Being out of position in a few bouts transformed what could have been a relatively smooth victory into a near shocker when the Cranford High School wrestling team hosted the Governor Livingston Highlanders on January 31. The Highlanders dropped a few wrestlers to a lower weight classes, got themselves into the right positions to capitalize on three of those bouts and even pulled off a shocker but came up just short to the Cougars, 37-36.

Despite having a power failure just before the match, there were absolutely no shockers in the first six bouts of the match that began in the 157-lb class. Cougar Dylan Jones immediately tore into Tucker Gilsenan with a double-leg takedown and converted it to a three-point nearfall. Jones released Gilsenan and followed with a double-leg lifting takedown. After releasing him again, Jones engineered a single-leg takedown and followed up with a tight waist/half nelson to pin Gilsenan in 1:50.

At 165-lbs, Highlander Cristian Gioia was expected to win big and did when he recorded a takedown and a pair of four-point nearfalls on Owen Woodruff in the first period then used a step over and smother maneuver to pin him in 2:24 to knot the team score, 6-6. The Highlanders opted not to show opponents for the next two slated bouts, so forfeits went to the Cougars – Joey Acinapura (175-lbs), Jordan Chapman (190-lbs).

The Highlanders brought out NJSIAA qualifier Nate Faxon at 215lbs and he quickly pinned Jake Ulicki with a cradle in 21 seconds. But Cougar heavyweight Louis Kurk answered with a 22-second fall via cradle over Saigo Rucinski-Taniyama to make the team score, 24-12.

The intensity of the bouts would drastically change beginning at the 106-lb class. Highlander Lucas Villanueva pulled off a slip behind

More photos at goleader.com Ballyhoo Sports takedown on freshman DJ Torsone in the first period. Torsone, however, punished Villanueva from the top position for the entire second period, while yielding nothing. Torsone then cashed in big time with a double-leg tackle to kickoff the third period. After releasing Villanueva, Torsone came through with a backdoor takedown then added a two-point nearfall seconds before the buzzer to claim an 8-4 decision.

The 113-lb bout turned out to be an episode of bizarre out of positioning. Highlander Brandon McGuire, who dropped down from 120-lbs, recorded a takedown on Declan McKittrick, who answered with a reversal but was riding out of position and yielded a reversal and a nearfall. McKittrick added a reversal in the second period but lost position once again to yield another reversal and nearfall. Then in the third period, McGuire added another reversal and pinned McKittrick with a headlock in 4:51 to cut the Cranford lead to 27-18.

Next came a bout between two talented wrestlers at 120-lbs. Three time Union County Tournament (UCT) Champion Mike Daly took Highlander Eduardo Ribero to the mat with a takedown. In the second period, Daly escaped and followed with a lift-and-trip takedown for a 70 lead. Ribeiro escaped in the third period and received a penalty point then Daly added a counter spin takedown to grab a 10-2, majority decision for a 31-18 team lead.

“That was a good match for him,” Coach Gorman said of Torrsone. “I tried to get the head-to-head to help us for regions because they are in our region, so some of them went our way, some of them didn’t. But Torsone, that’s a good win for him as a freshman, beating someone who got some accolades going into the postseason. He should be proud of himself for all the hard work he does. Him and Daly! Daly had a good match.”

Cougar Ryder Connors had all he could handle against Brandon Rayack, the UCT 126-lb champ, who took him to the mat in the first period with a takedown. Connors escaped in the second period but Rayack added a reversal and a penalty point in the third period to earn a 6-1 decision.

Highlander Cyr Ryan faced Logan Murray at 132-lbs and began with a lift-and-trip takedown. After adding a two-point tilt, Murray managed to escape then escaped again in the second period. Ryan came back with a driving single-leg trip then Murray escaped. No scoring occurred in the third period and Ryan won, 8-3.

Positioning meant a lot in the 138lb bout between Cougar Brandon DiPaolo and Henrique Ribeiro. DiPaolo pulled off a neat barrel roll takedown. Ribeiro escaped but DiPaolo took a 6-1 lead with a singleleg trip takedown. However things went south for DiPaolo when Ribeiro baffled him with a standing Granby roll that he converted to a four-point nearfall to take a 7-6 lead. Ribeiro came up with another standing Granby in the second period then added a double-leg takedown early in the third period. DiPaolo escaped but Ribeiro totally caught him off-guard with a Julio roll to record the fall in 5:55 and to narrow Cranford’s lead to 31-30.

At 144-lbs, Cougar Eoghan O’Hara went to work on Tom DiNorscio with a slick arm drag takedown. In the second period, he added a reversal then in the third period, O’Hara added an arm bar/walkover to pin DiNoriscio in 5:32 to give the Cougars a 37-30 lead entering the final bout.

The shocker of the evening was on tap at 150-lbs. Three-time UCT champ LukeScholzwasbusinessasusualwhen he quickly recorded a takedown on Vince Capone. Scholz released him and added a second takedown. As situations appeared to be running smoothly, Capone caught Scholz out of position, reversed him and pinned him in 1:46.

Coach Gorman commented, “It was an odd night. Like the power was out. It’s just like we weren’t able to get into our rhythm. You got to figure it out. That’s part of the game. Everything doesn’t always fall into place. You got to fight, you got to scrap and you got to figure it out. So I’m glad we got out of there with a win but we need to clean some things up.”

BOUT SEQUENCE: 157: — Jones C p Gilsenan 1:50 165: — Gioia GL p Woodruff 3:24 175: — Acinapura won forfeit 190: — Chapman C won forfeit 215: — Faxon GL p Ulicki :21 285: — Kruk C p Rucunski :22 106: — Torsone C d Villanueva 8-4 113: — McGuire GL p McKittrick 4:51 120: — Daly C md Ribeiro 10-2 126: — Rayack GL d Connors 6-1 132: — Ryan GL d Murray 8-3 138: — Ribeiro GL p DiPaolo 5:55 144: — O’Hara C p DiNorscio 5:32 150: — Capone GL p Scholz 1:46