AN AWESOME EVENING

Hopewell Valley comes back on upstart Nottingham in key Mercer match

HOPEWELL — After watching his Hopewell Valley wrestling team rally from an early deficit and win a hardfought match over upand-coming Nottingham, Bulldogs coach “Super” Mario Harpel needed only one word to describe the evening. Awesome. “It was an exciting high school match,” Harpel said after Hopewell Valley’s 31-22 victory last night. “It was crowded, it was loud, and the matches were awesome. I’m proud of Hopewell Valley tonight. That was a good effort. We had to overcome a few challenges. I’m glad to see it done.

“We’ve got a couple guys out of the lineup, but the match is the match; you’ve got to get out there and wrestle. They scrambled in there.”

The Bulldogs (3-1), who gave up a forfeit at 113 pounds, fell behind 12-0 before John dedufour’s decision at 126 started the comeback.

Hopewell Valley won five of the six bouts from 152 through 220 to pull out the victory.

Adam Ames had a big win at 195, getting three backpoints with 20 seconds to go to tie the score at 5-5, then adding two more near-fall points in the final seconds to pull out the triumph and give Hopewell Valley a 25-18 lead.

Mike Markulec’s pin at 220 sealed the deal. It was one of only two pins on the night.

“Ames will go and go and go,” Harpel said. “The tide turned a little; he got a great win.

“Nottingham was in it. It was tough. It was a match. That was a battle for every inch on the mat.”

Nottingham (5-2) got off to a fast start. Josh Magee trailed 5-3 entering the final period but used an escape and takedown with 40 seconds remaining to pull out a one-point victory at 106. After the forfeit at 113, Hector Davila won a decision at 120 as the Swamprats raced to a 12-0 lead.

John dedufour got Hopewell Valley on the scoreboard when he used a takedown to win, 3-1, by sudden victory at 126. Dylan Kalwa followed with a hardfought decision at 132 to cut Nottingham’s advantage in half and Tony Declerico’s decision made it 12-9.

Waleed Abouelela ended the Bulldogs’ run with a 9-5 victory at 145, but Hopewell Valley responded with Luke Palker’s decision and Eric Barbera’s pin.

Before Barbera’s pin at 160 gave Hopewell Valley an 18-15 lead, only once was a wrestler on his back and yielded near-fall points. Jeremy Hunt’s major decision at 170 extended the Bulldogs’ lead to seven points.

“It’s 32 kids in the room,” Harpel said. “They battle every day in the room; there’s a lot of challenges. We had to do a lot of things right to be successful tonight.” Hopewell Valley (3-1) 31

Nottingham (5-2) 22 106-Josh Magee (N) d. Jackson Place, 6-5; 113-Hamzah Mohammed (N) forfeit; 120-Hector Davila (N) d. Brendan Murphy, 3-0; 126-John dedufour (HV) d. Jacob Kouroume, 3-1 (SV); 132-Dylan Kalwa (HV) d. Justin Dempsey, 5-3; 138-Tony Declerico (HV) d. John Pinos, 6-1; 145- Waleed Abouelela (N) d. Sean Kent, 9-5; 152-Luke Palker (HV) d. Sid Massaquoi, 4-1; 160-Eric Barbera (HV) p. Kevin Simon, 0:40; 170-Jeremy Hunt (HV) md. Jared Lavarra, 10-2; 182-Jancel Nunez (N) d. Evan Carlton, 11-4; 195-Adam Ames (HV) d. Kevin Meneus, 7-5; 220-Mike Markulec (HV) p. Hector Comulado, 2:29; 285-Wroway Williams (N) md. Ian Butler, 11-3.