Delaware Valley 50, Point Pleasant Borough 15 – Central Group 2 wrestling semifinal – Rapid Recap
Del Val senior Connor Mills opened the match with a pin in 43 seconds at 132 pounds to set the tone — and the Terriers put the pedal to the medal from there to roll to an easy postseason triumph. Delaware Valley, the No. 1 seed in the section, won the first eight bouts for a 35-0 lead over the fourth-seeded Panthers and thrill the usual boisterous home crowd at Hutchins Gym Wednesday night.
Mills’ fall electrified the gym, got the Del Val student section “The Dawgpound” going and let the visitors know they faced an even longer match after an 85-mile bus ride to reach Alexandria Twp.
“It’s always important to get off to a good start,” Mills said. “I wanted to get the momentum, the tempo, the pace, everything going our way early. I did my best to start it and it kept rolling from there.”
The triumph moves Delaware Valley into the Central Group 2 final Friday night (7) where they will host No. 2 seed Raritan, who defeated No. 3 seed Voorhees 42-27 Wednesday. The two programs have become frequent rivals at this time of year.
The Terriers (20-3), who won their 749th match in program history, scored bonus points in five of those first eight wins via falls from Mills, senior Chase Bauberger (160) and junior Kyle Lightner (195) and major decisions from seniors Matt Kolonia (138) and Sean Lessig (170). After the Panthers (13-6) got on the board, Del Val got falls from senior Dylan Uderman (106) and, to close the match the same way it started, from freshman Gage Crater at 126 pounds.
“Point Pleasant Beach is a good program; they came to our Wendy Pandy-Leh Tournament in December and a lot of championships and medals,” Del Val coach Andy Fitz said. “It was important to start off well against them and continue it through the night like we did.”
Turning point: When the seeding came out? Seriously, the Panthers never had a chance. And we really need eight teams in sectionals? Sometimes four seems too many. But, having to pick, Del Val senior Tanner McLaughlin’s 5-3 decision at 152 over John Duggan pretty much told the visitors from the Shore the way this one was going to go early. The Terriers took four of the five bouts won by decision.
Top performer: Lightner tied the school single-season dual-meet pin record at 13 with his flattening of Billy Borowsky in 5:38. The Panther made Lightner, ranked No. 1 in the region at 195 by lehighvalleylive, work for the fall with some delaying tactics but the Terrier stayed patient and was not be denied.
What it means: The Terriers take one more step to their first state group title since 1999. They will host #2 seed and longtime rival Raritan for the sectional title Friday, with the winner moving on to the group championships Sunday at Toms River North. “We are not looking past Friday,” Fitz said. Del Val looks fully recovered from last week’s flop at Hunterdon Central and ready to peak at the right time.
Brad Wilson may be reached at bwilson@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @bradwsports. Find Lehigh Valley high school sports on Facebook.
Our editors found this article on this site using Google and regenerated it for our readers.