More experienced Red Raiders make it a Senior Night to remember
OCEAN CITY – The Ocean City High School wrestling team put an exclamation point on itsstrong start to the season with an 80-0 win over cross-bay rival Mainland Regional High School.
Fittingly, it was the Red Raiders’ Senior Night.
They were relentless against the Mustangs Jan. 8 on their home mat. To be fair, Ocean City had a lot more experience on its roster than the younger Mustang team.
Asked about what he learned most from the match, Ocean City head coach Dan Calhoun said, “My biggest takeaway is that the kids continue to wrestle the whole time. We had some guys who were down right off the bat and came back and pushed through whether they got the win or the pin.
“They just continue to wrestle, which is what we preach all the time. When they continue to wrestle through things the chances of winning are better,” he said.
One of the best matches of the day came in the 150-pound bout between Raider Connor Nicoletti and Mustang Carson Endicott. Endicott was put onto the ground into a disadvantage early in the first round, but turned Nicoletti around and gained a slight point advantage. Endicott continued his pressure into the second round but could not fully pin Nicoletti, who got out from under him and tied the match 7-7 heading into the final round. Nicoletti eventually flipped Endicott for a four-point takedown and won by decision 11-7.
With the win, Ocean City improved to 7-1 so far this season with plenty of experience and talent scattered throughout the roster.
The Raiders currently have three state tournament qualifiers on the team with seniors Jace Watson, Tommy Grimley and Clifford Dirkes.
Last season, Dirkes qualified for the state tournament in the 285-pound class after he won a district and regional championship and had a perfect 19-0 record in his matches as part of the Raiders’ season. He is currently 8-0 so far this season.
Both Watson (157 pounds) and Grimley (165 pounds) also won a district championship last year and are on their way to representing Ocean City once again in the individual tournaments this season.
“They are our leaders and kids look up to them,” Calhoun said. “They see what it takes to be a state qualifier, a district champ or place winner. It shows the group of kids watching them compete and train what it looks like and helps them try to follow to the best of their abilities.”
In the shutout, Graham Tolson got things started in the 126-pound bout with a pin over Justin Mazur in 1:04. Wyatt Tolson, at 132 pounds, followed that with a 50-second pin of Mason McDevitt.
Luke Finnegan won at 138 pounds with a 16-1 technical fall at the 5:14 mark against Chris Mazur and 144-pounder Dominic Schultz pinned Mustang Michael Borini in 1:01.
After Nicoletti’s 11-7 decision over Endicott, Watson started a string of pins for the Raiders. Watson, at 157 pounds, pinned Ryder Slaughter-Brodton in 1:35; Grimley, at 165, pinned Tyler Waters in 1:53; Clarence Smith, at 175, pinned James Barrett in 1:53; and David Schultz, at 190, pinning Elijah Endicott in 31 seconds.
Jacob Chapman, at 215, won by forfeit.
Dirkes then earned the fastest pin of the evening in 14 seconds over Oswaldo Mendoza.
After Sean Martin, at 106 pounds, won by forfeit, teammate Sean Hoag, at 113, pinned Xander White in 57 seconds and Raider Bryce Hanin, at 120, made it a clean sweep, pinning Aidan Eger in 26 seconds.
After the junior varsity bouts, Ocean City’s coaches and fans honored the many seniors who have contributed to the team.
“It was a great night for all the seniors and great that we have a lot of seniors that this is their first year with us,” Calhoun said. “They get to experience this and I am so happy they get to be a part of a team. The seniors that have been with us for four years have been phenomenal for our younger kids. We also have a couple seniors who came out later in their careers but all and all it was a great night.”
The Mustangs fell to 5-5 after the loss to Ocean City and did not have to wait long to get back on the mat as they traveled to Vineland High School for a quad meet. Mainland faced off against Audubon High School, Vineland and Central Regional High School.
Mainland picked up the 48-34 win against Vineland with senior James Morley winning the 144-pound bout in 25 seconds with a pin. He also won his match against Central Regional via pin and won by a 9-3 decision over James McSweeney of Audubon. Chris Mazur also went 3-0 in the quad meet at 138 pounds.
Ocean City also had a quad meet on Jan. 11 and was handed its first loss of the year. The Raiders hosted Eastern Regional High School, Gateway High School and Williamstown High School. Williamstown beat Ocean City 40-32 after winning five of the last six matches of the day. The Raiders led 26-15 before the run but two late victories via pin sealed the loss for Ocean City.
Next up for the Raiders is the last quad meet of the regular season. Ocean City will travel to Cherry Hill West High School on Jan. 18 at 7:30 a.m. Along with Cherry Hill West the Raiders will take on Haddonfield High School and Highland High School.
The Mustangs will also have one last quad meet as they will travel to Eastern at 11 a.m. Jan. 18. Mainland will face off against Timber Creek High School and Millville High School alongside Eastern.
– STORY by WILLIAM TRUITT/For the Sentinel
– PHOTOS by DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
