SPORTS

WRESTLING: Gateway advances with wild win over Highland

Mark Trible
@Mtrible
Varsity Wrestilng: Gateway at Highland

GLOUCESTER TWP. - Act I provided controversy. Act II, a duo of South Jersey’s best bouts. The Final Act concluded with a senior captain in tears because he’d survived a cradle for his old man’s sake.

The script for Monday’s South Jersey Group 3 first-round wrestling matchup between Gateway and Highland had it all.

In a can-you-believe-that classic, the fifth-seeded Gators upset the fourth-seeded Tartans, 33-22.

“We didn’t win the toss and we had a kid shot down at the weigh-in,” Gateway coach Jim Rutter said. “I can’t tell ya how much this means.”

An hour before the bout, 170-pounder David Norris – affectionately known as Bubba – got his doctor’s note checked from a ringworm infection.

With no date at the top, his physician’s verdict was rendered useless to the road team. The coaching staff, livid about the decision, complained to no avail.

Irritated and hungry, the Gators (19-5) got a good break when Rutter selected the stick that signified the meet would start at 106.

Out trotted The Mat Pack’s second- and third-ranked wrestlers in the class. At 113, the No. 1 and No. 4 grapplers met face-to-face.

The Mininno brothers for Gateway – Dante at 106 and Antonio at 113 – topped Seth Henry and Lucas Siegfried, respectively.

Both avenged one-point losses in last year’s Region 8 tournaments with wins of the exact kind on Monday.

“As soon as I shook the kid’s hand, I thought about last year’s match,” Antonio said of his 3-2 victory. “I trained all summer for this win. I knew what I had to do and I did it. Just keep up the pressure.”

His twin echoed similar words.

“Going into the match I was ready,” Dante explained of the 6-5 win. “I’m glad I picked up the points for us.”

WRESTLING: Q&A with Gateway's Dante Mininno

No one proved gladder than Rutter.

“When I pulled the 106 stick, I knew,” he said. “I knew those two kids have been working for this. They set the table.”

The early 6-0 lead certainly helped the Woodbury Heights club, but the team’s grittiness is what made a trip to Wednesday’s semifinal against top-ranked and unbeaten Delsea possible.

Tim Sparks won 6-3 at 126. Jacob Winterle grabbed a 4-3 decision in the 160 bout. Austin Holmstrom gutted out a 5-3 victory in a 182 clash with Joe Tripoli.

The Mat Pack’s No. 4-ranked 138-pounder Reggie Davis pinned in 65 seconds at 145. Chad Gentzler followed it with a fall of his own in the 152s. Frank Weyhmiller, the third-ranked 220-pounder, got his man on the back to wrap up the win.

To a bigger point, the refusal of Alyceo Perez to allow a pin to Josh Clark at 138 meant plenty to the cause. Same with Ryan Pote's one-point loss at 132.

But the matchup in the final scene that truly painted the portrait came when Griffin Mills, the soon-to-be red-eyed captain, refused to submit to George Duddy’s cradle.

Mills couldn’t give up once he saw his father Kevin in the stands.

“I was looking at my dad up there,” Mills said. “Who, a couple of years ago, lost his leg. I was making sure I did good for him. He’s my best friend.”

After the meet, the elder Mills, who had his right leg amputated after a string of health difficulties, ensured him he’d done just fine with a 9-0 major decision loss.

“He told me, ‘You did good. I’m so proud of you.’” Mills said as his voice cracked. “I had to use all the strength I had, every single thing I had, I just had to push it out.”

Mills' heroics kept the Tartans too far from closing distance at 27-16.

Highland coach Mike Davidson gave the show a simple and apt review.

“What it came down to is, they outwrestled us,” said  the Tartans’ boss, who watched his team fall to 15-2. “We came out flat and they outwrestled us.”

Meanwhile, the Gators glowed in victory.

“I think when they shot Bubba down at the scale, that had these kids ready,” Rutter said. “These kids gotta believe in themselves. I know us coaches do.”

As for Norris, his absence didn’t hurt. Highland didn’t send out a man at 170 to make for a double forfeit.

It was that kind of night for Gateway.

Mark Trible; (856) 486-2424; mtrible@gannettnj.com

GATEWAY 33

HIGHLAND 22

Man of the match: Gateway106-pounder Dante Mininno, No. 3 in The Mat Pack's class rankings, topped No. 2 Seth Henry, 6-5, in the first bout of the night.

Big moment: In the 195-pound bout, Gators' senior captain Griffin Mills avoided a pin while in a cradle from George Duddy to hold Highland to a major decision.

Well said:  “I can’t tell ya how much this means.” -- Gateway coach Jim Rutter