Ewing, NJ… The College of New Jersey wrestling team ran its winning streak to 14 straight as the Lions posted a 25-15 triumph over visiting King's College on Wednesday.
The Lions, ranked 15th in the National Wrestling Coaches Association Division III poll, are now 5-0 this season building on their run of nine consecutive wins at the end of last year. The loss knocked the Monarchs to 2-4.
TCNJ got off to a good start as sophomore Dan Hughes (Delran, NJ/Delran) scored a late takedown against Michael Tabasco (Howell, NJ/Freehold Twp.) to pull out a 3-1 decision at 125 pounds.
At 133, the Monarchs tied the score as Anthony Dietrick (West Orange, NJ/West Orange) recorded the match's only point on riding time edging TCNJ's Jaishon Scott (Montclair, NJ/Montclair), 1-0.
The hosts took the lead for good at 141 pounds as freshman Anthony Rizzolo (Wenonah, NJ/Deptford) scored eight points in the third period to defeat King's Tony Miele (Mt. Ephraim, NJ/Audubon), 10-5. The Lions added to their lead at 149 as junior Tyler Branham (Newton, NJ/Kittatinny) posted an 8-0 major decision over Frankie Davis (Madison, NJ/Madison) extending that advantage to 10-3.
King's chipped into that deficit at 157 as Taylor Green (Montgomery, MD/River Dell) held off TCNJ's Dan DiColo (Budd Lake, NJ/Mt. Olive) by the score of 6-1.
Sophomore Justin Bonitatis (Cherry Hill, NJ/Cherry Hill East) then posted a 14-5 major decision win at 165 increasing TCNJ's lead to 14-6, but King's Mike Reilly (Mountaintop, PA/Crestwood) won by fall at 174 trimming TCNJ's lead to 14-12. Reilly's pin came in 3:42.
Senior Greg Osgoodby (Waldwick, NJ/Waldwick) gained those six team points right back at 184 with a pin of Lewis Snover (Hackettstown, NJ/Hackettstown) in 2:00 pushing the host's lead to 20-12. Freshman Ed Broderick (Manahawkin, NJ/Southern Regional) then secured the win for TCNJ with a 17-1 technical fall victory at 197.
In the final weight class of the dual meet, Monarch junior Christopher Rash (Freehold, NJ/Freehold) clipped TCNJ's Adam Koziol (Paramus, NJ/Paramus) by a 5-2 score closing the final margin to 25-15.
The Lions return to the mat this weekend participating in the Spartan Invitational hosted by York College on Saturday, while this marked the final dual meet of the first semester for the Monarchs.
Weight by weight summary
#15 TCNJ 25, King's College 15
125: Dan Hughes (TCNJ) dec. Michael Tabasco (K), 3-1
133: Anthony Dietrick (K) dec. Jaishon Scott (TCNJ), 1-0
141: Anthony Rizzolo (TCNJ) dec. Tony Miele (K), 10-5
149: Tyler Branham (TCNJ) major dec. Frankie Davis (K), 8-0
157: Taylor Green (K) dec. Dan DiColo (TCNJ), 6-1
165: Justin Bonitatis (TCNJ) major dec. Jerry Robbins (K), 14-5
174: Mike Reilly (K) pinned Marc Candito (TCNJ), 3:42
184: Greg Osgoodby (TCNJ) pinned Lewis Snover (K), 2:00
197: Ed Broderick (TCNJ) tech. fall over Eric Steltzer (K), 17-1 (5:42)
285: Christopher Rash (K) dec. Adam Koziol (TCNJ), 5-2
