Happy Easter to all of our Christian readers.
I know the high school wrestling season has wrapped up -- at least for us who cover it, but I do realize that it really goes year round for a lot of folks out there. We'll try to stay on top of it, college signings, major off-season tournament results, etc...
I was able to cover the Easton Lions Classic Monday at Easton Area High and had the chance to talk to former South Plainfield High star Patrick Hunter, who recently completed his first season at St. Benedict Prep in Newark. Hunter, beaten in the 2007 state 112-pound final by Delaware Valley's Dan Kelly, won the State Preps this year and was second at the National Preps. Hunter was third in the state as a sophomore at 103.
Hunter, who will wrestle in the Senior High School Nationals in Virginia next weekend, beat Easton Area's Kegan Handlovic 8-7 at 119 at the Easton Classic. It was the final bout of the event.
"I had a great year,'' said Hunter. "I buckled down in school. I put a committment into school work. I messed up (when he was at South Plainfield)not taking school as seriously.
"I take some blame (about his departure from South Plainfield), but God works in mysterious ways,'' he added.
Hunter said he's not sure what his plans are for next year. He said he would consider another year at St. Benedict as a fifth-year student.
In case you haven't seen it, here's the Hunterdon Democrat's All Hunterdon team picked by my friend John Siipola.
http://www.nj.com/sports/hunterdon/index.ssf?/base/sports-0/1206022225209560.xml&coll=12
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 comments:
How do you justify 3rd team 160?
160: Wasn't the deepest weight class in our area of the state.
Wayne Hampton was clearly our No. 1. He was fourth in the state tournament.
Mark Wagner of South Plainfield won the Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament and was a runner-up at Region 3. So Mark was second team.
Goddiess third team. Goddiess beat District 17 champ Sean Pearson in the Region 5 semis. Goddiess took second to Hampton at District 18.
If you go back to December, Goddiess was pinned by Wayne Hampton in the Somerset County semifinals, then was pinned by Rutgers Prep's Kacy Epps. But Epps was beaten by Franklin's Payton Smith for third. Smith didn't finish the season. I really had little to go on at '60 other than the districts and region tournaments. I went with Goddiess.
I should add that Epps pinned Goddiess in the county wrestleback semifinals.
Are you certain Goddiess got pinned by Hampton in the semis? I thought he lost a pretty close decision.
It just seems odd that you'd bypass the Rutgers Prep kid who pinned Goddiess in 40 seconds and finished with a 27-10 record and 19pins. One of them was Payton Smith in a dual meet before the counties.
Post a Comment