WRESTLING -- Warriors go 0-2

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on November 23, 2016 10:06 AM

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Scorebook tucked under his left arm, second-year Eastern Wayne head wrestling coach Aaron Lynch sat back on a rolled up mat.

He took a moment to gather his thoughts.

A reversal here.

More leverage on a pin attempt.

Patience inside the circle.

All of those factors came into play during losses -- by a combined six points -- to perennial 3-A power West Carteret and Greene Central on Tuesday evening.

"I'm proud of the guys' effort, they worked real hard and we're just going to continue to get better," Lynch said of the 39-34 loss to WC and 41-39 setback to GC.

Eastern Wayne won 13 individual matches during the 3-hour affair.

The Warriors (1-2 overall) matched West Carteret's physicality and intensity throughout their battle. The teams traded five lead changes and three of the nine contested individual bouts went into the third period.

Victor Skinner started the night with a major decision, 11-2, against the Pats' Jake Reynolds at 152 pounds. Dilissus Council emerged victorious with a 32-second pin at 195 pounds, which put EW ahead 10-9 in the overall match score.

Heavyweight "Teddy" Dawson and 106-pounder Mario Harper answered with a forfeit and 65-second pin, respectively, to give the Warriors a 22-15 advantage.

West Carteret seized the lead at 22-17 on Tyler Kent's 18-second fall at 120 pounds, which sparked a match-turning 13-0 run. EW closed out the match with consecutive pins from 138-pounder Jaleek Lewis and 145-pounder Billy Bryant.

"The guys wrestled real well against West Carteret, came out of the gate strong, were really aggressive, were really physical," Lynch said. "I told them you've got to get out there, you've got to go after these guys. They're going to go after you.

"West Carteret was very technical, very crisp, clean wrestling. We did all the right things...just came up a little bit short."

Lynch used the same description to sum up the GC loss.

Although Eastern Wayne started flat against the Rams, it managed to trim a 27-point deficit to nine -- 36-27 -- when 132-pounder Christian Torres secured a second-period fall.

GC's Victor Gomez earned the match-clinching points with a 17-2 tech fall at 138 pounds. EW, again, ended the night with consecutive pins from Bryant and Skinner.

The Warriors yielded 18 points on forfeits due to various reasons.

"We didn't wrestle well that match, the matchups weren't that good as far as the bigger guys for Greene Central," Lynch said. "Their bigger guys were really, really tough."