Lawrence’s Dallarda making most of his senior season
LAWRENCE » As was totally expected, undefeated Robbinsville (6-0) continued to roll along Tuesday by beating Lawrence, 55-24, in a match in which it won all but two of the bouts that were actually wrestled on the mat.
As was also expected, one guy the Ravens had no answer for was Lawrence 160-pounder Jake Dallarda, who raised his record to 5-0 when he used a half nelson to pin his foe in a time of 1:22 after the Cardinals had fallen behind, 46-0.
With his victory Dallarda is now 5-0 with four pins and a win by forfeit. As a sophomore, Dallarda won 24 bouts. Last year he really made a name for himself by going 36-5, capturing a district title and coming up one win short at regions of advancing to states. He was also second at the Mercer County Tournament where he wrestled up a weight at 170 pounds.
The lone Lawrence wrestler who appears headed to regions, Dallarda certainly looks primed and ready to make the most out of his senior season.
“I don’t just want to go to states,’’ said Dallarda. “I want to place at that tournament and be on the medal stand. I have the ability to do it. It’s a matter of being on that day and executing.’’
Watching Dallarda wrestle is fun. He’s not about trying to out slick his opponent. Rather, he wrestles with an aggressive, physical approach and leaves no doubt he is hunting for six.
Should he pull off a big postseason, making it even more impressive will be the fact he really doesn’t have any workout partners in the Lawrence wrestling room who are on his level.
Despite the graduation of Conner Verga, it didn’t look like it was originally going to be that way as Lawrence had three other middleweights who all had at least 21 wins set to come back for this season. For whatever reason they did not, leaving Dallarda to carry on as best he could.
“My workout partner was Verga, but nothing has really changed,’’ said Dallarda. “In the past it was about trying to improve. Now it’s more about execution. I know what I have, so it’s just about going out and doing it.’’
No matter what happens this year, it’s not going to the end of Dallarda’s wrestling career. While the New York University wrestling program is currently at the top of his potential destinations for next year, Muhlenberg and Ursinus are also among the colleges in
the picture.
“I think a Division III atmosphere is a good fit for me,’’ he said. “I’m trying to balance wrestling and academics. Anyone of those three would be great for me.’’
In addition to Dallarda’s pin at 160, Lawrence also got a first-period fall from Antonio Pirone at 195. Robbinsville got pins from Cole Cifrodelli (145), Lakshay Khanna (152) and Nick Migliaccio (182) as it continues to prepare for next week’s showdown with