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JACKSON 28, SOUTHERN 24
Jackson wins 3rd straight SCT

SHORE CONFERENCE WRESTLING TOURNAMENT: Russell helps Jaguars hold off late rally by
Rams
Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 02/5/06
BY JOE ADELIZZI
STAFF WRITER

STAFFORD * Jackson got what it wanted at the start and got what it needed at the end to capture its third straight Shore Conference Tournament championship.

The Jaguars split the 14 bouts with Southern Regional but picked up two pins to defeat the Rams, 28-24.

"You never get tired of winning championships," Jackson coach Scott Goodale said.

The formula for the triumph, he said, included getting off to a fast start.

"When (Rob) Swan, (Corey) Biscaha and (Sean) Byrnes came out and gave us a 13-0 lead, it got us going," Goodale said.

And when they came around to the 103-pound bout it was freshman Derrik Russell who provided the points that clinched the victory with one bout to go.

"I wasn't scared," said Russell, now 13-3. "I love wrestling in front of big crowds. The noise motivates me."

He was going against Southern's Jason Walters. In the first meeting between the two teams, Walters was beating Sean Cook, but was disqualified when an official ruled he had bitten the Jackson wrestler.

There was no such incident this time. Instead, the two freshmen battled royally in front of the standing-room-only crowd of more than 2,000 fans.

Russell got the decisive takedown with 48 seconds remaining. But Walters escaped with 19 seconds left, and was within inches of a takedown that would have given him the win when the buzzer sounded.

Russell rushed off the mat and leaped into the waiting arms of Goodale.

Southern coach John Stout was left to wonder what if.

"It's tough to lose the Shore Conference championship in a 3-2 bout that we were so close to winning," said Stout, who has taken his Rams across the state this season to face every top opponent he could find.

But he knew in Jackson, named the No. 1 team in the latest Gannett N.J. Top 20 poll, Southern faced a tough task.

"You have to wrestle a perfect match against them," Stout said. "We were close."

The Rams got the points they wanted in the three upper weights. And they got wins from Luke Lanno (135) and Keith Dillard (152) in outcomes that reversed decisions they lost back in December.

"The big win was at 171," Goodale said.

It was there that the Jaguars sent out Dan Hopkins. He had lost in December to Josh Cipolla and he knew what he had to do.

"When Bradley and Concepcion lost I knew I was the one who was going to have to turn around the result from the first match," Hopkins said.

He did, and almost with bonus points.

Within 15 seconds of the bout, he had a takedown and had Cipolla on his back, nearly flat.

But the Southern wrestler battled back, holding Hopkins to an 8-5 decision.

Mike Thomas, Glenn Carson and Tim Pringle followed with victories for Southern, but it only got one bonus point on Carson's major decision.

That left the door open for the Jaguars to clinch with a win from Russell.

"I really don't remember what happened when the bout ended," said Russell, who was a little woozy after the bout and a had a black eye to show as a badge of courage.

The two teams had a tough time getting to the finals. Jackson beat No. 4 seed Ocean 33-21. In that match, Jackson's upper weights made the difference with three straight wins.

Howell and Southern battled on even terms throughout their match but Southern's upper weights provided the margin of victory winning three bouts and collecting 12 points in the 28-26 victory.

The fans who cheered wildly through those two matches stayed for the finale and got everything they could ask for.

Jackson's Scott Winston and Southern's Frank Molinaro dominated their bouts, and two other bouts in the match went overtime.

Southern won both of those.

The Bradley match with Lanno was a classic and ended with Bradley nearly scoring.

The bad news for Shore Conference teams to remember for next year is that every Jackson winner will return next year.