Hillsborough wrestlers top Montgomery on the mat

Six members of the Hillsborough High School wrestling team recorded a pin in the team’s 54-15 road victory over Skyland Conference rival Montgomery High School on March 23 to improve to 2-2 on the season.

Having a shorthanded lineup going into the bout against the Cougars, Hillsborough wrestling Coach Roy Dragon was impressed with how his wrestlers competed on the mat to win the match.

“We won a lot of matches in the third period,” said Dragon on the victory. “We stress pushing the pace and scoring late points. In a short season, it’s hard to get into shape, but the kids have done a good job on their own and in the room to start the season and that showed in our win (tonight).”

Hillsborough took the first two matches by decision to gain an early 6-0 lead. 126-pounder Alex Villa rallied back from a 4-0 deficit in the second bout of the night for the Raiders.

Villa racked up four points in the third period to force overtime and then scored a takedown in the first overtime period on Montgomery’s Josiah Vardman to win the match by a 6-4 decision.

Hillsborough won three out of the next four bouts by pinfall, watching Ryan Oram (132), Peter Quandt (152), and Joseph Witcoski (160) all pin their opponents to the mat to go up 24-6.

Witcoski is one Hillsborough wrestler that Dragon believes has a good shot to make it into the super region tournament this year as does 126-pounder Cole Psemeneki, who went 30-4 last season.

106-pounder Christopher Spinelli is another wrestler that Dragon has been very impressed by this season and believes has a shot at regions and the state tournament.

Spinelli wrestled at 113 pounds during the match against Montgomery and pinned his opponent in 39 seconds.

Hillsborough got back-to-back pins by 182-pounder Daniel Guerrero-Nieto and 195-pounder Jack Miller.

Guerrero-Nieto got a headlock on Montgomery’s Elhadji Diara right from the get-go and scored a pin in 43 seconds for the victory.

As a senior, Guerrero-Nieto knows that every match he gets this season is a “blessing” and that he is treasuring every moment he gets on the mat.

“So much stuff is unpredictable nowadays and any match can be your last,” Guerrero-Nieto said. “I treasure every moment on the mat and every moment in practice.”

Miller came out on top in a tough battle against Sean Golubitsky at 195.

Starting on bottom to begin the third period, Miller was able to pull a reversal on Golubitsky and drive his shoulders to the mat for his second pin of the season.

“It felt pretty good to push through the adversity and get the win,” Miller said. “I didn’t wrestle my best match, but I feel it was good that I was able to come back and win.”

Colin Mandell (106) and Ryan Nussbaum (285) won each of their matches by forfeit for the Raiders. 120-pounder Brett Lockburner hung on for a 10-7 decision for Hillsborough in the first match of the night.

Before the start of the dual meet, Montgomery honored senior Alex Abrahamsen with a Senior Night tribute.

Abrahamsen would win his bout at 170 pounds for the Cougars via an injury forfeit after Hillsborough’s Luke Donnadio dislocated his left elbow during the second period of the match.

Shabbir Ali (145) won by forfeit for Montgomery, while 220-pounder Andre Soumeillant continued his nice start to the season for the Cougars with a 5-2 decision over Christian Quandt to improve to 3-1 on the season.

The loss to Hillsborough drops Montgomery’s record to 0-4 to begin the season.

Both Hillsborough and Montgomery are scheduled to return to action on March 25.

Wanting his wrestlers to get as many matches as they can before the end of the regular season, Dragon keeps telling his guys every day to “control what they can control” on and off the mat to give themselves the best chance to wrestle.

“This season is all about getting the kids matches to give them some sense of normalcy and letting them go out there and compete,” Dragon said. “We want to get as many matches as we can. We want all the kids to have individual success.”