Wrestling Shocks Delran in Final Bouts Wednesday

Nothing beats a sporting event against Delran, but when you throw two strong wrestling teams into the mix, things get even more exciting.

Cinnaminson traveled to Delran for a Patriot Division match on Wednesday night and escaped with a 37-33, come from behind victory over the Bears that stunned everyone in the building except for the Pirates faithful.

With the win, the Pirates are now 10-1 overall and 2-0 in the Patriot. The Bears fall to 10-6 overall and 2-1 in the division. It was Delran’s fourth straight loss.

The Bears jumped out to a 6-0 lead when Brian Miraglia pinned Jahsir Williams to open the match at 120 pounds. Jarrod Averill picked up a major decision win 11-2 at 126 pounds to pull the Pirates within 6-4.

“We’re a young team and we know that every time we wrestle Delran, no matter what’s happened for either team in the beginning of the season, it’s always going to be an exciting match,” head coach Mike McConnell said. “There’s always going to be some surprises.”

Delran then went up 9-4 before Ryan Teague pinned Mark Olivo to give the Pirates their first lead of the night at 10-9. The Pirates extended the lead to 14-9 when Joe Saxton picked up a major decision over Chris Pfeffer 14-5.

Delran won the next three bouts, two via pins, to take a 24-14 lead. Shaun Davilla earned a pin over Zack Bohn to make it 24-20 Delran.

“In most of the middle bouts we were in better shape,” McConnell said. “We were able to rely on scoring some points in the third period. We relied on our conditioning. Jarrod (Averill), in the 126, he came through and finished on top and finished with the bonus points.”

The Bears then won the next two bouts, one via pin, to expand their to 33-20 with just three bouts left in the match.

At 285 pounds, Keith Swartley won a major decision over Ethan Hill 16-1 to pull the Pirates within 33-25 of Delran.

Then, at 106 pounds, TJ Emanuel pinned Dakota Hunter to cut Delran’s lead to 33-31 with one bout remaining.

“Before the match I was remembering two years ago wrestling in this gym; I had the same match against Dakota and again I needed bonus points,” Emanuel said. “I went out there, worked for extra points, got the double and finished then I got his two shoulders on the mat. I felt great. I felt weightless.”

The final bout of the night pitted Isaiah Elias against Delran’s Eric Gardner at 113 pounds. All Elias needed to do was win the bout by decision to give the Pirates the match.

“Both of them (Emanuel and Elias) have overcome some hardships this year and have been training really hard,” McConnell said. “I was happy that they had the chance to step up and come through big.”

Elias took control right from the whistle and pinned Gardner just 1:15 into their bout to give the Pirates a 37-33 win over rival Delran and keep them undefeated in the Patriot.

“Without the guys leading up to me, I don’t matter,” Elias said. “If they don’t get the wins, then my win doesn’t mean anything. The whole time he (Emanuel) wrestled I had faith in him.”

“From start to finish I was able to overpower him, control his body, move him to where I wanted him to go and muscle him to his back. I didn’t think the score was going to be as close as it was, but it was and I had to do my job and finish it.”

The Pirates return to the mat for a quad hosted by Burlington Township this Saturday at 10am, weather permitting. Other teams in attendance include Highland and Steinert.

“I told the guys in the locker room afterwards that we’re really going to have to pick up the effort if we expect to compete with the top-level Group 2 South teams,” McConnell said. “We can’t be giving up that many bonus points and we can’t be losing the close ones.”

Match Results

120 LBS Brian Miraglia (D) pins Jahsir Williams 1:22

126 LBS Jarrod Averill d. Louie Rossner (D) 11-2

132 LBS Anthony Cameron (D) d. Jahmil Williams 5-2

138 LBS Ryan Teague pin Mark Olivo (D) 1:20

145 LBS Joe Saxton (d.) Chris Pfeffer 14-5

152 LBS Jake Sundermier (D) pin Shane Spence 1:33

160 LBS Phil Rogers (D) pin Mike Dunleavy 1:30

170 LBS Berkant Haliloglu (D) d. Eren Baysal 9-6

182 LBS Shaun Davilla pin Zack Bohn (D) 1:30

195 LBS Burak Ozbay (D) d. Andrew Halecki 6-2

220 LBS Devin Rolon (D) pin Joe Cody 1:12

285 LBS Keith Swartley d. Ethan Hill (D) 16-1

106 LBS TJ Emanuel pin Dakota Hunter (D) 1:15

113 LBS Isaiah Elias pin Eric Gardner (D) 1:15