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WRESTLING JACKSON 38, HIGH POINT 12

No. 1 Jags roll past High Point
Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 02/11/06

BY JOE ADELIZZI
STAFF WRITER

JACKSON — Not even Scott Goodale, the Jackson coach, expected what unfolded before his eyes.

Jackson, the top-ranked team in the Gannett New Jersey poll, put together an awesome display of wrestling, with an 11-bout winning streak on its way to a 38-12 victory against fourth-ranked High Point. It was their 23rd win of the season, tying the school record set in 1975.

"They're a good team," Goodale said. "We thought there would be a lot of tough bouts, but we wrestled really well tonight."

Not that it started out as a rout. The Jaguars fell behind, 9-0, when they lost the first bout on a pin at 189 in overtime, and a tough decision at 215.

Then, the landslide began.

Senior heavyweight Kevin Solomon got it started with a 1-0 victory. By the time it was over, Ken Carney was winning his bout at 160, leaving only High Point's Alex Dalrymple to get the last bout.

In between, Jackson was brilliant.

The biggest win came at 125, where Corey Biscaha's victories are no longer a surprise. Friday, he faced faced the Wildcats' Garvin Tarsa. Jackson had a 12-9 lead on the board, but Tarsa had an 18-2 record and a state reputation. Like he has done all season, Biscaha came through, winning 4-3 and taking away the enthusiasm the early lead had given the visitors.

"I've been wrestling a lot of good guys lately," Biscaha said. "I still get a little nervous, but stay a lot calmer now before a bout like that. I knew before the night started it would be a key bout. I just wrestled my match."

That means excellent riding skills, and the ability to score points in unusual circumstances.

"I think by now the questions about Biscaha have been answered. His wins last Saturday (including one against Nick Menditto of Ocean) in the SCT showed how good he is," Goodale said.

Matt Bradley put the match on ice at 135 when he rallied from an early 4-1 deficit against Greg Martin to get a pin in the third period.

"I started off sloppy," said Bradley, who notched win No. 101 with the pin. "He was really strong. But coach put the match in the hands of the seniors. He said we had to score tonight. We did."

Goodale said the seniors won four of the five bouts they wrestled, which was something they needed to defeat High Point, which had defeated then-No. 1 South Plainfield earlier this season.

As the team victories keep coming, Goodale sees his Jaguars getting closer and closer to the ultimate goal of being the number one team in New Jersey.