Wrestling: Pirates sail to playoff win over rival Delran
CINNAMINSON – What a difference 19 days made for the Cinnaminson High School wrestling team against its bordering rival.
After escaping with a 37-33 regular-season win on Jan. 20, the Pirates turned up the intensity in a meet with much higher stakes. The result was victories in nine bouts and a workmanlike 44-18 triumph over Delran in the opening round of the South Jersey Group 2 tournament Monday night.
Third-seeded Cinnaminson (16-3), which won the Central Jersey Group 1 title last winter, will travel to second-seeded West Deptford (14-7) for Wednesday’s semifinal meet. The Eagles had a first-round bye.
Senior Isaiah Elias had a simple reason for the dramatic improvement that the Pirates displayed the second time around against Delran.
“We wrestled with a lot more energy,” said Elias, who needed just 24 seconds to flatten his opponent at 113 pounds. “We were better prepared this time and it was a great atmosphere here. Our fans were really behind us tonight. The older guys in our lineup wrestled with a lot of energy, we wanted to show the younger guys how do to it.”
Cinnaminson coach Mike McConnell said that his wrestlers were more aggressive Monday.
“We have a lot of youth in our lineup and I think last time they might have been a little intimidated,” McConnell said. “They were a little tentative. Instead of going with what works, they went with what was safe.
“You’ve got to be aggressive to score and I think we did a better job of that this time around.”
Cinnaminson’s lineup has also taken a stronger shape in the last two weeks. One of the newest additions is freshman 195-pounder Eddie Davilla, who provided a huge pin in 5 minutes, 3 seconds.
After Delran took a 9-6 lead, the Pirates won eight of nine bouts starting at 285 and clinched the meet with three bouts to go.
The run wasn’t without some controversy though.
With Cinnaminson leading 22-15, Delran’s Orhan Kahraman appeared to be in position to seal a defensive pin against Jarrod Averill in the second period. The ref didn’t call the fall, Averill rolled through and would later go on to score 10 points in the final period.
“Honestly, I was a little worried that (the ref) was going to call it but I didn’t think I was flat,” Averill said. “Once I was able to roll through it, I knew I was OK.”
Delran coach Nathan Marter was livid after the bout and was still steaming after the meet.
"Sometimes things don't get called, sometimes they miss them, but we got 12 people in the stands with footage," said Marter about what he thought about the non-call.
Cinnaminson got another big lift from Jahmil Williams, who scored a third-period takedown for a 4-2 win at 132. He lost a decision in the previous meeting with Delran.
“I just wanted to keep shooting and it paid off,” the sophomore said. “I have to work on trusting my shots more.”
Delran (15-10) was without two starters and it forced the Bears to juggle most of their lineup, including freshman Mark Olivo, who had to bump up two weight classes to go 152. Olivo dropped a 10-0 major decision to Shane Spence.
“He had three lunches to make weight,” Marter said. “He did it for the team though. He’s a kid that’s really going to make a name for himself.
“We knew coming in that we had to make a couple of moves (to make up for the lack of two starters) and it almost paid off. Last time, we had a 7-7 split in matches, this time we only won five.”
Tom McGurk; (856) 486-2420; tmcgurk@gannettnj.com
Cinnaminson 44, Delran 18
Wrestler of the meet: Freshman Eddie Davilla provided a third-period pin at 195, giving the Pirates a huge boost early.
Pivotal bout: Cinnaminson’s Jarrod Averill was thisclose to giving up a defensive pin at 126. Instead, he rolled through and went on to score 10 third-period points en route to an 11-5 decision.
Well said: “We wrestled with a lot more attitude and energy this time,” Cinnaminson sophomore Jahmil Williams