Wrestling Comes Up Short Against Paulsboro

Thursday night, in the first few matches of the season, everything was going the way 's Panthers wrestling team had hoped.

After a 9-3 win by Anthony Valianti over Zack Funk—at 195 pounds—gave Panthers a 15-9 lead over Paulsboro, the Red Raiders would forfeit at 220, to put Collingswood up 24-9.

But it was all downhill from there.

Paulsboro won the next seven matches on the night, giving the Red Raiders a 38-24 victory over their conference rival.

“We battled tonight, but some things just didn’t go our way,” said Collingswood head coach Dechlin Moody. “Our young guys did a phenomenal job tonight, but I still think we could have won.”

Alex Irwin started the night off in favor of the Panthers, posting a 7-5 decision over Nico Savaiinaea at 145 pounds.

Paulsboro won the next two matches, taking a 9-3 lead. But then Panthers ran off wins in four straight matches, to take the 24-9 lead.

A pin by sophomore Mike Campbell, at 170 pounds, started the streak.

“It was awesome to get the pin in my first match this year,” said Campbell, who did not wrestle in Monday’s season-opening win over Lindenwold, due to a wrist injury. “I didn’t get to shoot as much as I wanted, but I’m happy with my result.”

The turning point of the night came in the heavyweight match, when Paulsboro’s DaVonte Randall recorded a 5-3 decision over Bryan Phan. Randall’s quickness proved too much for Phan’s strength to overcome.

“Our heavyweight match went the other way on us,” Moody said. “That hurt us.”

Then Paulsboro’s lightweights went to work. Mick Croce won a 9-1 major decision at 106 over Kyle Korvo, then John Gentile did the same over Donnie Daly, at 113.

But the surprise of the night came in at 120 pounds. Freshman Sam Marino pinned Panther senior Tony Giancola just 57 seconds into their match, giving Paulsboro the lead for good.

“It’s always a surprise when your top gun gets pinned,” said Moody. “You never expect that.”

Moody did take solace in the fact that the match was a lot closer than it could have been.

Many of Collingswood's lightweights fought off pins, preventing Paulsboro from earning bonus points.

“The young guys were great tonight,” he said. “They did a great job of not giving up bonus points. I’m really proud of the way some of these guys wrestled tonight.”

Panthers next take on Gateway Regional High School this Friday, on the road, before hosting a holiday tournament over winter break. That tournament will play host to teams from both Pennsylvania and Virginia.

“It’ll be a really good way for our guys to step up and get some experience,” said Campbell. “It’s still early, so were trying to work on some different things.”

145- Alex Irwin (Colls) D Nico Savaiinaea 7-5

152- Nick Knauer (Pauls) P Pat Miles :30

160- Mike Silvestro (Pauls) D John Deaner 4-0

170- Mike Campbell (Colls) P DeQuan Freeman 2:43

182- Pete Paul (Colls) P Joe Muraca 1:18

195- Anthony Valinti (Colls) D Zack Funk 9-3

220- Paulsboro forfeit

HWT Randall (Pauls) D Bryan Phan 5-3

106 Mick Croce (Pauls) MD Kyle Korvo 9-1

113 John Gentile (Pauls) MD Donnie Daly 13-3

120 Sam Marino P Tony Giancola :57

126 Ronnie Gentile TF Zane Chunko 17-2

132 Juan Rivera MD Shaun Clark 13-0

138 Cody Croce D Dan Penissi 7-3