Feb. 13, 2007 High School Blog
Concord ends years of frustration against Timberlane
By Rob Sherrill, W.I.N. High School Editor
Monkeys leaped off the backs of two prominent sports figures in the same week – prominent in their respective universes, anyway.
On Sunday, Feb. 4, it was Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning who felt the weight being lifted from his shoulders. Manning no longer can be considered “the best quarterback not to win a Super Bowl.” Three days later, Concord (N.H.) High coach Hamilton Munnell ended a streak of frustration that spanned an even longer period of time … and was no less frustrating.
It took Munnell and his best team 12 years to accomplish what no Crimson Tide team could in his first 11: beat state and New England powerhouse Plaistow Timberlane High.
Not only did Munnell’s Concord team turn back the Owls, 28-22, in a match billed as the Granite State’s “Match of the Century,” but they did it before a stunned capacity crowd in Timberlane’s gym.
Something had to give in this battle between the state’s two powerhouse programs. Concord came into the match with a 20-0 record, while Timberlane boasted an 18-0 mark, 69 consecutive dual-meet victories and seven straight Division 1 and Meet of Champions team titles, with the Crimson Tide posting runner-up finishes in most of those seasons. The two had met previously in a pair of tournaments, Concord edging Timberlane, 218.5-217, at the Lowell (Mass.) Holiday Tournament and Timberlane (196 points) winning the Sanford (Maine) Tournament of Champions, with Concord (182.5) finishing third.
The match started at 160, with two of Timberlane’s best up: Ty Sullivan and Derek Sickel. But Harry Paul and Pat Boyle held the pair to seven points, state runner-up Paul taking Sullivan to overtime at 160 before falling 6-4 and despite two-time New England place-winner Sickel’s major decision at 171, the Owls led just 7-0. Concord, which won eight matches in the meet, won five of the next six to take a 16-10 lead. Decisions by Levi Byers (189) and Marshall Gleason (215) and Dan Breen’s major decision at 103 tied the score at 10-10. But Alex Smith’s decision at 112 gave the hosts the lead again, 13-10, with state and New England champion Joe O’Connor coming up at 119.
Sophomore Brandon Paige then scored the shocker of the night. Paige, who had both previous meetings to O’Connor, one of those by pin, picked up a reversal with 25 seconds remaining and rode out to preserve a 2-1 stunner over the Owls standout, and suddenly Concord had pulled even at 13-13.
Jon Earnshaw's decision at 125 gave Timberlane the lead again, 16-13, but Concord’s strength was coming up. After Denzil Garvey (130) won to tie the score at 16-16, unbeaten three-time state champion Tyler Saltsman (135), headed for the Naval Academy, won a 9-3 decision, Alex Buessing (140) scored Concord’s only pin, sophomore Derek Bisson won at 145 and it was over, as the Crimson Tide led 28-16 with just one match remaining.
New Jersey Group Duals go according to form
Jackson Memorial High beat Manahawkin Southern Regional High for the third time this season, winning nine of the first 10 matches en route to a 38-22 victory in the finals of the Group 4 dual state final Sunday at Toms River.
The meet was a rematch of last year’s final, won by the Jaguars in a much closer battle, 26-23. Sunday’s match was the biggest margin of victory in the three matches between the two. Jackson won the first battle, 36-22, on Jan. 9, then won, 31-23, in the Shore Conference final, Jan. 27.
Neither team had trouble advancing to the title match. Central Region champion Jackson pounded North 1 Region titlist Bloomfield High, 63-6, and South champion Southern disposed of North 2 champion Phillipsburg High, 40-15.
Group 3: The most competitive group tournament featured the most surprising champion, with Swedesboro Kingsway High upending Oakhurst Ocean Township High, 33-28, as Josh Smith (135) scored the meet’s biggest upset, upending two-time state placewinner Andrew Van Dyk, 5-2, on the strength of two first-period takedowns. Kingsway had upended Washington Warren Hills High, 55-15, in the semifinals, while Ocean held off Sussex High Point Regional High, 32-26.
Group 2: Many expected a tighter match between South Plainfield High, which won its fifth state title in six years, and Hackettstown High, one of the state’s most improved programs whose only loss heading into the final came against the Tigers, 27-21. This time, it was no contest as South Plainfield prevailed 42-9. Hackettstown dumped powerhouse Newton Kittatinny High, 26-22, in the semifinals, while South Plainfield beat first-time region champion Point Pleasant Boro High, 58-6.
Group 1: Make it 25 straight and counting for Paulsboro High, which used its talented upper weights to race to a 37-0 lead after nine matches in a 40-15 over Kenilworth David Brearley High, another program making huge strides the past couple of seasons. Paulsboro had upended Blairstown North Warren High, 51-10 in the semifinals, with Brearley scoring a 38-16 victory over Hasbrouck Heights/Wood-Ridge High.
Parochial: A pair of four-year winning streaks continued. Cherry Hill Camden Catholic High won its ninth A in 10 years, 32-25, over Paterson Don Bosco Preparatory High. Rutherford St. Mary’s High beat Edison Bishop Ahr High, 53-19, to take the B crown.
Trumbetti, Bybee out for state series
It was just assumed that, after two state runner-up finishes and a third-place finish, John Trumbetti of Montvale St. Joseph Regional High would end his New Jersey career with a state title at 125.
In a cruel twist of fate, Trumbetti will spend it on the sidelines instead.
Trumbetti fractured a vertebra in his neck in the first period of his 6-4 overtime loss to Anthony Luma of Egg Harbor at the New Jersey All-Star Invitational, Jan. 28. The injury was serious enough to require overnight hospitalization.
The bad news is that injury brought to a disheartening end an injury-filled senior season. The good news is that Trumbetti will be able to resume his wrestling career later this spring and pursue the sport in college.
Trumbetti had a chance to become just the fifth wrestler in the 47-year history of the prestigious Bergen County Coaches Association holiday tournament to win four titles, but missed that meet – and much of the season’s first month – with torn cartilage in his rib cage. Of his six high school losses, four came in New Jersey and three in the state tournament.
“There are no guarantees in this sport,” Trumetti’s father, John Sr., told the Bergen Record newspaper. “The stars have to be aligned.”
In Illinois, a season Cadet National runner-up Jeff Bybee of Chillicothe Illinois Valley Central High would probably just as soon forget ended in the Oregon Class A sectional last weekend, when he suffered a broken fibula in the quarterfinals.
Despite severing a finger in a shop class accident in late September, Bybee had a successful regular season and was ranked No. 1 in Class A at 130 throughout. The latest injury ended his chance to join the state’s elite list of four-time state champions. The good news is that he is expected to fully recovered in eight to 10 weeks.
By Rob Sherrill, W.I.N. High School Editor
Monkeys leaped off the backs of two prominent sports figures in the same week – prominent in their respective universes, anyway.
On Sunday, Feb. 4, it was Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning who felt the weight being lifted from his shoulders. Manning no longer can be considered “the best quarterback not to win a Super Bowl.” Three days later, Concord (N.H.) High coach Hamilton Munnell ended a streak of frustration that spanned an even longer period of time … and was no less frustrating.
It took Munnell and his best team 12 years to accomplish what no Crimson Tide team could in his first 11: beat state and New England powerhouse Plaistow Timberlane High.
Not only did Munnell’s Concord team turn back the Owls, 28-22, in a match billed as the Granite State’s “Match of the Century,” but they did it before a stunned capacity crowd in Timberlane’s gym.
Something had to give in this battle between the state’s two powerhouse programs. Concord came into the match with a 20-0 record, while Timberlane boasted an 18-0 mark, 69 consecutive dual-meet victories and seven straight Division 1 and Meet of Champions team titles, with the Crimson Tide posting runner-up finishes in most of those seasons. The two had met previously in a pair of tournaments, Concord edging Timberlane, 218.5-217, at the Lowell (Mass.) Holiday Tournament and Timberlane (196 points) winning the Sanford (Maine) Tournament of Champions, with Concord (182.5) finishing third.
The match started at 160, with two of Timberlane’s best up: Ty Sullivan and Derek Sickel. But Harry Paul and Pat Boyle held the pair to seven points, state runner-up Paul taking Sullivan to overtime at 160 before falling 6-4 and despite two-time New England place-winner Sickel’s major decision at 171, the Owls led just 7-0. Concord, which won eight matches in the meet, won five of the next six to take a 16-10 lead. Decisions by Levi Byers (189) and Marshall Gleason (215) and Dan Breen’s major decision at 103 tied the score at 10-10. But Alex Smith’s decision at 112 gave the hosts the lead again, 13-10, with state and New England champion Joe O’Connor coming up at 119.
Sophomore Brandon Paige then scored the shocker of the night. Paige, who had both previous meetings to O’Connor, one of those by pin, picked up a reversal with 25 seconds remaining and rode out to preserve a 2-1 stunner over the Owls standout, and suddenly Concord had pulled even at 13-13.
Jon Earnshaw's decision at 125 gave Timberlane the lead again, 16-13, but Concord’s strength was coming up. After Denzil Garvey (130) won to tie the score at 16-16, unbeaten three-time state champion Tyler Saltsman (135), headed for the Naval Academy, won a 9-3 decision, Alex Buessing (140) scored Concord’s only pin, sophomore Derek Bisson won at 145 and it was over, as the Crimson Tide led 28-16 with just one match remaining.
New Jersey Group Duals go according to form
Jackson Memorial High beat Manahawkin Southern Regional High for the third time this season, winning nine of the first 10 matches en route to a 38-22 victory in the finals of the Group 4 dual state final Sunday at Toms River.
The meet was a rematch of last year’s final, won by the Jaguars in a much closer battle, 26-23. Sunday’s match was the biggest margin of victory in the three matches between the two. Jackson won the first battle, 36-22, on Jan. 9, then won, 31-23, in the Shore Conference final, Jan. 27.
Neither team had trouble advancing to the title match. Central Region champion Jackson pounded North 1 Region titlist Bloomfield High, 63-6, and South champion Southern disposed of North 2 champion Phillipsburg High, 40-15.
Group 3: The most competitive group tournament featured the most surprising champion, with Swedesboro Kingsway High upending Oakhurst Ocean Township High, 33-28, as Josh Smith (135) scored the meet’s biggest upset, upending two-time state placewinner Andrew Van Dyk, 5-2, on the strength of two first-period takedowns. Kingsway had upended Washington Warren Hills High, 55-15, in the semifinals, while Ocean held off Sussex High Point Regional High, 32-26.
Group 2: Many expected a tighter match between South Plainfield High, which won its fifth state title in six years, and Hackettstown High, one of the state’s most improved programs whose only loss heading into the final came against the Tigers, 27-21. This time, it was no contest as South Plainfield prevailed 42-9. Hackettstown dumped powerhouse Newton Kittatinny High, 26-22, in the semifinals, while South Plainfield beat first-time region champion Point Pleasant Boro High, 58-6.
Group 1: Make it 25 straight and counting for Paulsboro High, which used its talented upper weights to race to a 37-0 lead after nine matches in a 40-15 over Kenilworth David Brearley High, another program making huge strides the past couple of seasons. Paulsboro had upended Blairstown North Warren High, 51-10 in the semifinals, with Brearley scoring a 38-16 victory over Hasbrouck Heights/Wood-Ridge High.
Parochial: A pair of four-year winning streaks continued. Cherry Hill Camden Catholic High won its ninth A in 10 years, 32-25, over Paterson Don Bosco Preparatory High. Rutherford St. Mary’s High beat Edison Bishop Ahr High, 53-19, to take the B crown.
Trumbetti, Bybee out for state series
It was just assumed that, after two state runner-up finishes and a third-place finish, John Trumbetti of Montvale St. Joseph Regional High would end his New Jersey career with a state title at 125.
In a cruel twist of fate, Trumbetti will spend it on the sidelines instead.
Trumbetti fractured a vertebra in his neck in the first period of his 6-4 overtime loss to Anthony Luma of Egg Harbor at the New Jersey All-Star Invitational, Jan. 28. The injury was serious enough to require overnight hospitalization.
The bad news is that injury brought to a disheartening end an injury-filled senior season. The good news is that Trumbetti will be able to resume his wrestling career later this spring and pursue the sport in college.
Trumbetti had a chance to become just the fifth wrestler in the 47-year history of the prestigious Bergen County Coaches Association holiday tournament to win four titles, but missed that meet – and much of the season’s first month – with torn cartilage in his rib cage. Of his six high school losses, four came in New Jersey and three in the state tournament.
“There are no guarantees in this sport,” Trumetti’s father, John Sr., told the Bergen Record newspaper. “The stars have to be aligned.”
In Illinois, a season Cadet National runner-up Jeff Bybee of Chillicothe Illinois Valley Central High would probably just as soon forget ended in the Oregon Class A sectional last weekend, when he suffered a broken fibula in the quarterfinals.
Despite severing a finger in a shop class accident in late September, Bybee had a successful regular season and was ranked No. 1 in Class A at 130 throughout. The latest injury ended his chance to join the state’s elite list of four-time state champions. The good news is that he is expected to fully recovered in eight to 10 weeks.