Start peaking in February and hit your stride in March.
That’s the plan.
The Warren Hills Regional High School wrestling team began that ascent plan Wednesday night in Alexandria Township by defeating Passaic Valley 46-15 in the NJSIAA North 2 Group 3 semifinals.
“We preach every year peaking this time of the year,” Warren Hills head coach Jarrett Hosbach said. “Being hot out in December and January only carries so much weight. We want to be hot at the end of the season. I think we’re doing some of our best wrestling right now.”
The win earns the Streaks a rematch with top-seeded Cranford, a 60-10 winner over No. 5 seed Nutley in the other semifinal match, at 7 p.m. Friday in the sectional title match.
“The goal every year is win a sectional championship,” senior 152-pounder Rashon Wade Taylor said. “We’ve been taking one match at a time, now we can focus on Friday and Cranford.”
Cranford (19-0), ranked No. 4 by the New Jersey Wrestling Writer’s Association, beat Warren Hills 48-21 back on Jan. 28.
“We didn’t get the outcome we wanted (against Cranford) two weeks ago,” said Wade Taylor, who won a 13-5 major decision Wednesday over Greg Fellanto. “But we’ll be ready on Friday.”
Wade Taylor (17-13) dominated Fellanto on his feet, taking down the Hornets senior six times with a flurry of athleticism and quickness.
“Rashon has come a long way in the couple years he’s been wrestling,” Hosbach said. “And he continues to improve every time he goes out there. That’s what we ask of our guys.”
The Blue Streaks (15-8), who’ll be seeking their sixth sectional title and first since 2007, got solid performances up and down the lineup.
None bigger than that from freshman Nick Hildebrandt at 160.
Hildebrandt (4-8) used a big second period to defeat PV senior Hunter Fortier 7-4 in a bout the Hornets figured to be favored in.
“Nick’s a hard worker,” Hosbach said. “He works hard every day and he a kid that’s going to have a great future. He had a big win tonight.”
After a scoreless first period, Hildebrandt took a brief 1-0 lead with an escape to start the second.
Fornier (15-6) came around for a takedown to go up 2-1.
That lead was short lived as well as Hildebrandt reversed Fornier and turned him for three backs points and a 6-2 lead after 2.
The Streaks senior would give up another takedown in the third, but was able to hold on for the win, making it an 18-0 match after five bouts.
“Once I got the lead, I didn’t want to try anything that would put me in trouble and he could catch me,” Hildebrandt said. “I knew he needed something big to beat me at that point.”
The lead would balloon to 36-0 before Passaic Valley got on the scoreboard with Tom Marretta’s 3-1 decision over Brody Oberly at 220.
Oberly looked sharp in defeat, pushing the Hornets state qualifier for the entire six minutes.
Matt Valli (27-4) got things started for the Streaks with an 18-3 technical fall over Logan Rodriguez in the first bout of the match at 132.
Zach Nauta followed that up with by pinning Luke Geleta in 27 seconds at 138. Just like that, the Streaks led 11-0.
Jarod Ostir (170) and Nick Galka (182) also scored falls and Taylan Zafis (285) won a major decision, while Kyle Wulff fought off a nasty headlock to post a 7-5 overtime decision over Greg Sabbak at 120.
“I thought we came out well tonight,” Hosbach said. “I thought we had a drive to us. I thought we wrestled with a little emotion and heart tonight. And you saw the results.”
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