Warriors Fall to Hillsborough in Tough Tournament Match

One match changed everything for Warriors head coach Dan Smith, and not for the better.

Even after retooling the lineup late in the match, Watchung Hills (5-8) fell at the hands of Hillsborough (8-11) on Monday night in the first round of the state tournament by a score of 35-31.

“189—even if we don’t win it, giving up six really hurt us there," the Warrior head coach said. "That was a big swing match, probably the biggest one of them all.  We ended up shuffling the lineup at the end because of that. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have taken the chance that we did.”

That 189 matchup featured Alex Fornelos of Watchung and Tom Cellamore of Hillsborough. Down 3-2 with just seconds remaining, Fornelos extended himself for a takedown but didn’t connect and Cellamore made him pay, taking him to the mat and earning a pinfall with just 32 seconds left, making the lead 20-12 for the Raiders.

That match forced Smith to bump up his last two wrestlers to a higher weight class; Anthony DiRosa to 125 and Matt Coppola to 130.

Watchung came into that 125 matchup down 29-27 and needed more than just a regular decision, so they could have some breathing room for the 130 matchup.  Hillsborough’s Shane Oryniak gave Hillsborough a huge boost going into that final match, as he avoided a pinfall over the last 20 seconds. DiRosa had him in a prone position over that span, inches away from a pinfall. 

But Oryniak held out and although lost his match 10-1, he kept his team close, as Watchung’s lead was only 31-29 going into the final match.

“I had to get a pin. My team really needed it,” Anthony DiRosa said. “If I had gotten a pin, Matt [Coppola] would have fought it out and not gotten pinned.  We would have won the match. We had more pins than them, so we would have gotten them on pinfall criteria.”

With Watchung up two points going into the final match, Matt Coppola of Watchung couldn’t hold off Hillsborough’s Mackey Price. Price dominated from the start, going up 6-2 in the first period and closing out the second period up 12-2.  With time ticking down in the third period, Price scored a pinfall, triumphantly ending the match for the Raiders.

“We were missing a guy tonight and they had a guy that wasn’t in the lineup last time," Smith said. "Their best guy ... at 145 [TJ Guidice]. I knew it was going to be a lot closer this time around."

The match started at the 135 weight class with Mike Caver of Hillsborough against Craig McInerney of Watchung. After one period, McInerney fell behind 10-2. But over the next two periods, Caver outscored McInerney by a count of 5-2 and had to settle for just a major decision, putting the Raiders up 4-0 early on.

In the 140-pound weight class, Rhys Weinberger of the Raiders could not gain a single point against Watchung’s Mike DiVito and fell by decision, 5-0. At the 145 level, TJ Guidice scored a pinfall on Watchung’s Matt Mandel just a minute into the second period, making the Raiders' lead 10-3.

At the 152 weight class, the Raiders were on the opposite side of a pinfall as Matt McLaughlin was pinned by Chris Gardner for the Warriors in the second period, closing the Raider lead to 10-9. 

In the 160 bout, Hillsborough’s Tyler Workman and Watchung’s Kyle Murray battled to the final seconds.  After a period, Workman led by a slim 2-1 mark thanks to a takedown. In the second period, Murray worked his way back with an escape and take down of his own, putting himself up 4-3. Then the wild third period would unfold, as Workman scored a reversal on Murray, putting himself in the lead at 5-4.  Then an escape by Murray made it 5-5 with 45 seconds left. 

And with the clock running down, Murray took down Workman with 12 seconds left, and held on for the decision, and put Watchung on top 12-10.

At 171, Brian Campanale of the Raiders battled Mike Caroccia of Watchung.  Campanale scored a pair of 5-0 periods, thanks to a pair of takedowns and full backpoints. In the third period, Campanale earned an escape and takedown, but could get no more points as he major decisioned Caroccia by a mark of 13-0, making it 14-12 Hillsborough.

After the 189 battle, the 215 matchup saw Andrew Roessner of Hillsborough pinned a minute into the match by Watchung’s Anthony Carbajal, bringing Watchung to within 20-18. The Raiders fell behind 24-20 as they forfeited the Heavyweight matchup.

The 103 matchup was a tight one, as Hillsborough’s Deric Winston edged Watchung’s Alex Pollera by a 1-0 margin. With no scoring in the first period, Winston scored an escape in the second period and held on the rest of the way for the decision, closing the Watchung lead to 24-23.

At 112, Hillsborough’s Adam LaBracio fell to Watchung’s Mike Magaldo by a 6-0 mark, making it a 27-23 lead for the Warriors. In the 119 bout, Joey DiCarlo scored a pinfall for the Raiders about a minute into the second period over Watchung’s David Mupo, making it 29-27 Hillsborough with just two matches to go.

Smith was left to ponder what could have happened if the 189 match went differently.

“DiRosa probably gives DiCarlo a good match and Coppola could have majored or more with that kid [at 125]," he said. "I thought whoever we put out there at 130 would probably get pinned.  189 really changed the match."

Despite the loss, Smith was proud of some of the guys that he put in tough matchups.

“You almost hate to tell a kid, ‘Listen, we want you to go out there and not give up major points,’" Smith said. "I know they want to win … Caroccia ... we fed him so we could put him at 171 today. He weighed 151 this morning—he had to weigh in over 155, so he was eating all day. He fought real tough.

“McInerney not giving up a pin ... Mupo bumped up to 119 against one of the best kids in the county," Smith said. "They fought. We put them in a situation where they were definitely outmatched.”

Despite being out of states, the wrestling team is still looking forward to a lot more competition.

“We have four more matches left, I’m hoping we win all those,” Anthony DiRosa said. "We should probably win them. We need to just keep believing."

“Now, we’re going to wrestle through this week and try and win our matches out—we can do that if we wrestle well," Smith said. "This is all a stepping stone to prepare us for districts.”

The Warriors' next match is at home against Morristown at 7 p.m. on Wednesday.