Dandeo’s Comeback Pin, Wadle’s UTB Win Helps North Hunterdon Wrestling Reach N2G4 Final
Dandeo’s Comeback Pin, Wadle’s UTB Win Helps North Hunterdon Wrestling Reach N2G4 Final
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Junior Owen Dandeo’s perseverance and confidence embodies what has the North Hunterdon wrestling team firing on all cylinders right now.
Even after trailing 9-2 in the second period of his bout at 190 pounds, Dandeo rallied and was one of five Lions to win by fall in their 55-19 win over Rahway in the NJSIAA North 2 Group 4 semifinal Monday night.
Second-seeded North Hunterdon, which beat seventh-seeded Woodbridge 61-13 in the quarterfinal before its win over sixth-seeded Rahway in the semis, will travel to top-seeded Middletown North Wednesday night in the sectional final.
The Lions (14-6) led 18-11 heading into the fifth bout of the match, where Dandeo found himself trailing to junior Andrew Avent after giving up a trio of takedowns.
Dandeo cut the deficit to 9-6 with a takedown at the buzzer in the second period and pushed the action in the third.
“I just had confidence from how good I’ve been doing this year,” Dandeo said. “I could tell he was tired and I just knew it was time to go.”
One low takedown led to another as Dandeo hit a double leg and got the pin right after in 5:21.
“I threw him by, got the single and then I just doubled him right to his back,” Dandeo said. “Felt really good. You get that little high after your match, after you win, and it just feels amazing.”
“He wrestled an incredible match,” North Hunterdon coach Dave Bell said of Dandeo. “His confidence is growing… He wrestled hard, he wrestled a great match. That may be one of his best matches."
“That’s keeping with what I’m most proud of with our guys,” Bell continued. “They’re wrestling through, they’re wrestling from behind and they’re fighting through... That’s a great thing to have at this time of year.”
The match started at 144, where North Hunterdon sophomore Matthew Esposito also displayed the confidence Bell referenced.
Esposito was nearly reversed to his back by junior Adrian Harris before he locked up the fall in 3:21 shortly after he reversed Harris.
“As we sit there and we start coaching, we realize Espo, he’s just gonna do what he does,” Bell said with a smile. “He just lets it fly. He lets it fly and, fortunately, most times, he comes out on top.”
In between Esposito and Dandeo’s pins, North Hunterdon seniors Josh Joubert (in 3:09 at 165) and Evan Kinney (in 1:38 at 175) also won by fall. Sophomore Anthony DeSimone’s pin in 2:44 at 215 gave the Lions a 30-11 lead halfway through the match.
At 106, sophomore Cayden Wadle won a marathon of a takedown-less match 3-2 in UTB.
“I just knew I had to keep my head straight and just have a great mindset about it,” Wadle said of wrestling such a long match. “Just had to keep going no matter what. Just try and have a great mindset about that and not give up on myself. Just keep pushing harder and harder every time.”
Wadle was the aggressor on the feet throughout regulation and sudden victory as the sophomore pushed forward with low shot after low shot, but could not finish the takedown against junior Jaeczar Evans.
The match went to sudden victory tied at 1-1 after Wadle escaped in the second and Evans in the third. After both wrestlers escaped in the tiebreaker, Wadle got to choose his position in UTB because he scored first.
Both wrestlers went out of bounds with 18 and 9 seconds left in UTB and, off the final restart, Wadle got to his feet and drew a second stall call on Evans to earn the 3-2 win.
“It felt good but, at the same time, I can’t keep leaving it up to the refs like that. I gotta take initiative myself a little more,” Wadle said. “… I gotta control the match a little bit better, finish my shots more. I can’t leave it up to the refs like that, I gotta score on my takedowns more."
“Cayden, same thing, to be able wrestle to wrestle through adversity, he’s matured so much,” Bell said. “To be in on so many attacks and be so close and to be patient enough to wrestle hard and to make good, sound decisions to score; he did a great job.”
Tech falls by senior Joseph Celentano (120) and sophomore Kieran Raley (138) sandwiched forfeits to junior Reid Buzby (126) and sophomore Aidan Yarussi (132) in the final four bouts.
One year removed from a painful 30-28 loss to Ridge in the North 2, Group 4 final where the Lions lost several close bouts, they’re headed back to the sectional final.
“I think they’re pretty motivated,” Bell said. “They’ve been talking about it, you try not to look ahead but they’re ready to wrestle.”
“It got robbed last year from us, definitely, and we’re not gonna let that happen again,” Dandeo said. “I feel like we’re a lot more of a dominant team this year and we’re ready to get it.”
Middletown North (20-1) will make its first appearance in a sectional final since 2018.
“We don’t have really a lot of common opponents so it’s kind of difficult to gauge,” Bell said. “… I wanna have faith that our guys can wrestle and beat anyone. I think, straight up, we can wrestle with them. It’s gonna be a good match.”
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Desmond Boyle may be reached at dboyle@lehighvalleylive.Com.
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