will Ritchings, 5-0; 152: Nick Knauer, Paulsboro, dec. Nate Thompson, 10-8; 160: Mike Silvestro, Paulsboro, dec. Steve Holmes, 3-2; 170: Rob Schlitt, Haddonfield, pin Tyler Adams; 182: Henry Klaus, Haddonfield, won by forfeit; 195: double forfeit; 220: Carson Stack, Haddonfield, pin Davontae Randall, 0:27.