Talented Howell makes quick work of Allentown
ALLENTOWN » It was a lot like watching an aircraft carrier battle a leaking canoe.
The only question prior to Thursday night’s wrestling match between Howell and Allentown was whether the Shore Conference team would shut the Redbirds out.
As it turned out Howell came close, but in the end settled for a 68-6 victory after Allentown won an overtime decision at one weight and beat a back-up Rebel wrestler in another.
Almost certainly headed for a showdown against The Trentonian’s topranked Hunterdon Central (10-0) in the Central Jersey Group V sectionals next month, Howell (13-0) is even stronger than last year when it won a group state championship.
Some of the traditional Shore Conference powerhouses may be down at the moment, but that’s certainly not the case for a team ranked No. 3 in the state by The Trentonian.
“We have a strong feeder (Predator Club) and I think the best coaching staff around,” said Howell coach John Gagliano after watching his team make short work of Mitch Nock’s Redbirds. “All my coaches are in the room working with these kids every day.”
Among those coaches, of course, is Rich Gildner, the former head man at Robbinsville and a state champion at Southern. Also on the Rebel staff are Howell state champion Joey Langel, Division III All-American Todd Going, and former college wrestlers Pete Reilly and Robby Neil. Chris Provow and Jay Brandl round out Gagliano’s array of assistants.
“Our kids are really buying into it,” said Gagliano. “It’s all about continuing to work and keep improving.”
Allentown’s first win was at 120 where Joey Lamparelli beat Jerry Lleshi by the score of 7-5 in overtime. Lleshi almost won the bout with a single leg takedown late in the third period, but Lamparelli was able to fight him off. The Allentown sophomore then won it in the first OT with a takedown off a scramble.
Also prevailing for the Redbirds was Nolan Peddie at 160 with a 6-0 victory. Every other bout was com- pletely one-sided in Howell’s favor.
Not that it would have made much of a difference, but Allentown (11-5) was not at full strength. Among its missing wrestlers was 170-pounder Liam McDermott, who is out with (ALLE) over Jake Nase (HOWE) (Dec 6-0) Howell assistant wrestling coach Rich Gildner, the former head coach at Robbinsville, is one of the key assistants on the team’s staff. an arm injury, but is expected to be back for next week’s key Colonial Valley Conference match against Hopewell Valley.
As for Howell, look for it to continue on its merry way as it prepares for a rematch from last year’s group final where it beat Hunterdon Central in a one-point thriller.
“Hunterdon Central is a tough team; we know that,” said Gagliano, whose team will also host defending Group III state champion South Plainfield next week.
Howell 68, Allentown 6
285: Jacob Wurtz (HOWE) over (ALLE) (For.) 106: Jesse Liptzin (HOWE) over Sebastiano Nini (ALLE) (Fall 2:29) 113: Ethan Liptzin (HOWE) over Kolin O‘Grady (ALLE) (Fall 2:32) 120: Joseph Lamparelli (ALLE) over Jerry Lleshi (HOWE) (SV-1 7-5) 126: Darby Diedrich (HOWE) over Gino Giacolona (ALLE) (Fall 1:01) 132: Luke Rada (HOWE) over Nicholas Golden (ALLE) (MD 9-0) 138: Kyle Slendorn (HOWE) over Mattew Paglia (ALLE) (Fall 2:52) 145: Daniel Esposito (HOWE) over Drew Romein (ALLE) (MD 13-5) 152: Paul Jakub (HOWE) over Anthony Heinz (ALLE) (Fall 3:09) 160: Nolan Pecci 170: Evan Richard (HOWE) over Jared Carpenito (ALLE) (Fall 3:19) 182: Shane Reitsma (HOWE) over Ryan Myers (ALLE) (Fall 1:30) 195: Christian Murphy (HOWE) over Daniel Schweitzer (ALLE) (Fall 2:14) 220: Joe Sardina (HOWE) over (ALLE) (For.)
OTHER MATCHES
Hightstown crushed cross-street rival Peddie behind first period pins from Logan Farish, Christian Charache, Kether Thornton, William Garzon, Alex Stavrou, Lucas Marino and John Andre.
Hightstown 64, Peddie 12
106: Suraj Mukkamala (PEDD) over Robert Fattore (HIGH) (Fall 1:24) 113: Logan Farish (HIGH) over Youcef Soltani (PEDD) (Fall 0:19) 120: Christian Charache (HIGH) over Neil Dange (PEDD) (Fall 2:51) 126: Kether Thornton (HIGH) over Cameron Smith (PEDD) (Fall 0:49) 132: Jadyn Childs (HIGH) over Colin King (PEDD) (Fall 5:07) 138: William Garzon (HIGH) over Evander Fortenbaugh (PEDD) (Fall 1:33) 145: Alex Stavrou (HIGH) over Andrew DePasquale (PEDD) (Fall 0:36) 152: Lucas Marino (HIGH) over Jackson Cook (PEDD) (Fall 0:56) 160: Isaac Marino (HIGH) over Christos Katsifis (PEDD) (Fall 2:29) 170: Pierce Schweitzer (HIGH) over Kabir Mohan (PEDD) (Fall 5:15) 182: Juan Ordonez (HIGH) over Gabriel Garcia (PEDD) (MD 14-4) 195: Marc Rust (PEDD) over Jose Rosales (HIGH) (Fall 2:48) 220: Johnny Andre (HIGH) over Anthony Testa (PEDD) (Fall 1:34) 285: Double Forfeit